You can remove any film from your memory. What do you pick and why?

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Memento. But first I'd tattoo "Don't trust 'Memento'" on my stomach.

The Matrix. Blew my fucking mind the first time I saw it. It's awesome on repeat viewings, but that first watch is magical.

The Mark Wahlberg's planet of the apes.

It featured Helen Bonham Carter in full monkey makeup.

It awoke something inside of me that I wish had remained sleeping.

I’m surprised no one has mentioned Fight Club as a thing to rewatch with no memory that would be amazing.

For a film I’d want to erase cause it was awful I’d go with the last Jedi I genuinely hated that film. Or Star Trek into darkness hated that also.

Tucker and Dale vs Evil

I haven't laughed at a movie like that in years. I would like to again

Grave of the Fireflies

It is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen and I have absolutely zero interest, or even capability, to watch it again. But holy crap I "want" to.

ATLA live action. It's already almost gone from my memory but not quite all the way gone.

looks at comments Really? No Requiem for a Dream? Eff that movie.

The first one that comes time mind is the one I’ve watched the most times and pretty much know by heart: The Princess Bride.

That said, I wonder how much of my love for the movie is nostalgia. Maybe it would ruin it for me. But it would be interesting to find out.

Ironically…Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

I don’t remember anything about it. I saw it after chugging a bottle of Robitussin DM and rented it thinking “Oh, Jim Carey, this’ll be hysterical”.

It wasn’t.

Spirited Away. I'd love to see that movie again for the first time. So beautiful and magical

Fucking Elf. I hate that fucking movie and yet due to the people I was hanging out with at the time somehow ended up seeing it 5 times. Didn't like it the first time, spent the whole time annoyed the second, don't know why or how I tolerated it 3 more times, but I'm never watching that shitty fucking movie ever again and wish I could bleach it the fuck out of my skull.

Fucking Serbian Film. And eff your post for reminding my stupid brain that that film exists. /s

I was reading the comments and realized that most people would want to forget a good movie so you can enjoy it again for the first time. But the first thing my negative ass thought of is "well I really wish I could remove the movie Tusk from my mind".

There are too many to choose!

And the award goes to:

Lord of the Rings. If I can only choose one, then Return of the King.

Honourable mentions:

Avengers Endgame (watched it at a midnight screening at a Infinity-War/Endgame double bill and it was one of the best experiences ever)

Tron legacy: unlike many movies, it completely drew me into its world, with the visuals and music.

Nolan batman films: probably Dark Knight

Matrix 4

for a long time, I was like if I had a wish, it would be to see the Matrix movies like the very first time.

after seeing the 4th, my wish is to clear Matrix 4 out of my mind.

Your Name, a beautiful anime movie. I was legit floored the whole way through. I'd watch that with new eyes in a heartbeat.

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind

Meet the Feebles

My parents thought it was the muppets. I watched it when I was 6.

I still get Vietnam flashbacks.

Cannibal Holocaust. I'm reminded of it every time I see a tortoise. If you're an animal person, do not watch it.

A Serbian film... That ending I just cant... It is the only movie I actively tell people to avoid. My wife and I like to watch the most mind-fuck movies imaginable, but that one took it a step too far. We literally just stared at the screen for like 5 min after it was over.

The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Permanently Deleted

Interstellar - Movie and Music

That’s my all time favorite.

I developed a moderately effective technique to suppress memories to the point where they're functionally removed. Perhaps not coincidentally, I don't know of any movies I want to forget.

Probably the ring +/- the adjacent films. Absolutely fucked me up for most of my childhood where I had issues falling asleep, looking under covers, etc. Not as bad now but certain things will trigger me still and it takes a few days to get back to normal.

Interstellar. I'd love to watch it for the first time all over again. I was so completely enthralled by it but also so heavily affected by it. It's one of those that stuck with me for weeks. Incredible movie.

The Irishman. The fact that I lost 3 hours to that pointless slog is so painful I'd rather just forget all about it. I'll never get those 3 hours back, but at least the regret will be gone.

I have watched Star Trek: Insurrection three times.

I know this only because three separate friend groups have all confirmed that I watched the movie with them.

I have no recollection of the film whatsoever.

So apparently, that one.

Star Wars Christmas Special

So tough. Three choices:

Enter the Void

Not4Sale - TV Sheriff and the Trailbuddies

Freddie Got Fingered

All three are the most incredible masterpieces I’ve watched for the first time while on LSD.

I think I’d go with Enter the Void.

The Truman Show fucked me up bad as a kid

Wait, that means I could remove my wedding film and forget everything about my ex?

The Book of Eli.

THAT THRILL throughout the whole movie, you feel that there's something odd, but you can't quite put your finger on it, and towards the end you know that something big needs to happen, or else...

And then it happens, but isn't it too late...?

And when you finally know what it is, then it is priceless, you feel like you should have seen it all the time, but you just couldn't.

And then you want to see the whole movie once again, immediately, in order to collect all the little hints and see them right... the whole plot gets a new meaning after you know.

But if I could forget it, and start newly without knowing, that would be soo nice.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

I fucking hated this film. The Mulder and Scully parts didn't feel like "oh, they finally got together". They felt like slash fanfic. "we had a kid off screen and it died, feel sad for us. Oh, also, we finally fucked." Stupid, stupid.

Edit - kid was given up for adoption, not died.

The English Patient. And I want my 14 hours back. (i know it wasn't 14 hours but it felt that way)

"Whats Eating Gilbert Grape" only reminds me of my ex, so that one

Probably something like An American Tail so I could enjoy it for the first time again after randomly stumbling upon it on my external hard drive.

The trouble with removing a crap film is that you might accidentally watch it again, so I’ll have to go for empire strikes back coz the vader twist for the first time would be crazy

I'd go with Back To The Future. Cozy and fun.

Total Recall because why not.

Earthlings. I won't link to it here. I got through 15 minutes of it before I had to stop.

A Serbian Film

Gasper Noe's IRREVERSIBLE. It's brilliant and amazing and so very traumatic. But in more ways than I expected.

https://youtu.be/OZL-JkOhGVY?si=Cz_Brp8lpoyeNqKc

mother!

That movie fucked me up. I've seen some shit on the Internet and thought I was pretty calloused to graphic, depraved brutality. The ending of that movie is something I'll never forget.

I was warned that the end was intense and read the synopsis because I was curious. Even with the spoilers I wasn't ready for it.

I'd like to forget it, but not beyond "this was an extremely well made and moving movie. Never watch it."

Permanently Deleted

The Gift, starring Jason Bateman.

The movie itself is fairly well made, albeit low budget af because it's a Netflix movie. The problem is the plot.

The French movie "Martyrs" messed me up for a few weeks. I was intrigued to know that the movie was the reason they made the rating system (like rated R, PG, G, etc.) and that it has an overwhelming amount of ppl walk out on it. I understand why now and I wish I never saw it.

Donnie Darko

Knives Out. I love watching every little detail of that movie, now I could do it all over again for the first time and find the same details again with additional rewatches.

Star wars sequels

There are so many candidates. It is genuinely impossible to pick just one. But anything I watched on the recommendation of someone who refers to a snack as "a bit naughty" is on the list for being dull. I would keep "the human centipede" and remove "love actually". I would remove the English patient, but I've only ever been able to watch the first 10 minutes before falling asleep so it isn't taking up much room.

Edit: nope, the Truman show. My English teacher made us watch it 20 times looking for religious symbolism as a film analysis project. I'd gladly forget it.

Worst I've seen and needed to stop watching: ALL ABOUT STEVE

Fight Club. Really good, but just hasn't ever had the same impact on repeat watches.

With a lot of other "plot twist" movies, you can at least enjoy repeat viewings because you see and enjoy all the signs, and maybe even pick up new ones. But Fight Club, despite being excellent, doesn't really execute the repeat view appeal very well at all imo.

For good: 2001: A Space Odyssey. So I could be wowed again by it.

For bad: Dude, Where's My Car

Probably a anime or manga that has the most chapters and one that I enjoyed.

Johnny Got His Gun (1971).

I could not finish this disturbing movie, and I would be happy to forget it.

Everything is illuminated. I'd love to watch it again.

Cloud Atlas

Shit was way too intense for the age I saw it at

Battlefield Earth.

Battle Royale 2 or Waiting 2.

Both of them were sequels to movies I loved that nearly ruined the first one retroactively. Usually I just chock it up to bad movie, but those two were beyond painful to watch.

For good: The Usual Suspects

For bad: Swept Away (2002 directed by Guy Ritchie)

Gummo, fuck that stupid piece of shit.

The Departed, what I would give to watch that movie for the first time again.

Requiem for a Dream - Especially now, later in life when I see addiction in so many people in my personal life.

It is a powerful movie on the various ways addiction can take hold of your life, even with doctor prescribed medication.

That being said, unless you're into the final scene with Jennifer Connoley, it's not something you'd necessarily want to watch again.

Side note, if you did enjoy it and want a look into mental health issues in a similar lense, among other things, Pi is a great movie by the same guy.

'a star is born'.

triggered back my suicidal tendencies so badly after 2 years.

Terminal

😔

"The Special" (2020). I would really like to forget this movie and I recommend you NOT to watch it!

Star Wars prequels.

Crystal Skull for me.. the first 3 Indiana Jones movies are near perfect, but all in different ways.. but the thing that ties them together is action, adventure, a simpl-ish story, some treasure, and they are beautiful. I was so pumped for Crystal Skull.

I was away for work, had a free night and there was a cinema a stroll away. I got a 6 pack of wild turkey and coke and started walking only to find it was about a 90min walk.. I was 6 turkeys deep but this was going to be magical, right? Nope, it was the biggest disappointment of a movie I have ever seen, then I had to walk 90mins back to my hotel reliving it.

Eat Pray Love. My girlfriend asked me to watch it with her and it was shit. Oddly, she didn’t like Wolf Creek.

The Fountain Any of the Highlander sequels

The Dark Tower

Martyrs

I'm an avid movie watcher.

• Atonement
• Melancholy
• Devil Dog

Gravity.

Every day, Gravity.

Bad Boy Bubby, scrape it from my brain.

I just hear his mom saying "good boy bubby..." as she's riding him and it haunts me.

The mist by m night Shyamalan. I absolutely despise the ending

I'm in the remove shit camp, and I'd probably go with the Green Lantern movie, only movie in my life I've walked out of.

That one with your Mom in it.