From the time I was a little girl, I would never rewatch movies. That was actually quite an ordeal for my parents, for don’t they often expect little girls to watch videotapes of Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast hundreds of times? Well, I wouldn’t have it. After the first few screenings, I would get bored. So while my little sister remained fixated to the tube whenever Sleeping Beauty’s face hit the lit up, I would wander off.

Fast forward to 10th grade. I still had no idea I would go into Cinema Studies in college but I did know this - I still hated rewatching movies. My “favorite” movie was “Moulin Rouge!”, but I’d only seen it once or twice. And then one afternoon I rented “Amadeus”. I watched it that night and to everyone’s surprise I watched it a second time the next night, forcing my sister to watch it with me. Before I returned it to the library I watched it a third time and then, when I received it for Christmas, I promptly watched it again. To this day, I watch it about once every few months.

Why does this movie fascinate me? Why does it belong in AFI’s 100 (to say nothing of Fargo)? Why does it need to be watched? The answer: the characters are dead-on, Jones, Abrahams and Hulce give the performences of their lives, the dialogue is well-crafted and the set design is beautiful. That’s nothing to say of the music.

The supporting cast could have been better. Some elements of the plot are watery. I will readily admit that “The Godfather” “12 Angry Men” and “Citizen Kane” were all shot with great care, where as “Amadeus” doesn’t have a single sequence that really sticks out as masterful editing or cinematography. But I’ve seen the “The Godfather” only twice and the latter two once.

Any movie that rings an emotional chord in your soul should be considered a favorite movie. “Amadeus” obviously does that with me. Why else would I watch it so many times?