I think it is generally agreed that the Justice League film has not gone down well. The reviews have ranged from scathing to at best, 'it's all right.' While it might not be a flop, it's certainly falling well short of what the studio would have hoped for. Personally, for all it's flaws and there are many, I loved it.
Which might explain why I have seen it seven times at the cinema.
Now, I can just hear the reaction to that. Ranging from 'what the hell are you thinking?' to 'are you crazy' to 'you call yourself a film fan?' I've heard them all. However, I suspect there will be others who have seen it more than once at the cinema.
The real question to ask, is why?
The film I have seen the most at the cinema, is Serenity. I keep getting the count wrong but it was certainly around 11 or 12 times. On it's cinema release I was there seeing it (along with other films out too) any chance I could. As a fan of the TV series Firefly, seeing what is really a big screen finale to it was a totally joy. From it's opening up to its end, I loved it. and loved it with every screening I went to. It was everything I had wanted from the film. It is one of my all time favourite films.
But like with Justice League, you can ask why keep going to see a film over and over? A few fans repeatedly seeing the film won't of course affect the Box Office. But, what I think is the important aspect to this, is enjoying seeing the film how it is meant to be seen.
Let me explain, but first, a question; how many who own a DVD or Blu-Ray of a film, or see it on TV or though a streaming service, would go see that same film if their local cinema was showing the film? I suspect many would. I'm not just talking about classic films, but recent ones. I think any true film fan will go see a classic film on the big screen if they could, even if the have seen it many times at home. I doubt many would disagree, though there is a friend of mine who would!
And this is where 'how it is meant to be seen can apply.' On the whole, when a film is released in a cinema, I will take any opportunity to see it there is possible. Yes, watching at home can be good too, but honestly, watching a film like, Gravity on a cinema screen over a table or on TV? It's a no brainer where I'd want to see it.
There are those who will see a film once in a cinema and have no desire to keep going back to see it over and over. If they want to do that, that's fine. There is, of course, nothing wrong with that. And in my defence I don't do this with every film I see. Most I will tend to see just the once on a cinema screen. But there are others I feel I do need to see again and again. And often you come up with interesting reasons to justify it.
Hounds Of Love is a tense, gripping, uncomfortable film, one of the best I've seen this year. I saw it at the Glasgow FrightFest event where it got under my skin and stayed there. To be honest, I had no plans to see the film again anytime soon, such is the effect it had on me and the FrightFest audience. However, when the film was given a limited release in cinemas (I say limited as I could only find two cinemas in Scotland screening it) that uncomfortable feeling while still there was joined by the curiosity of wondering how the film would play to a more general audience. FrightFest would have been full of fans of genre cinema, but at a Saturday night screening at a multiplex? Probably not so much. Going to the screening, which involved around a 150 mile trip (no really!), I was genuinely curious to see how it played. When two people walked out before the title had come up, I did expect more after that. In the end, the reaction was mixed, some liked, some didn't and there were those who did find it uncomfortable too. Me? It reinforced my belief in how good the film was.
In that case, it was the curious factor that made me see it again. That has applied to other films too. Mother! was very divisive. Personally, I think it is the best film I've seen this year. But it is one where my curious side have me wondering how different audiences react to it. This has happened over and over with numerous films.
If I'm honest however, most of the films I go see over and over are those that are either fun or joyful. How else do you explain seeing Sunshine On Leith five times? It's not a great film certainly not a classic, but I love it. Even a comedy like Road Trip had me going many times as I found it very funny. I've not seen it since the cinema release 2000 at the cinema, so no idea if it holds up well.
Of course, having a Cineworld Unlimited card does keep the costs down. Paying a monthly fee that allows you to go as often as you like is a big help, there is no denying that. But, I don't always go there. I have a loyalty card for my local independent cinema, Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) but I still have to pay each time I go there (although I do get an occasional free film due to the card). Would having to pay every single time I went to the cinema curtail repeated screenings? Would I have seen Justice League seven times otherwise? To be honest, because of how much I love the film, then I probably still would have done it several times.
I was never one for going to pubs or clubs when younger. Instead, every weekend, it was off to the cinema to see something, anything. It still is. It's the reason why I have this Blog, but best of all it has opened my eyes to the wonder of world cinema, films of all kinds.
This does, of course, mean that there are times when you see bad films. You pay your money and take a chance on a film. But when you get one that has you smiling as you leave, or thinking, or haunting you afterwards, you can't help but want to see it again if possible. At least I want to. And then again and possibly again.
As for Justice League, I've seen it seven times already. Who knows, I may squeeze in an eighth time...
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