Cassava Films - The List of 9

the list of 9 for august 23, 2004:
NINE MOVIES MY GIRLFRIEND HAS SEEN OVER 10 TIMES

[Note from Mark: There's only one film that I can say I've seen over tentimes in my life, and that is Star Wars. But what American boy born around 1970didn't? Even the other films I'd seen more than four times - Raiders of the Lost Ark,Close Encounters, Strangers on a Train and Back to the Future - remain in the singledigits. So it was with great surprise that I heard my girlfriend Miki, who is neither filmmakernor film snob, declare that she had sat through the following disparate collection of movies sofrequently. It seemed like a good idea for a List of 9 and also got me thinking, "Who else outthere has seen any particular movie 40 times?" I'll let Miki take it from here.]

These are my most obsessed-over movies. I can quote all of them practically in their entirety. Ihave watched all of them as recently as within the past 5 years. I would happily watch any of themagain tonight.

RUN LOLA RUN (Tom Tykwer, 1999). Year of FirstViewing: 1999. Times I saw it in a theater: 7. Times I saw it on TV/video: 8.TOTAL VIEWINGS: 15. Why? It is a flawless movie that gets better with everyviewing.... not to mention my fondness for girls with bright hair and big black shoes.
ROSEMARY'S BABY (Roman Polanski, 1968). Year ofFirst Viewing: 1990. Times I saw it in a theater: 0. Times I saw it on TV/video:17. TOTAL VIEWINGS: 17. Why? "This is no dream.... this is really happening!"became my life's philosophy for a good decade there.
GHOST WORLD (Terry Zwigoff, 2000). Year of FirstViewing: 2000. Times I saw it in a theater: 10. Times I saw it on TV/video:8. TOTAL VIEWINGS: 18. Why? I relate both to Enid's fashion sense and to her bittercynicism. Seymour reinforced that I've always been most charmed by the clueless geek types (nooffense, Mark ;-) )
CABARET (Bob Fosse, 1972). Year of First Viewing:1988. Times I saw it in a theater: 5. Times I saw it on TV/video: 20.TOTAL VIEWINGS: 25. Why? It's a strange combination of some of my key interests...the Holocaust, musical theater, gender bending, bisexuality, dorky guys and mysometime-doppelganger, Liza Minelli.
ANNIE (John Huston, 1982). Year of First Viewing:1982. Times I saw it in a theater: 9. Times I saw it on TV/video: 18.TOTAL VIEWINGS: 27. Why? I was a 9 year old girl who loved musical theater... ofcourse I became obsessed! It also introduced me to two of my future favs, Tim Curry and BernadettePeters.
BACK TO THE FUTURE (Robert Zemeckis, 1985). Year ofFirst Viewing: 1985. Times I saw it in a theater: 1. Times I saw it on TV/video:30. TOTAL VIEWINGS: 31. Why? It started because of my adolescent love ofMichael J. Fox. It continues because of my appreciation for the work of Crispin Glover andChristopher Lloyd. An added attraction is that one of my current employers has a small role init, which never ceases to amuse me.
WHEN HARRY MET SALLY... (Rob Reiner, 1989). Year ofFirst Viewing: 1989. Times I saw it in a theater: 1. Times I saw it on TV/video:35. TOTAL VIEWINGS: 36. Why? I've certainly never liked anything else thatinvolved Meg Ryan or Billy Crystal. I have no explanation for my continued fondness.
HEATHERS (Michael Lehmann, 1989). Year of FirstViewing: 1990. Times I saw it in a theater: 0. Times I saw it on TV/video:40. TOTAL VIEWINGS: 40. Why? It came out at the perfect time in my life tohold great appeal... I was a depressed teenage girl who had a secret crush on Winona Ryder andnothing much better to do for a few years than endlessly watch it on video. I actually wrote acollege paper on Heathers once. I got an A.
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (Jim Sharman, 1975).Year of First Viewing: 1990. Times I saw it in a theater: 11. Times I saw it onTV/video: 30. TOTAL VIEWINGS: 41. Why? By now you know that I like musicals,gender bending, bisexuality, geeks and Tim Curry. Hence, this should come as no surprise.