In Celebration of Rereading and Rewatching

Some of the magic of revisiting books and movies (and TV shows)!

May 30, 2025

» Every "sha-la-la-la"
» Every "whoa, whoa-oh" still shines

I know some readers aren’t attracted to a good reread, but I have reread many books, from childhood and on up to now, and one thing I love about revisiting an old paper friend is that I almost always get something new from it. Some piece I didn’t understand the first time, some component I can examine from a new angle, some new appreciation for a character I’d disliked or not seen properly before.

But it doesn’t always have to hold any meaning other than rereading a favorite. I remember when my younger son (who is set to graduate high school in a few days!) had just finished all of the Fudge books by Judy Blume, and he called me into his room, holding back tears. He was so overcome with emotion about having to leave these characters behind that he wasn’t sure how to process what he was feeling and why. The brightness that came across his face just lit up the room (and his tearstained cheeks) when I told him that he doesn’t have to start anything else new. He could just start back over and reread them — as many times as he wanted, which he did right away.

So just like with him — I give you all full permission to read what you want, when you want. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that.

BOOKS I HAVE REREAD (and would read again)

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Ishiguro’s masterpiece of a novel fully stands up for a reread and only hands out more aspects to think on. I’ve done this one in print and on audio — making my experience even more varied than the first time. (Plus, the movie adaptation is sublime.) The things you see and understand as the reader, that the main character fails to acknowledge because of how emotionally repressed and stunted he is, carries even more depth with a reread. With the weight of where the story will go lifted, the pacing of Remains allows proper breathing room to truly sink into dissecting and knowing Stevens.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

I first read this book in sixth grade and every reread takes me back to that introduction to dystopian fiction. It’s spare and sports a bit of a manic pixie dream girl, but this 1953 novel only gets more and more prescient, despite the fact that the unspecified date of his near-future novel has probably come and gone — there are many dystopian parts that reflect present-day. (Sad to report that no adaptation I’ve seen stands up to the book.)

True Grit by Charles Portis

Honestly, I could reread this one now (oh, the audiobook might be calling me). Mattie Ross is one of the most truthful protagonists in a Western that I’ve ever read. Rooster Cogburn is a perfect pairing to her, and they both have so much depth that with each reread, I’m delighted all over again. (Skip the John Wayne adaptation (so much wrong with it) and head straight to the spectacular and fantastic Cohen brothers 2010 release with Hailee Steinfeld and Jeff Bridges.)

Let’s go to the movies….

While reading is often (not always) a singular activity, movie watching can be a shared experience. So many of my rewatches over the years have been because I want to show my kids specific movies I’ve already seen. But aside from that, I rewatch movies on my own (and with the family) for the same variety of reasons I reread books. And again, not everyone feels this way — though I hold out hope for them.

At one point, even my own mom was so disinterested in rewatching movies she’d seen that she struggled to understand how I could rewatch movies over and over again. It was the 80s and 90s — that’s what we did. (She now has a handful of favorites that could honestly be on loop in her home.)

In fifth grade, I rented Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989) from the local video rental store and kept it for a month. It wasn’t intentional, but somehow I hadn’t prioritized sending it back, instead I watched it almost every day after school and probably on the weekend, too — just for good measure. Then one day the inevitable happened. My dad got a phone call about said overdue rental. Turns out they really wanted it back and decided to charge my dad a fee. We laughed about it, though he wasn’t thrilled with the fee.

Then, when I visited my mom one summer (probably the following summer now that I think on it, just before middle school), I rewatched Pretty Woman (1990) over 30 times — along with others like Steel Magnolias (1989) and Clue (1985) — while she was at work.

So, big supporter of the rewatch. And, just like with books you can get different things from a rewatch, but it’s not necessary.

MOVIES I HAVE REWATCHED (and will watch again)

Stranger Than Fiction, starring Will Ferrell

This is one of my all-time favorite movies. Hands down. I tend to rewatch it once a year. Ferrell is possibly at his best here as an actor (this is not one of his shenanigans movies, like Talladega Nights or Anchorman). He’s seriously acting in a part that is perfect for some understated comedy mixed in with some existential drama in a light-hearted story. The supporting cast is perfection — particularly Emma Thompson as the author and her assistant played by Queen Latifah. Almost every rewatch either brings solid comfort from the familiarity or I get a surprise and hear a line or see a scene in a new way.

Father of the Bride, starring Steve Martin

I’ve watched this one since I was a kid and it never fails to bring the entire emotional package every. single. time. It’s delightfully funny and so sharply touching in a way that changes and reshapes itself to my own stage in life. When it came out I was more the age of the younger brother, looking ahead to becoming the young woman of the titular bride, and now I’m the age of the parents, and every watch — especially as a family — delivers a thoughtful journey of family complexities, dynamics, and love.

How to Steal a Million, starring Audrey Hepburn (and Peter O’Toole at his absolutely most adorable)

This is a go-to default kind of comfort movie. It’s one of a handful of movies that I could watch at any given time. I don’t have to watch it in its entirety anymore. Now, I can take some small bites because I’ve seen it so many times. The story is fun, the setting and costumes are gorgeous, but the main reason to watch this one is the clear and obvious chemistry with Hepburn and O’Toole. They are so wonderful together, and I take a new pleasure in different scenes with each viewing. The humor bounces all around this one — playful, wry, and with a touch of the absurd — this is such an underrated gem of the era.

Alrighty, folks. Tell me, tell me, tell me — what do you reread and rewatch?!