I'm an avid movie re-watcher, in the sense that I look forward to revisiting those movies which I've already seen with the same sense of wonder and excitement that I do the brand spanking new ones. Not everybody would agree with me: infamous movie critic Pauline Kael was renowed for her one-time viewing policy, in that she would only ever watch a movie once, and let whatever messages or feelings she garnered from that first time mark her final opinion. Though I disagree with Kael's idea that a movie should only ever be watched once (she continued this habit until the day she died), I do think that there are some movies out there that do well by this rule. Though almost every movie ever made which is considered to be of good quality begs to be revisited time and time again - how could somebody only watch a movie as dense as
Blade Runner, or a classic like
Casablanca, the one time? - some great movies simply don't. So why might a certain movie - a good movie, at that - only be ripe for a single viewing? Perhaps because it is simply too painful to revisit. Too harrowing to bear twice. Or maybe the movie was so shocking that first time around that revisiting it for a second time hinders its effectiveness to the point that it is mostly unsuccessful. Failing that, there's a good chance that you simply won't want to go back to the movie - it did its job, and you don't need to see it again. Here are 10 movies that I personally feel are either too painful, too shocking, or too reliant on that first viewing experience to require a second go 'round...