🕷️ Crawler Inspector

URL Lookup

Direct Parameter Lookup

Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:
Response:
Calculated Shard: 76 (from laksa153)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:
Response:

3. Robots.txt Check

Query:
Response:

4. Spam/Ban Check

Query:
Response:

5. Seen Status Check

ℹ️ Skipped - page is already crawled

📄
INDEXABLE
✅
CRAWLED
1 month ago
🤖
ROBOTS ALLOWED

Page Info Filters

FilterStatusConditionDetails
HTTP statusPASSdownload_http_code = 200HTTP 200
Age cutoffPASSdownload_stamp > now() - 6 MONTH1.3 months ago
History dropPASSisNull(history_drop_reason)No drop reason
Spam/banPASSfh_dont_index != 1 AND ml_spam_score = 0ml_spam_score=0
CanonicalPASSmeta_canonical IS NULL OR = '' OR = src_unparsedNot set

Page Details

PropertyValue
URLhttps://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable
Last Crawled2026-03-02 18:42:41 (1 month ago)
First Indexednot set
HTTP Status Code200
Meta TitleIn Defense of the Rewatchable - by Savannah L. Barker
Meta DescriptionIssue 005: On nostalgia, streaming, and the movies we return to
Meta Canonicalnull
Boilerpipe Text
Hi there! Guest writer here. To those I haven’t met, my name is Savannah Barker. I’m Mars’ wife, cultural sparring partner, and unofficial co-host of our living room film festival that skews heavily toward whatever 1990s “underrated masterpiece” he’s currently evangelizing. A few weeks ago I was having a conversation with a colleague of mine about movies. I shared my top choices of the Oscar Best Picture nominees— Sinners and One Battle After Another , in case you were curious—and proceeded to ask him what his favorites were. To my surprise, he admitted that not only had he not seen any new movies over the past several years, but he hadn’t even stepped foot in a movie theater since before the pandemic. “Not to sound like a grumpy old man, but they just don’t make movies like they used to.” 1 Living in Los Angeles, it’s sometimes easy to forget that not everyone is surrounded by a barrage of “for your consideration” billboards in the months leading up to awards season. Outside our bubble, movies, and especially movie theaters, have become optional. Maybe even obsolete. To a certain degree, I get it. I’m certainly not a movie theater purist. I have an incredible home theater setup with a 83-inch inch screen and pristine sound system. I like my popcorn, my blankets and my pee breaks. No shame. So why pay $18 to sit through 30 minutes of previews and risk a disruptive movie watching experience if you’re unlucky enough to be seated next to someone who won’t get off their phone (or worse, someone with a cough). With that said, I still try to go to the movie theater occasionally—I recently saw a matinee of Wuthering Heights and laughed far harder than the filmmakers probably intended—but more often than not, I find myself returning to something older. Something familiar. Enter: The Rewatchable. The Rewatchables is a podcast from The Ringer that unofficially started in 2015 when Bill Simmons and co-host Chris Ryan recorded an enthusiastic conversation about their love of Michael Mann’s magnum opus Heat . What started out as two people geeking out over their favorite movie has since turned into a full-fledged cinematic universe, with over 400 episodes, rotating hosts—including celebrity guests like Quentine Tarantino, Jennifer Lawrence, and Michael Mann himself—and delightfully absurd categories like: Half-Assed Internet Research The Joey Pants Award for Best “That Guy” Casting “What Ifs” The Dion Waiters 2 “Heat Check” Award Apex Mountain 3 But what I probably love most is the concept of a rewatchable itself. Importantly, a rewatchable doesn’t have to be a critically acclaimed movie, or a great movie, or even a good movie, just a movie that you enjoy watching and re-watching again and again. It’s like comfort food, or the warm feeling of a familiar place. In the never-ending hellscape that is the current political climate, feeding your soul is a must. There is some debate as to whether the concept of a rewatchable still exists. Before streaming, rewatching often happened by accident. You’d be flipping through channels and land in the middle of the 1996 psychological thriller Fear , starring Mark Wahlberg as the boyfriend from hell. 4 Giggling hysterically with my sister at the rollercoaster scene set to a whispery cover of “Wild Horses” is permanently imprinted in my brain. Or maybe you caught the last 45 minutes of Scarface , a film that my sister and I watched religiously when it was in the HBO rotation. 5 In many cases you didn’t choose the movie—it chose you. Blockbuster added another layer of serendipity. You would scan the aisles, judging movies by their covers, and often picked something totally blind. If you had a hit, you would watch that same VHS (or eventually DVD) over and over again until it was time to return it. Algorithms have largely killed the concept of serendipity in art and culture. Virtually everything is “curated” for us—from our Spotify playlists to our Netflix homepage. They feed us what we already like based on what we’ve already consumed. Additionally, streaming services offer far fewer titles than were once readily available to us. Netflix, for example, once boasted a library of over 100,000 DVD titles . Today the streamer has only 4,000 titles on its service. Despite the appearance of abundance, we are forced to navigate across 17 different apps to try to find the title we’re looking for, and even then it may not be available. No wonder Gen Z is embracing physical media . Some have sought to recapture both the nostalgia and the ability to browse such an expansive library. Vidiots , a beloved Los Angeles movie theater and video store, has over 70,000 titles available for rent. Their movie theater also prominently features rewatchable films in addition to indie films. It’s clear they are tapping into something that is meaningful for people. The rewatchable survives because sometimes you don’t want to watch another 5-hour true crime docuseries with that awfully bland “ Netflix look .” You want the familiar taste of something great. “They just don’t make movies like they used to.” This is a common refrain I hear, but is it really true? Or are we confusing quality with memory? Would emo music hit the same way if you heard it for the first time at 35 instead of 15? Or is it inseparable from the memories of your angsty high school self? There is something to the idea that movies have changed over the past 20 years. The influence of streaming services and infiltration of Big Tech into the industry has led to changes to the business model that make it so many of the mid-budget films that dominated in the 1990s simply couldn’t exist today. While we get the occasional original film ( Sinners ) Hollywood is overwhelmingly dominated by sequels and remakes, book or video game adaptations, really anything with pre-existing IP. Most of the original content has moved to television because the economics of movie making is less viable , and studios would rather bet on a known entity than take a swing at something new. It’s no wonder, then, that The Rewatchables has a natural bias for movies from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. Those were the decades when studios made the kinds of movies people could fall in love with slowly. Movies that played on cable for years. Movies that had time to marinate. The podcast has been a great entry point into not only the nostalgic movies that I loved growing up, but also turned me onto movies I’d never seen before (or helped me to appreciate the movies Mars has forced on me over the years). To date, my favorites have been: A masterpiece starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, it’s shocking that I didn’t know about this movie until Mars introduced me (and basically my entire family) to it a few years ago. The downtown LA bank robbery scene is so legendary that it’s been used to train US Marines . I would specifically recommend listening to the “Re-Heat” episode as I believe it is the best one. Listen here A movie that I had already seen, but have grown to love even more since revisiting. Upon multiple rewatches, True Romance has officially surpassed Pulp Fiction as my favorite Quentin Tarantino film. Listen here It’s remarkable that this was Paul Thoman Anderson’s first movie, because I believe it is his best. With an all-star cast that includes a young Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, John C. Reilly, Don Cheadle, and my personal favorite, Phillip Seymour Hoffman. This was not a film I grew up watching, but has quickly become a favorite. Listen here I had only seen this movie once before, but Bill Simmons’ Boston connection makes this episode an absolute delight, and the Heat parallels have given me a deeper appreciation of the film. Listen here Aggressively Boston. Aggressively fun. Probably Scorsese’s last truly great film. Listen here This movie is so much smarter than I remember. The outfits are still as iconic as ever, and Alicia Silverstone gives one of the great performances of the 1990s. Listen here Aaron Sorkin, David Fincher, and a soundtrack from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Need I say more? This movie only gets better with age, especially as we’ve watched Mark Zuckerberg transform into a dead-eyed android cosplaying as a human. Listen here Seeing Tom Cruise as a romantic lead after he’s spent the past decade making Mission Impossible films is truly a treat. And how could you forget iconic lines like “Show me the money!” and “You had me at hello.” Listen here Unlike Trading Places (which includes a scene of Dan Aykroyd in blackface–yikes!) the satire and class consciousness in Beverly Hills Cop is impressive given it came out in the 1980s. Comedies don’t typically age as well as other genres, but this could be released today and I believe it would still be a hit. Listen here This is an unhinged fever dream of a movie, and the podcast matches its chaotic energy. A killer alien seductress played by a supermodel, and Forrest Whitaker as an “empath” with inexplicable telekinetic powers. I rest my case. Listen here The original summer blockbuster, Jaws is still a terrifying watch (and the reason I’m afraid to swim in the ocean to this day). If nothing else, this episode is worth a listen just to hear Bill’s hilarious impression of Quint being eaten alive. Listen here Risky Business came to me not as a movie, but as a cultural artifact. Something I had seen snippets of before (see: Tom Cruise dancing in his underwear to “Old Time Rock and Roll”) but never consumed in its entirety. The commentary on capitalism is truly ingenious. A movie I have loved since I first saw it and still scares me every time. While Alien has had a surplus of sequels and prequels ( Prometheus being the best) nothing beats this chilling classic. Listen here Aside from Bill Simmon’s bizarre take that Home Alone is not a Christmas movie, this is in fact the greatest Christmas movie of all time (and the only Christmas movie I can get Mars to watch every year other than Krampus ). Listen here Dinosaurs and Jeff Goldblum. Has there ever been a more rewatchable movie? Listen here This movie feels like a time capsule from a bygone era. There are an astonishing number of all-star cameos–Jason Segel, Rihanna, Aziz Ansari, Kevin Hart—and the main cast has amazing chemistry, with Danny McBride as the clear “winner” of this movie. Listen here Other honorable mentions include: While this film hasn’t aged as well as some of the others (due to the flagrant racism of its main character) it is one of Bill Simmon’s favorite movies and prominently features the Bus Boys, a band that my father once belonged to! It also includes one of the all-time great Eddie Murphy scenes of the decade. Listen here While this film started the “found footage” trend (later perfected by Paranormal Activity ) this episode is a fun listen to remember just how groundbreaking it was at the time. While the Blair Witch Project doesn’t pack the same punch upon rewatch, it’s still a fun episode. Listen here Titanic was one of the highest-grossing films of all time, but this episode is worth a listen if only to hear Bill Simmons and Van Lathan’s “Rose is actually trash” hot take. Listen here To be honest, I haven’t actually seen this movie more than once, but this episode is worth a listen just to hear Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan go on a 20-minute side quest discussing the efficacy of blimp travel. Listen here It’s important to note that these are just the rewatchable movies that have a corresponding podcast. Bill Simmons is famously not a fan of superhero movies or fantasy, so they have not yet done my all-time rewatchable: the Lord of the Rings trilogy 6 or any of the MCU films beyond Ironman . His co-hosts were eventually able to convince him to rewatch the original Star Wars , so there is hope that there will be a LOTR podcast in the not-too-distant future. There is probably an argument to be made that rewatching is lazy. That it signals creative decline. That we should be pursuing new art instead of recycling old hits. But rewatching allows us to reinterpret through new lenses. A movie you loved at 13 hits differently at 33. Power dynamics shift. Politics sharpen. Themes reveal themselves. A good rewatchable grows with you and helps you discover new things each time. There’s something comforting about returning to art that has already proven itself durable in your life. In a fragmented digital world where everything is optimized for outrage and immediacy, a rewatchable movie feels strangely analog. Rather than experience content in clips at 2x speed, you’re slowing down to immerse yourself in something for 120 minutes or more. It’s intentional. Almost defiant. It’s saying: I know what nourishes me. And I’m choosing it. So yes, I will still go to the movie theater. But if you need me, I’ll be on my couch, rewatching The Lord of the Rings for the 19th time. Extended edition only. I recently learned that there is a burgeoning black market for restaurant reservations and I can’t stop thinking about it. Virtually every comedian on the planet will be in town for the Netflix is a Joke Fest May 4-10. Snag tickets while you still can. Some rare good news about housing affordability in LA as rent prices drop to a four-year low. This is Gustavo Dudamel’s final season with the LA Philharmonic . Be sure to catch him at the Walt Disney Concert Hall before he’s gone. For a truly delightful distraction, watch the latest season of Traitors (warning: link includes spoilers!) as it is the best season yet, and now that the season is over you don’t have to wait each week to see what happens next. 1 This person is 44 years old by the way, hardly an old man, but more Gen X than millennial. 2 I am not a sports fan, but as explained to me by Mars, Dion Waiters was a basketball player who had irrational confidence, taking lots of shots from basically anywhere even though he was below average shooting. Someone who saw himself as a potential star, but was better suited to a supporting role. 3 Nobody on the podcast can agree what “Apex Mountain” actually means and the definition seemingly changes episode to episode, but that’s part of the fun! 4 The "from hell" erotic thriller genre absolutely dominated in the 1990s, what was in the water back then? 5 My sister now lives in Miami and I can’t help but think her admiration for the city was, in part, fueled by her love of Scarface . 6 Sadly, there has not been a Rewatchables podcast on the Lord of the Rings movies yet, as Bill Simmons is admittedly not a fan of the genre. However, he did do a podcast on Iron Man despite being vocal about not liking superhero movies, so there is hope that his co-hosts can convince him otherwise! No posts
Markdown
[![The Daily Mars](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Spe5!,w_40,h_40,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc917cef3-a259-4586-98c1-9f6b215755cf_1280x1280.png)](https://thedailymars.substack.com/) # [![The Daily Mars](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tuyT!,e_trim:10:white/e_trim:10:transparent/h_72,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff5152bfc-e9e4-456a-bc94-2f043dce5768_1100x220.png)](https://thedailymars.substack.com/) Subscribe Sign in # In Defense of the Rewatchable ### Issue 005: On nostalgia, streaming, and the movies we return to [![Savannah L. Barker's avatar](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2Eup!,w_36,h_36,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe89c6442-dee0-4af5-a1a6-da0a437bc3ad_804x804.jpeg)](https://substack.com/@savannahlbarker) [Savannah L. Barker](https://substack.com/@savannahlbarker) Feb 27, 2026 1 Share Hi there! Guest writer here. To those I haven’t met, my name is Savannah Barker. I’m Mars’ wife, cultural sparring partner, and unofficial co-host of our living room film festival that skews heavily toward whatever 1990s “underrated masterpiece” he’s currently evangelizing. [![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OHbG!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F284abc51-a1b4-4fd4-a18c-f1f6deffced8_4080x2295.png)](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OHbG!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F284abc51-a1b4-4fd4-a18c-f1f6deffced8_4080x2295.png) A few weeks ago I was having a conversation with a colleague of mine about movies. I shared my top choices of the Oscar Best Picture nominees—*Sinners* and *One Battle After Another*, in case you were curious—and proceeded to ask him what his favorites were. To my surprise, he admitted that not only had he not seen any new movies over the past several years, but he hadn’t even stepped foot in a movie theater since before the pandemic. **“Not to sound like a grumpy old man, but they just don’t make movies like they used to.”[1](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-1-189205135)** Living in Los Angeles, it’s sometimes easy to forget that not everyone is surrounded by a barrage of “for your consideration” billboards in the months leading up to awards season. Outside our bubble, movies, and especially movie theaters, have become optional. Maybe even obsolete. To a certain degree, I get it. I’m certainly not a movie theater purist. I have an incredible home theater setup with a 83-inch inch screen and pristine sound system. I like my popcorn, my blankets and my pee breaks. No shame. So why pay \$18 to sit through 30 minutes of previews and risk a disruptive movie watching experience if you’re unlucky enough to be seated next to someone who won’t get off their phone (or worse, someone with a cough). With that said, I still try to go to the movie theater occasionally—I recently saw a matinee of *Wuthering Heights* and laughed far harder than the filmmakers probably intended—but more often than not, I find myself returning to something older. Something familiar. Enter: The Rewatchable. *** The Daily Mars is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. *** ## What is a Rewatchable? [The Rewatchables](https://www.theringer.com/podcasts/the-rewatchables) is a podcast from *The Ringer* that unofficially started in 2015 when Bill Simmons and co-host Chris Ryan recorded an enthusiastic conversation about their love of Michael Mann’s magnum opus *Heat*. What started out as two people geeking out over their favorite movie has since turned into a full-fledged cinematic universe, with over 400 episodes, rotating hosts—including celebrity guests like Quentine Tarantino, Jennifer Lawrence, and Michael Mann himself—and delightfully absurd categories like: - Half-Assed Internet Research - The Joey Pants Award for Best “That Guy” - Casting “What Ifs” - The Dion Waiters[2](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-2-189205135) “Heat Check” Award - Apex Mountain[3](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-3-189205135) But what I probably love most is the concept of a rewatchable itself. Importantly, a rewatchable doesn’t have to be a critically acclaimed movie, or a great movie, or even a *good* movie, just a movie that you enjoy watching and re-watching again and again. It’s like comfort food, or the warm feeling of a familiar place. In the never-ending hellscape that is the current political climate, feeding your soul is a must. ## Do Rewatchables Still Exist? There is some debate as to whether the concept of a rewatchable still exists. Before streaming, rewatching often happened by accident. You’d be flipping through channels and land in the middle of the 1996 psychological thriller *Fear*, starring Mark Wahlberg as the boyfriend from hell.[4](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-4-189205135) Giggling hysterically with my sister at the rollercoaster scene set to a whispery cover of “Wild Horses” is permanently imprinted in my brain. Or maybe you caught the last 45 minutes of *Scarface*, a film that my sister and I watched religiously when it was in the HBO rotation.[5](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-5-189205135) In many cases you didn’t choose the movie—it chose you. Blockbuster added another layer of serendipity. You would scan the aisles, judging movies by their covers, and often picked something totally blind. If you had a hit, you would watch that same VHS (or eventually DVD) over and over again until it was time to return it. Algorithms have largely killed the concept of serendipity in art and culture. Virtually everything is “curated” for us—from our Spotify playlists to our Netflix homepage. They feed us what we already like based on what we’ve already consumed. Additionally, streaming services offer far fewer titles than were once readily available to us. Netflix, for example, [once boasted a library of over 100,000 DVD titles](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/netflix/netflix-dvd-service-plan-subscribers-discontinued-closing). Today the streamer has only 4,000 titles on its service. Despite the appearance of abundance, we are forced to navigate across 17 different apps to try to find the title we’re looking for, and even then it may not be available. No wonder [Gen Z is embracing physical media](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2026-02-23/why-gen-z-wants-to-buy-rent-dvds-blu-rays-in-age-of-streaming). Some have sought to recapture both the nostalgia and the ability to browse such an expansive library. [Vidiots](https://vidiotsfoundation.org/video-store/), a beloved Los Angeles movie theater and video store, has over 70,000 titles available for rent. Their movie theater also prominently features rewatchable films in addition to indie films. It’s clear they are tapping into something that is meaningful for people. The rewatchable survives because sometimes you don’t want to watch another 5-hour true crime docuseries with that awfully bland “[Netflix look](https://www.vice.com/en/article/why-does-everything-on-netflix-look-like-that/).” You want the familiar taste of something great. ## Better Movies, Or Just Nostalgia? “They just don’t make movies like they used to.” This is a common refrain I hear, but is it really true? Or are we confusing quality with memory? Would emo music hit the same way if you heard it for the first time at 35 instead of 15? Or is it inseparable from the memories of your angsty high school self? There is something to the idea that movies have changed over the past 20 years. The influence of streaming services and infiltration of Big Tech into the industry has led to changes to the business model that make it so many of the mid-budget films that dominated in the 1990s simply couldn’t exist today. While we get the occasional original film (*Sinners*) Hollywood is overwhelmingly dominated by sequels and remakes, book or video game adaptations, really anything with pre-existing IP. Most of the original content has moved to television because [the economics of movie making is less viable](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/newsletter/2023-03-28/what-streaming-did-movie-budgets-gutting-middle-raising-indies-the-wide-shot), and studios would rather bet on a known entity than take a swing at something new. It’s no wonder, then, that *The Rewatchables* has a natural bias for movies from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. Those were the decades when studios made the kinds of movies people could fall in love with slowly. Movies that played on cable for years. Movies that had time to marinate. ## My Favorite Rewatchables The podcast has been a great entry point into not only the nostalgic movies that I loved growing up, but also turned me onto movies I’d never seen before (or helped me to appreciate the movies Mars has forced on me over the years). *** ##### To date, my favorites have been: #### Heat (1995) A masterpiece starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, it’s shocking that I didn’t know about this movie until Mars introduced me (and basically my entire family) to it a few years ago. The downtown LA bank robbery scene is so legendary that it’s been [used to train US Marines](https://screenrant.com/heat-shootout-scene-marine-weapons-training/). I would specifically recommend listening to the “Re-Heat” episode as I believe it is the best one. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/3DhI9WOS10d9ZsgEyqnulT?si=OlhRCJFHRxWEtmxwcVuwyg) #### True Romance (1993) A movie that I had already seen, but have grown to love even more since revisiting. Upon multiple rewatches, *True Romance* has officially surpassed *Pulp Fiction* as my favorite Quentin Tarantino film. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/6SMOUGLhQSO3lB6O7Hcj7Q?si=SNRiPbv_SjSr92beri4_-A) #### Boogie Nights (1997) It’s remarkable that this was Paul Thoman Anderson’s first movie, because I believe it is his best. With an all-star cast that includes a young Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, John C. Reilly, Don Cheadle, and my personal favorite, Phillip Seymour Hoffman. This was not a film I grew up watching, but has quickly become a favorite. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/7s0BwSCXgvVvOxnbD0lxlo?si=5YKCGFl3Sc6qBSUEKiD3Fg) #### The Town (2010) I had only seen this movie once before, but Bill Simmons’ Boston connection makes this episode an absolute delight, and the *Heat* parallels have given me a deeper appreciation of the film. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5pRg4kX2aVDvEg3XMfmwyo?si=9Gi3hNsWS2KMh_i5ICoK0w) #### The Departed (2006) Aggressively Boston. Aggressively fun. Probably Scorsese’s last truly great film. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/38Vs7p2ZLzVRAyQdqmGgG5?si=s6GgtsNRTraQigrqO7ulaQ) #### Clueless (1995) This movie is so much smarter than I remember. The outfits are still as iconic as ever, and Alicia Silverstone gives one of the great performances of the 1990s. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0c9h3UWh7CrTIABh4Gt6so?si=RvodUl_WSxmC2HBHUcVd_w) #### The Social Network (2010) Aaron Sorkin, David Fincher, and a soundtrack from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Need I say more? This movie only gets better with age, especially as we’ve watched Mark Zuckerberg transform into a dead-eyed android cosplaying as a human. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/70S4ll9j9GJko9GvKZgxvw?si=i7vUEmboQQmd3kYrD7wfhw) #### Jerry Maguire (1996) Seeing Tom Cruise as a romantic lead after he’s spent the past decade making *Mission Impossible* films is truly a treat. And how could you forget iconic lines like “Show me the money!” and “You had me at hello.” [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ADHEi2VPlc4XFF9ZmQO5G?si=50bNkkawT4WRKsuVJjR_dg) #### Beverly Hills Cop (1984) Unlike *Trading Places* (which includes a scene of Dan Aykroyd in blackface–yikes!) the satire and class consciousness in *Beverly Hills Cop* is impressive given it came out in the 1980s. Comedies don’t typically age as well as other genres, but this could be released today and I believe it would still be a hit. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/6YaY8CC3HRJEO4KlRjMPv5?si=lf4ATC-mT0-M6I-mAHrqGA) #### Species (1995) This is an unhinged fever dream of a movie, and the podcast matches its chaotic energy. A killer alien seductress played by a supermodel, and Forrest Whitaker as an “empath” with inexplicable telekinetic powers. I rest my case. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/41suFOzlLw6BBYZcxyVsyX?si=h5QQQxN_R9GwNw9_2BOZgg) #### Jaws (1975) The original summer blockbuster, *Jaws* is still a terrifying watch (and the reason I’m afraid to swim in the ocean to this day). If nothing else, this episode is worth a listen just to hear Bill’s hilarious impression of Quint being eaten alive. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0LoMSh00hpE3rCsJgba2v8?si=wp4KOJUnQcGv7r8LSaItuw) #### Risky Business (1983) *Risky Business* came to me not as a movie, but as a cultural artifact. Something I had seen snippets of before (see: Tom Cruise dancing in his underwear to “Old Time Rock and Roll”) but never consumed in its entirety. The commentary on capitalism is truly ingenious. #### Alien (1979) A movie I have loved since I first saw it and still scares me every time. While Alien has had a surplus of sequels and prequels (*Prometheus* being the best) nothing beats this chilling classic. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/7s07v8mxXQTSI4LY9oIoQR?si=-IrW4etiS7SJ4vG1Nqo1ww) #### Home Alone (1990) Aside from Bill Simmon’s bizarre take that *Home Alone* is not a Christmas movie, this is in fact *the* greatest Christmas movie of all time (and the only Christmas movie I can get Mars to watch every year other than *Krampus*). [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/1lXcPBPxEu6HuJiQC61RUt?si=S0ayahvYSdW8q_SJqO4DEg) #### Jurassic Park (1993) Dinosaurs and Jeff Goldblum. Has there ever been a more rewatchable movie? [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0tCbyeXaPde500DaaX2TXG?si=9fjPWBSwQx-DmL1uZX6PPA) #### This is the End (2013) This movie feels like a time capsule from a bygone era. There are an astonishing number of all-star cameos–Jason Segel, Rihanna, Aziz Ansari, Kevin Hart—and the main cast has amazing chemistry, with Danny McBride as the clear “winner” of this movie. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5xnIZgUVKNR9R1xCliIP4G?si=VEUenH03Q1-vyhKArF7u3Q) ##### **Other honorable mentions include:** #### 48 Hrs (1982) While this film hasn’t aged as well as some of the others (due to the flagrant racism of its main character) it is one of Bill Simmon’s favorite movies and prominently features the Bus Boys, a band that my father once belonged to! It also includes one of the all-time great Eddie Murphy scenes of the decade. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5EPBsDSxvYegiMkBVOPR7p?si=NPSVJxPoSlaoQ-Y8k9Kr5w) #### Blair Witch Project (1999) While this film started the “found footage” trend (later perfected by *Paranormal Activity*) this episode is a fun listen to remember just how groundbreaking it was at the time. While the Blair Witch Project doesn’t pack the same punch upon rewatch, it’s still a fun episode. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/1HAmJhuRG3El0mnpo2mFpa?si=nvH5CHqSR8myedYXV0HnFw) #### Titanic (1997) Titanic was one of the highest-grossing films of all time, but this episode is worth a listen if only to hear Bill Simmons and Van Lathan’s “Rose is actually trash” hot take. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/4gZof15AOhdkgJyyW1ktps?si=n-SfynG9Twm2SxBAymt_9Q) #### Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) To be honest, I haven’t actually seen this movie more than once, but this episode is worth a listen just to hear Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan go on a 20-minute side quest discussing the efficacy of blimp travel. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0GvzvHXNP0KJwgIOBslA5O?si=viCQslJzReGF2ailfSqJ2g) *** It’s important to note that these are just the rewatchable movies that have a corresponding podcast. Bill Simmons is famously not a fan of superhero movies or fantasy, so they have not yet done my all-time rewatchable: the *Lord of the Rings* trilogy[6](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-6-189205135) or any of the MCU films beyond *Ironman*. His co-hosts were eventually able to convince him to rewatch the original *Star Wars*, so there is hope that there will be a LOTR podcast in the not-too-distant future. ## Conclusion There is probably an argument to be made that rewatching is lazy. That it signals creative decline. That we should be pursuing new art instead of recycling old hits. But rewatching allows us to reinterpret through new lenses. A movie you loved at 13 hits differently at 33. Power dynamics shift. Politics sharpen. Themes reveal themselves. A good rewatchable grows with you and helps you discover new things each time. There’s something comforting about returning to art that has already proven itself durable in your life. In a fragmented digital world where everything is optimized for outrage and immediacy, a rewatchable movie feels strangely analog. Rather than experience content in clips at 2x speed, you’re slowing down to immerse yourself in something for 120 minutes or more. It’s intentional. Almost defiant. It’s saying: I know what nourishes me. And I’m choosing it. So yes, I will still go to the movie theater. But if you need me, I’ll be on my couch, rewatching *The Lord of the Rings* for the 19th time. Extended edition only. ## Stuff To Distract You From The Abyss - I recently learned that there is a [burgeoning black market for restaurant reservations](https://www.foodandwine.com/third-party-restaurant-reservations-national-restaurant-association-report-11731196) and I can’t stop thinking about it. - Virtually every comedian on the planet will be in town for the [Netflix is a Joke Fest](https://www.livenation.com/promotion/netflixisajokefestival) May 4-10. Snag tickets while you still can. - Some [rare good news](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-01-28/finally-renters-market-la-rent-prices-drop-to-four-year-low) about housing affordability in LA as rent prices drop to a four-year low. - This is Gustavo Dudamel’s final season with the [LA Philharmonic](https://www.laphil.com/). Be sure to catch him at the Walt Disney Concert Hall before he’s gone. - For a truly delightful distraction, watch the latest season of [Traitors](https://www.theringer.com/2026/01/09/tv/the-traitors-season-4-premiere-power-rankings-donna-kelce-murders) (warning: link includes spoilers!) as it is the best season yet, and now that the season is over you don’t have to wait each week to see what happens next. *** The Daily Mars is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. [1](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-anchor-1-189205135) This person is 44 years old by the way, hardly an old man, but more Gen X than millennial. [2](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-anchor-2-189205135) I am not a sports fan, but as explained to me by Mars, Dion Waiters was a basketball player who had irrational confidence, taking lots of shots from basically anywhere even though he was below average shooting. Someone who saw himself as a potential star, but was better suited to a supporting role. [3](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-anchor-3-189205135) Nobody on the podcast can agree what “Apex Mountain” actually means and the definition seemingly changes episode to episode, but that’s part of the fun\! [4](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-anchor-4-189205135) The "from hell" erotic thriller genre absolutely dominated in the 1990s, what was in the water back then? [5](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-anchor-5-189205135) My sister now lives in Miami and I can’t help but think her admiration for the city was, in part, fueled by her love of *Scarface*. [6](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-anchor-6-189205135) Sadly, there has not been a Rewatchables podcast on the *Lord of the Rings* movies yet, as Bill Simmons is admittedly not a fan of the genre. However, he did do a podcast on *Iron Man* despite being vocal about not liking superhero movies, so there is hope that his co-hosts can convince him otherwise\! 1 Share #### Discussion about this post Comments Restacks Top Latest Discussions No posts ### Ready for more? © 2026 Mars Mundy · [Privacy](https://substack.com/privacy) ∙ [Terms](https://substack.com/tos) ∙ [Collection notice](https://substack.com/ccpa#personal-data-collected) [Start your Substack](https://substack.com/signup?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_content=footer) [Get the app](https://substack.com/app/app-store-redirect?utm_campaign=app-marketing&utm_content=web-footer-button) [Substack](https://substack.com/) is the home for great culture This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please [turn on JavaScript](https://enable-javascript.com/) or unblock scripts
Readable Markdown
Hi there! Guest writer here. To those I haven’t met, my name is Savannah Barker. I’m Mars’ wife, cultural sparring partner, and unofficial co-host of our living room film festival that skews heavily toward whatever 1990s “underrated masterpiece” he’s currently evangelizing. [![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OHbG!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F284abc51-a1b4-4fd4-a18c-f1f6deffced8_4080x2295.png)](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OHbG!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F284abc51-a1b4-4fd4-a18c-f1f6deffced8_4080x2295.png) A few weeks ago I was having a conversation with a colleague of mine about movies. I shared my top choices of the Oscar Best Picture nominees—*Sinners* and *One Battle After Another*, in case you were curious—and proceeded to ask him what his favorites were. To my surprise, he admitted that not only had he not seen any new movies over the past several years, but he hadn’t even stepped foot in a movie theater since before the pandemic. **“Not to sound like a grumpy old man, but they just don’t make movies like they used to.”[1](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-1-189205135)** Living in Los Angeles, it’s sometimes easy to forget that not everyone is surrounded by a barrage of “for your consideration” billboards in the months leading up to awards season. Outside our bubble, movies, and especially movie theaters, have become optional. Maybe even obsolete. To a certain degree, I get it. I’m certainly not a movie theater purist. I have an incredible home theater setup with a 83-inch inch screen and pristine sound system. I like my popcorn, my blankets and my pee breaks. No shame. So why pay \$18 to sit through 30 minutes of previews and risk a disruptive movie watching experience if you’re unlucky enough to be seated next to someone who won’t get off their phone (or worse, someone with a cough). With that said, I still try to go to the movie theater occasionally—I recently saw a matinee of *Wuthering Heights* and laughed far harder than the filmmakers probably intended—but more often than not, I find myself returning to something older. Something familiar. Enter: The Rewatchable. [The Rewatchables](https://www.theringer.com/podcasts/the-rewatchables) is a podcast from *The Ringer* that unofficially started in 2015 when Bill Simmons and co-host Chris Ryan recorded an enthusiastic conversation about their love of Michael Mann’s magnum opus *Heat*. What started out as two people geeking out over their favorite movie has since turned into a full-fledged cinematic universe, with over 400 episodes, rotating hosts—including celebrity guests like Quentine Tarantino, Jennifer Lawrence, and Michael Mann himself—and delightfully absurd categories like: - Half-Assed Internet Research - The Joey Pants Award for Best “That Guy” - Casting “What Ifs” - The Dion Waiters[2](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-2-189205135) “Heat Check” Award - Apex Mountain[3](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-3-189205135) But what I probably love most is the concept of a rewatchable itself. Importantly, a rewatchable doesn’t have to be a critically acclaimed movie, or a great movie, or even a *good* movie, just a movie that you enjoy watching and re-watching again and again. It’s like comfort food, or the warm feeling of a familiar place. In the never-ending hellscape that is the current political climate, feeding your soul is a must. There is some debate as to whether the concept of a rewatchable still exists. Before streaming, rewatching often happened by accident. You’d be flipping through channels and land in the middle of the 1996 psychological thriller *Fear*, starring Mark Wahlberg as the boyfriend from hell.[4](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-4-189205135) Giggling hysterically with my sister at the rollercoaster scene set to a whispery cover of “Wild Horses” is permanently imprinted in my brain. Or maybe you caught the last 45 minutes of *Scarface*, a film that my sister and I watched religiously when it was in the HBO rotation.[5](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-5-189205135) In many cases you didn’t choose the movie—it chose you. Blockbuster added another layer of serendipity. You would scan the aisles, judging movies by their covers, and often picked something totally blind. If you had a hit, you would watch that same VHS (or eventually DVD) over and over again until it was time to return it. Algorithms have largely killed the concept of serendipity in art and culture. Virtually everything is “curated” for us—from our Spotify playlists to our Netflix homepage. They feed us what we already like based on what we’ve already consumed. Additionally, streaming services offer far fewer titles than were once readily available to us. Netflix, for example, [once boasted a library of over 100,000 DVD titles](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/netflix/netflix-dvd-service-plan-subscribers-discontinued-closing). Today the streamer has only 4,000 titles on its service. Despite the appearance of abundance, we are forced to navigate across 17 different apps to try to find the title we’re looking for, and even then it may not be available. No wonder [Gen Z is embracing physical media](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2026-02-23/why-gen-z-wants-to-buy-rent-dvds-blu-rays-in-age-of-streaming). Some have sought to recapture both the nostalgia and the ability to browse such an expansive library. [Vidiots](https://vidiotsfoundation.org/video-store/), a beloved Los Angeles movie theater and video store, has over 70,000 titles available for rent. Their movie theater also prominently features rewatchable films in addition to indie films. It’s clear they are tapping into something that is meaningful for people. The rewatchable survives because sometimes you don’t want to watch another 5-hour true crime docuseries with that awfully bland “[Netflix look](https://www.vice.com/en/article/why-does-everything-on-netflix-look-like-that/).” You want the familiar taste of something great. “They just don’t make movies like they used to.” This is a common refrain I hear, but is it really true? Or are we confusing quality with memory? Would emo music hit the same way if you heard it for the first time at 35 instead of 15? Or is it inseparable from the memories of your angsty high school self? There is something to the idea that movies have changed over the past 20 years. The influence of streaming services and infiltration of Big Tech into the industry has led to changes to the business model that make it so many of the mid-budget films that dominated in the 1990s simply couldn’t exist today. While we get the occasional original film (*Sinners*) Hollywood is overwhelmingly dominated by sequels and remakes, book or video game adaptations, really anything with pre-existing IP. Most of the original content has moved to television because [the economics of movie making is less viable](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/newsletter/2023-03-28/what-streaming-did-movie-budgets-gutting-middle-raising-indies-the-wide-shot), and studios would rather bet on a known entity than take a swing at something new. It’s no wonder, then, that *The Rewatchables* has a natural bias for movies from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. Those were the decades when studios made the kinds of movies people could fall in love with slowly. Movies that played on cable for years. Movies that had time to marinate. The podcast has been a great entry point into not only the nostalgic movies that I loved growing up, but also turned me onto movies I’d never seen before (or helped me to appreciate the movies Mars has forced on me over the years). ##### To date, my favorites have been: A masterpiece starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, it’s shocking that I didn’t know about this movie until Mars introduced me (and basically my entire family) to it a few years ago. The downtown LA bank robbery scene is so legendary that it’s been [used to train US Marines](https://screenrant.com/heat-shootout-scene-marine-weapons-training/). I would specifically recommend listening to the “Re-Heat” episode as I believe it is the best one. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/3DhI9WOS10d9ZsgEyqnulT?si=OlhRCJFHRxWEtmxwcVuwyg) A movie that I had already seen, but have grown to love even more since revisiting. Upon multiple rewatches, *True Romance* has officially surpassed *Pulp Fiction* as my favorite Quentin Tarantino film. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/6SMOUGLhQSO3lB6O7Hcj7Q?si=SNRiPbv_SjSr92beri4_-A) It’s remarkable that this was Paul Thoman Anderson’s first movie, because I believe it is his best. With an all-star cast that includes a young Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, John C. Reilly, Don Cheadle, and my personal favorite, Phillip Seymour Hoffman. This was not a film I grew up watching, but has quickly become a favorite. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/7s0BwSCXgvVvOxnbD0lxlo?si=5YKCGFl3Sc6qBSUEKiD3Fg) I had only seen this movie once before, but Bill Simmons’ Boston connection makes this episode an absolute delight, and the *Heat* parallels have given me a deeper appreciation of the film. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5pRg4kX2aVDvEg3XMfmwyo?si=9Gi3hNsWS2KMh_i5ICoK0w) Aggressively Boston. Aggressively fun. Probably Scorsese’s last truly great film. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/38Vs7p2ZLzVRAyQdqmGgG5?si=s6GgtsNRTraQigrqO7ulaQ) This movie is so much smarter than I remember. The outfits are still as iconic as ever, and Alicia Silverstone gives one of the great performances of the 1990s. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0c9h3UWh7CrTIABh4Gt6so?si=RvodUl_WSxmC2HBHUcVd_w) Aaron Sorkin, David Fincher, and a soundtrack from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Need I say more? This movie only gets better with age, especially as we’ve watched Mark Zuckerberg transform into a dead-eyed android cosplaying as a human. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/70S4ll9j9GJko9GvKZgxvw?si=i7vUEmboQQmd3kYrD7wfhw) Seeing Tom Cruise as a romantic lead after he’s spent the past decade making *Mission Impossible* films is truly a treat. And how could you forget iconic lines like “Show me the money!” and “You had me at hello.” [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ADHEi2VPlc4XFF9ZmQO5G?si=50bNkkawT4WRKsuVJjR_dg) Unlike *Trading Places* (which includes a scene of Dan Aykroyd in blackface–yikes!) the satire and class consciousness in *Beverly Hills Cop* is impressive given it came out in the 1980s. Comedies don’t typically age as well as other genres, but this could be released today and I believe it would still be a hit. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/6YaY8CC3HRJEO4KlRjMPv5?si=lf4ATC-mT0-M6I-mAHrqGA) This is an unhinged fever dream of a movie, and the podcast matches its chaotic energy. A killer alien seductress played by a supermodel, and Forrest Whitaker as an “empath” with inexplicable telekinetic powers. I rest my case. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/41suFOzlLw6BBYZcxyVsyX?si=h5QQQxN_R9GwNw9_2BOZgg) The original summer blockbuster, *Jaws* is still a terrifying watch (and the reason I’m afraid to swim in the ocean to this day). If nothing else, this episode is worth a listen just to hear Bill’s hilarious impression of Quint being eaten alive. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0LoMSh00hpE3rCsJgba2v8?si=wp4KOJUnQcGv7r8LSaItuw) *Risky Business* came to me not as a movie, but as a cultural artifact. Something I had seen snippets of before (see: Tom Cruise dancing in his underwear to “Old Time Rock and Roll”) but never consumed in its entirety. The commentary on capitalism is truly ingenious. A movie I have loved since I first saw it and still scares me every time. While Alien has had a surplus of sequels and prequels (*Prometheus* being the best) nothing beats this chilling classic. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/7s07v8mxXQTSI4LY9oIoQR?si=-IrW4etiS7SJ4vG1Nqo1ww) Aside from Bill Simmon’s bizarre take that *Home Alone* is not a Christmas movie, this is in fact *the* greatest Christmas movie of all time (and the only Christmas movie I can get Mars to watch every year other than *Krampus*). [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/1lXcPBPxEu6HuJiQC61RUt?si=S0ayahvYSdW8q_SJqO4DEg) Dinosaurs and Jeff Goldblum. Has there ever been a more rewatchable movie? [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0tCbyeXaPde500DaaX2TXG?si=9fjPWBSwQx-DmL1uZX6PPA) This movie feels like a time capsule from a bygone era. There are an astonishing number of all-star cameos–Jason Segel, Rihanna, Aziz Ansari, Kevin Hart—and the main cast has amazing chemistry, with Danny McBride as the clear “winner” of this movie. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5xnIZgUVKNR9R1xCliIP4G?si=VEUenH03Q1-vyhKArF7u3Q) ##### **Other honorable mentions include:** While this film hasn’t aged as well as some of the others (due to the flagrant racism of its main character) it is one of Bill Simmon’s favorite movies and prominently features the Bus Boys, a band that my father once belonged to! It also includes one of the all-time great Eddie Murphy scenes of the decade. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5EPBsDSxvYegiMkBVOPR7p?si=NPSVJxPoSlaoQ-Y8k9Kr5w) While this film started the “found footage” trend (later perfected by *Paranormal Activity*) this episode is a fun listen to remember just how groundbreaking it was at the time. While the Blair Witch Project doesn’t pack the same punch upon rewatch, it’s still a fun episode. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/1HAmJhuRG3El0mnpo2mFpa?si=nvH5CHqSR8myedYXV0HnFw) Titanic was one of the highest-grossing films of all time, but this episode is worth a listen if only to hear Bill Simmons and Van Lathan’s “Rose is actually trash” hot take. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/4gZof15AOhdkgJyyW1ktps?si=n-SfynG9Twm2SxBAymt_9Q) To be honest, I haven’t actually seen this movie more than once, but this episode is worth a listen just to hear Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan go on a 20-minute side quest discussing the efficacy of blimp travel. [Listen here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0GvzvHXNP0KJwgIOBslA5O?si=viCQslJzReGF2ailfSqJ2g) It’s important to note that these are just the rewatchable movies that have a corresponding podcast. Bill Simmons is famously not a fan of superhero movies or fantasy, so they have not yet done my all-time rewatchable: the *Lord of the Rings* trilogy[6](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-6-189205135) or any of the MCU films beyond *Ironman*. His co-hosts were eventually able to convince him to rewatch the original *Star Wars*, so there is hope that there will be a LOTR podcast in the not-too-distant future. There is probably an argument to be made that rewatching is lazy. That it signals creative decline. That we should be pursuing new art instead of recycling old hits. But rewatching allows us to reinterpret through new lenses. A movie you loved at 13 hits differently at 33. Power dynamics shift. Politics sharpen. Themes reveal themselves. A good rewatchable grows with you and helps you discover new things each time. There’s something comforting about returning to art that has already proven itself durable in your life. In a fragmented digital world where everything is optimized for outrage and immediacy, a rewatchable movie feels strangely analog. Rather than experience content in clips at 2x speed, you’re slowing down to immerse yourself in something for 120 minutes or more. It’s intentional. Almost defiant. It’s saying: I know what nourishes me. And I’m choosing it. So yes, I will still go to the movie theater. But if you need me, I’ll be on my couch, rewatching *The Lord of the Rings* for the 19th time. Extended edition only. - I recently learned that there is a [burgeoning black market for restaurant reservations](https://www.foodandwine.com/third-party-restaurant-reservations-national-restaurant-association-report-11731196) and I can’t stop thinking about it. - Virtually every comedian on the planet will be in town for the [Netflix is a Joke Fest](https://www.livenation.com/promotion/netflixisajokefestival) May 4-10. Snag tickets while you still can. - Some [rare good news](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-01-28/finally-renters-market-la-rent-prices-drop-to-four-year-low) about housing affordability in LA as rent prices drop to a four-year low. - This is Gustavo Dudamel’s final season with the [LA Philharmonic](https://www.laphil.com/). Be sure to catch him at the Walt Disney Concert Hall before he’s gone. - For a truly delightful distraction, watch the latest season of [Traitors](https://www.theringer.com/2026/01/09/tv/the-traitors-season-4-premiere-power-rankings-donna-kelce-murders) (warning: link includes spoilers!) as it is the best season yet, and now that the season is over you don’t have to wait each week to see what happens next. [1](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-anchor-1-189205135) This person is 44 years old by the way, hardly an old man, but more Gen X than millennial. [2](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-anchor-2-189205135) I am not a sports fan, but as explained to me by Mars, Dion Waiters was a basketball player who had irrational confidence, taking lots of shots from basically anywhere even though he was below average shooting. Someone who saw himself as a potential star, but was better suited to a supporting role. [3](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-anchor-3-189205135) Nobody on the podcast can agree what “Apex Mountain” actually means and the definition seemingly changes episode to episode, but that’s part of the fun\! [4](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-anchor-4-189205135) The "from hell" erotic thriller genre absolutely dominated in the 1990s, what was in the water back then? [5](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-anchor-5-189205135) My sister now lives in Miami and I can’t help but think her admiration for the city was, in part, fueled by her love of *Scarface*. [6](https://thedailymars.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable#footnote-anchor-6-189205135) Sadly, there has not been a Rewatchables podcast on the *Lord of the Rings* movies yet, as Bill Simmons is admittedly not a fan of the genre. However, he did do a podcast on *Iron Man* despite being vocal about not liking superhero movies, so there is hope that his co-hosts can convince him otherwise\! No posts
Shard76 (laksa)
Root Hash14862242593741677076
Unparsed URLcom,substack!thedailymars,/p/in-defense-of-the-rewatchable s443