Is there such a thing as overwatching?

[welliwont]

Yes, I think there is such a thing as overwatching, and sadly I am guilty of this.  I have watched it all t he way through probably 20+ times, and I have looped the best parts (FNIT, SNIT, stauching Ennis' bloody nose, reunion kiss, to name a few) to play over and over and over...  that I think I have desensitized myself, and I am not happy about it.

At my first viewing it was the reunion kiss that really clutched me, the scene that I liked best.  Mhmmmmm yummy!     At my second viewing I loved the reunion kiss again.    Now that I have watched that scene at least 200 times, it has lost its thrilling magic, and so I have decided to go cold turkey.      So far it has only been 20 hours!     No more watching for me until it comes back to a cinema, at which time I will see it for only the second time on the big screen.

And that includes all the tender videos on Youtube.   

J

that wonderful heart-rush will return and I will have a grand old cry again. 

[dly64]

Yes, I think there is such a thing as overwatching, and sadly I am guilty of this.  I have watched it all t he way through probably 20+ times, and I have looped the best parts (FNIT, SNIT, stauching Ennis' bloody nose, reunion kiss, to name a few) to play over and over and over...  that I think I have desensitized myself, and I am not happy about it.

At my first viewing it was the reunion kiss that really clutched me, the scene that I liked best.  Mhmmmmm yummy!     At my second viewing I loved the reunion kiss again.    Now that I have watched that scene at least 200 times, it has lost its thrilling magic, and so I have decided to go cold turkey.      So far it has only been 20 hours!     No more watching for me until it comes back to a cinema, at which time I will see it for only the second time on the big screen.

And that includes all the tender videos on Youtube.

OMG!! I can't do that. I have watched it around the 100 times mark (may be more, may be less ... but not much less). The scenes you have mentioned still clutch me. I can't get them out of my mind. When Jack says to Ennis, "I wish I knew how to quit you ...." I think the same way about this film. I am compelled to watch it day after day after day. I feel like my day isn't complete unless if I watch it. My family wonders how I have time for anythng else! So, to wait until it comes back out on the big screen again .... I can't do it. I would go into major withdrawls.

[stevenedel]

Personally, I think I can overwatch it. I missed it in the cinema (actually, it's still running over here, but I hate subtitling, and also, I'm afraid to make a fool of myself blubbering away in public...). Got the DVD, and saw that 7 times in the first 3 weeks. Then I watched seperate scenes while working on my own edition of the screenplay (yes, I found other ways to deal with my obsession...). Eventually, three weeks on, I rewatched the entire film an 8th time, and while I was still very moved, noticed that it didn't quite hit me like a ton of bricks the way it did before. So I have now decided not to watch it for several months, at the least.

... But I do reread the story, as well as the rest of "Close Range", peruse Avedon's "In the American West", listen to the soundtrack (and to Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny's "Beyond the Missouri Sky"), got the DVD of "The last Picture Show", ordered a book of Wyoming landscape photography, not to mention the fact I'm hanging around boards like these on a daily basis... you get the picture. I suppose I can hardly pretend to have quit BBM.

[dly64]

Personally, I think I can overwatch it. I missed it in the cinema (actually, it's still running over here, but I hate subtitling, and also, I'm afraid to make a fool of myself blubbering away in public...). Got the DVD, and saw that 7 times in the first 3 weeks. Then I watched seperate scenes while working on my own edition of the screenplay (yes, I found other ways to deal with my obsession...). Eventually, three weeks on, I rewatched the entire film an 8th time, and while I was still very moved, noticed that it didn't quite hit me like a ton of bricks the way it did before. So I have now decided not to watch it for several months, at the least.

... But I do reread the story, as well as the rest of "Close Range", peruse Avedon's "In the American West", listen to the soundtrack (and to Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny's "Beyond the Missouri Sky"), got the DVD of "The last Picture Show", ordered a book of Wyoming landscape photography, not to mention the fact I'm hanging around boards like these on a daily basis... you get the picture. I suppose I can hardly pretend to have quit BBM.

Where are you from? I was just curious since you said that you didn't like subtitles. Have you watched the DVD with dubbing or with subtitles or neither? I personally hate dubbing. Nothing substitutes for the actor's own voices.

[Rayn]

I have the DVD and have watched it 5 times in 6 months and saw the movie in a theater too and that was enough for me.  I know other people who watched it more than I did.  The impact of the movie never weakened for me.  I admit the first time I watched it was the most intense and difficult, but I still feel the same joys and sorrows when I watched it the 6th time.  After that, I just said, "Enough is enough." and stopped.  I know I'll watch it again sometime. Maybe next year.  It's one of my very favorite movies, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing too, you know.

Rayn

[stevenedel]

Where are you from? I was just curious since you said that you didn't like subtitles. Have you watched the DVD with dubbing or with subtitles or neither? I personally hate dubbing. Nothing substitutes for the actor's own voices.

I'm in the Netherlands. Thank god they don't do overdubbing here, like they do in Germany - it' s horrible. I grew up near the German border, watching German TV, and would see American movies and soap opera`s all with the same generic handful of voices...
Subtitles are the lesser evil, but they do disturb the image. On the DVD, I can thankfully switch them off and just listen to the original English (and then thankfully switch them on again when Ennis starts mumbling...)

[dly64]

I'm in the Netherlands. Thank god they don't do overdubbing here, like they do in Germany - it' s horrible. I grew up near the German border, watching German TV, and would see American movies and soap opera`s all with the same generic handful of voices...
Subtitles are the lesser evil, but they do disturb the image. On the DVD, I can thankfully switch them off and just listen to the original English (and then thankfully switch them on again when Ennis starts mumbling...)

I use the subtitles for Ennis' mumblings, too! 

[Brown Eyes]

Heya,

I think I've seen the first half of the movie almost twice as many times as I've seen the second half (or the whole thing).  Kinda wierd, I know.  But,  wow, I need to gear myself up for watching the whole thing.  My reaction to the movie certainly goes in waves and whether I cry or not anymore depends a lot on my own mood.    I usually watch it once or twice a week (or at least the first half  ). 

The thing that's changed the most about the movie for me now is the pace.  It now feels like it goes by really, really fast.  Which is funny since the pace, obviously, is famously slow.  And, I now think about the movie in BetterMost shorthand as I watch it... which is also kind of wierd.  For example, I can't watch the happy tussle without thinking... "oh, it's the happy tussle" (which of course is a totally, totally different kind of reaction from my 5 theatre viewings... which I guess you could say were more 'pure'). 

I'm sort of indulging myself in all the over-analysis.  I just think it's tremendously fun and I feel like I've truly learned a lot from all these discussions here.  It's funny though.  Sometimes I watch with specific questions for these forums in mind... so I'll pause it and come running to the computer.

[Luvlylittlewing]

I guess it all depends on your personality.  I can watch a movie I like hundreds of times and never tire of it.  Brokeback is one of those films!  I have seen it 23 times in the cinema, but only about 6 times on DVD.  Each viewing is like the 1st.  I am still blown away by all the beauty, everything!  I don't think I'll every tire of watching Brokeback.  Actually, I won't have a chance to get burned out from it.  My daughter is a huge fan but feels it is too sad to watch more than once a month.  No one else in the household is a  repeat movie watcher, which means I am lucky to see it once every 2 weeks or so.

[David In Indy]

I guess it all depends on your personality.  I can watch a movie I like hundreds of times and never tire of it.  Brokeback is one of those films!  I have seen it 23 times in the cinema, but only about 6 times on DVD.  Each viewing is like the 1st.  I am still blown away by all the beauty, everything!  I don't think I'll every tire of watching Brokeback.  Actually, I won't have a chance to get burned out from it.  My daughter is a huge fan but feels it is too sad to watch more than once a month.  No one else in the household is a  repeat movie watcher, which means I am lucky to see it once every 2 weeks or so.

Littlewing - Oh WOW! 23 times at the cinema? You ARE a die hard Brokie aren't you? I saw it seven times at the theatre (but I have watched it probably 50 times on DVD). Between you and me Littlewing, I think Universal made a bunch of money off the both of us!