The Article wrote: | "All you need to do is watch the same thing repeatedly, or at least just twice. You will definitely not have the same experience. The gap—the discrepancy—is where everything begins.” |
I can't even begin to count how many time I've noticed new things on a 2nd+ viewing. For me, the 1st time is mainly about the story and/or characters. A 2nd time is all about the technical/production details and whatever subtleties in the writing I might've missed. By the 3rd time, I take into consideration all the story and details from the previous two times, and just enjoy how everything came together for what they are.
I even tried giving some titles I disliked a 2nd viewing. Some of them actually seemed a little better. But some others that just ended up highlighting their own deficiencies even more.
It took me a few times to get into Blade Runner (1982). I thought it was Good (7/10) the 1st time (about 2006, when I was 23, on the early first-print Blu-ray). A few years later (2011, age 28, same out-dated Blu-ray), and after watching a lot of detective noir movies, I liked it a lot more and bumped it to Excellent (9/10). And when it came out on 4K (2017, I was 34), I was blown away by how well it aged (and also at the remaster quality), think it's a Masterpiece (10/10) and consider it the perennial movie for all things cyberpunk, which should be pretty easy to see in just about any other cyberpunk themed property, now.
The same thing applies to Oshii's Ghost in the Shell (1995). There was a time, probably in the late '90s, that I watched it, English dubbed on VHS. But I won't count that, as I don't feel I was intellectually and mentally mature enough to appreciate something like that as a teenager.
So the official 1st time (about 2006, Special Edition DVD, in Japanese with subs) I thought it was Very Good (8/10). 2nd time (2014, 2.0 Edition Blu-ray with the tacky CG overlays, in Japanese with subs) I kept the same rating. And I think most of that was from not knowing that the CG was gonna' look so weird. 3rd time (2021, 4K, with audio commentary from Animation Writer and English Language Scriptwriter Mary Claypool, Animation Producer and Writer Eric Calderon, Voice Actor, Richard Epcar, and Animation Historian and Critic Charles Solomon) I bumped it to Excellent (9/10) just based on their comments. I'm sure once I actually watch it in its entirety, again (in Japanese with subs), I'll appreciate it for it's timeless greatness and bump the rating up to Masterpiece (10/10).
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