Yes

For the most part I think life is too short and art is too long to reread or rewatch; indeed, at this point in my life I may not make it through Proust once. But as I kid, I watched "Bananas" and "Duck Soup" enough to commit them to memory; I recited long scenes from "Cuckoo's Nest" to a ticket taker, in hopes I would be let in without parental supervision. Every Veterans Day I pull out "Breakfast of Champions" and remind myself why it was sacred, back when it was Armistice Day. I find comfort in "The Royal Tennenbaums" (and the fifth set of the 2008 Wimbledon Mens Final) I keep on my iPod: known quantities of greatness that will never disappoint. That's the main point, I guess, the flip side of where I began: life is too short to read (or watch) crap even once. Better to commit "Lear" to memory than give Danielle Steele a try.

Jonathan

Rockville, MD