I don't think I have seen any movie 24 times, not even my most favorite ones.

Superman Returns came out 9 years ago, so to watch it 24 times since then, you would have to watch it more than twice a year.

Yeah, it seemed like Schwartz wanted to get away from the sci fi stuff and back to detective stuff, but then the show got popular and he was forced to ride the trend. But I wasn't alive so I have no idea what Batman comics were like back then.

Yeah, a lot of Uncanny in the early 70s were just reprints, until Claremont revitalized the brand.

Is that really so weird? I've seen the movie Excalibur over 100 times (and most of those were in the '80s). I've seen the first two Superman movies 50 or 60 times each, easily, and the Donner cut at least a dozen times since it was released. Hell, I've seen movies like Caddyshack or Airplane! probably 60 times each. I'm a child of the TV generation!

Do you keep a log? How would you even know you've seen Excalibur 100 times? My favorite movie of all time is The Empire Strikes Back. I would estimate that I've seen it all the way through, beginning to end, no more than 20 times. 25 tops. In fact I could probably count on two hands the number of movies I've seen 10 times or more.

The Adam West Batman remains my favorite iteration of that character outside of the comics

I like ice cream!

I agree, Superman: The Movie is a perfect superhero film. It's fantasy, but rooted in reality, but not in a postmodern Frank Miller reality where the media reaction to a hero is as important as what the hero does (which, to be fair, was a brilliant bit of comic book construction when it was first done). It has enough touchstones to the real world, idealized versions though it might be, to make you latch onto it and believe it, even with all the silliness.

This is actually why I think that the Burton/Shumacher Batman films have aged so poorly (Batman Returns aside, although that's better as a neo-expressionist homage than it is as a Batman movie). Gotham is so fantastical in those movies that there's nothing for the audience to grab hold of, nothing tangible. While I know some people here argue that Nolan's Batman films end up being silly by trying to be too realistic, I think they'll hold up far better over time than the Burton and Shumacher attempts.

Anyway, that's an aside. I think that Superman: The Movie strikes a near perfect balance of the silly/fantastical and serious/realistic. No, Luthor never really feels like a threat, but then again he does manage to set off two nuclear warheads, effectively besting Superman (who has to cheat to pull off the happy ending). Margot Kidder is still the ideal Lois Lane, and no one, but no one has done Perry White better than Jackie Cooper. No one!

This is exactly what I was going to say. It manages to feel fun, light, colorful and exuberant without slipping into silly camp, but has enough verisimilitude and believability that it doesn't feel like a silly fantasy. It's made with a very deft hand, and as a result, the tone has helped it age really well.

Sing it, Snake!

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Seeing a movie 24 times for a favorite movie is unheard of? I've probably seen Superman: The Movie and Superman II at least that many times, among many other movies.

The difference is when those movies came out compared to when Superman Returns came out. Superman I and II came out 35+ years ago. Seeing them 24 times in 35 years isn't strange. However, Superman Returns came out 9 years ago. Watching the same movie 24 times in 9 years is a bit strange.

That's a very good point.

Yeah, it isn't particularly great and has no drive behind it. But I also didn't find it nearly as tedious as MoS.

I can't believe we're busting balls about how many times someone sees a movie they really love. Is it that much of a big deal? Especially here? I've probably seen The Red Shoes twice a year, at least, since 1998.

I'm not busting balls so much as I am amazed that some of you guys have seen any movies that many times. I don't even know how you'd know how many times you've seen a movie unless you keep a regular log or something. That said, I've always been skeptical when people start throwing around those sorts of numbers. I'm not saying anyone here is lying, but in my experience people tend to exaggerate a little with stuff like this. A girl I work with once tried to tell me with absolute certainty that she'd seen the Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice something like 200 times. When I actually did the math and broke down just how many weekly viewings that would be, her story slowly began to change.

In Numanoid's case, I guess the more surprising number to me is 5 or 6 viewings of MoS since he doesn't seem to like it.

I'd argue that Batman Returns is as rooted in fantasy/campiness with nothing for the audience to latch on to as either of the two Schumacher entries are and definitely more than Batman. Its really about on par with its level of ridiculous as Batman & Robin and both films are ridiculous to the extreme (although for opposite reasons). Burton's Batman has aged too but not nearly as badly as the other BurtonSchumacher films and is easily the most rewatchable of those four films.

I agree, though I never was a fan of Batman Returns anyway.

My Humanities teacher in high school doubted me when I told him that I had seen Excalibur so many times that I could recite it by heart, so I stood up and started reciting every bit of dialogue. He let me go on for about three minutes, then conceded to me. And that was in 1985!

As a kid/young adult, the TV would be on during pretty much every waking hour. And in the '80s and early '90s, Superman I and II were played on HBO and The Movie Channel a lot (it's also how I saw Excalibur, Airplane!, Caddyshack, etc. so many times).

As for Superman Returns, what can I say? It's a favorite. I saw it three times in the theater alone, including the 3-D release. I've easily watched it 20 times or so since then. I remember watching it at least three times on the airplane during a trip to Europe in 2008 or so. I used the movie to show off my home theater setup (that airplane sequence, yo) to several individual friends a few years ago, so there's another 4 or 5 viewings right there. I watch it when I run across it playing on TV or a streaming site, and I put in the blu-ray every few months just because. Should I explain how many times I've seen Citizen Kane or The Godfathers I and II, because it's also a lot?

Regarding MoS, the Smallville scenes were shot in my hometown, so I saw it twice in the theater, and several times since just to see the old place. Also, I love Superman and really want to like it, and am hoping that it would grow on me (it hasn't).

Good thing you never ran across Das Monkey. That guy had seemingly seen everything a hundred times, including every TV show ever made.

You... you were what? The guy not getting laid right?

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Seriously though.. We're bitching about how many times we've seen something? Shiiiiiiite. That's worse than the regular shit we bitch about.

Who's bitching?

I wish I were getting laid these days as much as I was then.