Great Films that put you right to sleep ... (1 Viewer)

[Seth Paxton]

Really wonderful films put me to sleep. Not in that boring way, but in that pleasant comforting way. I like to listen to albums when I go to sleep as well, and the albums I prefer are my favorites, not the most boring.
A boring film or album actually annoys and distracts me which keeps me awake.
One of my favorite to fall off to is Lawrence of Arabia. The Dawn of Man sequence in 2001 is great, but it sucks because later I always get startled awake when the obelisk emits that shrill whine.
I also love to go to sleep to B&W films. The seem more pleasing to the eye at times. Plus, the dialog is often much more enjoyable and rhythmic. Arsenic and Old Lace is one of my favs of this sort. I like the Road To films as well.
My freakiest sleep experience was Chinatown. I slipped off one time when several of us were watching it. I awoke to the ending with the daughter screaming and the horn going off. Very freaky thing to wake up to.

 

[DavidAC]

Lol love that part in Aliens, hmmm for me probably Lawrence of Arabia, great movie but the running time gets to me. I usually try and make full use of the intermission. Godafther 2 also gets me drowsy sometimes.

 

[Seth Paxton]

when I don't remember what had happened, that's when I stop watching. The funny thing is that when I stop the movie and change the TV source to cable, I'm wide awake; or when I go into my bedroom to sleep, I have trouble falling asleep.

Me too. And me too on waking back up when I flip to something else. :frowning: I hate that effect. Just when you are getting all cozy.

 

[Vickie_M]

One of my pet peeves is hearing people put down a movie by saying "I fell asleep during it" because it has nothing to do with the quality (or lack thereof) of the film. You're tired, and probably shouldn't be watching the film in the first place. That's all.
The only way to make this thread truly meaningful is to specify if the movie that put you to sleep was seen in a theater or at home.
Anyone's likely to fall asleep while watching a movie at home, where things are familiar and distractions (be it ringing phones, barking dogs or heavy eyelids) can take you right out of a movie. Falling asleep at a film at home means nothing and says nothing about the film.
Not that falling asleep in the theater does. All that generally means is that you were too tired to be there and just wasted your money. That's happened to me several times. But, it's easier to fall asleep at home, I think, no matter what movie is playing.
This thread wouldn't have existed 25 years ago.

 

[Scott W.]

The English Patient and 2001 Space Odyessy.

Scott

 

[Lew Crippen]

On reflection. Cocteau’s Orpheus is probably the one supposedly great film that bores me to tears. And not that I don’t love his Beauty and the Beast. But every time I decide to give this another try and attempt to see what others have seen, I wind up thinking that it’s a bunch of pretentious crap.

 

[DeeF]

This thread, ironically, is really about TV.

All of you mention falling asleep to these movies, when you're at home. Are you lying down? Did you just eat dinner? Is your home theater fairly dark? Have you had a long day? Is the TV in your bedroom?

Titanic is pretty long, and quite boring in parts, but I don't think people fell asleep in the movie theater watching it. They're stoked on Coca-Cola and Gummi Bears, everyone around them is screaming, etc., from the prospect of ships sinking, people drowning.

But at home, the same long movie becomes a sedative.

What movie did you fall asleep during, in the movie theater?

I have 3:

Phantom Menace
Blair Witch Project
Lord of the Rings

 

[Scott Shanks]

In a theater, I fell asleep to Howard's End, A Streetcar Named Desire, and The Fourth Protocol (although, I don't think you can call that one a great movie). Also, try as I may, I never been able to make it through All About Eve. I think George Sanders narration has a hynotic effect on me.

 

[DeeF]

Scott,

Interesting you should mention All About Eve and A Streetcar Named Desire. These movies are very talky, basically plays that have been filmed. There's very little of visual interest in them (although I still consider them great films). I'm not surprised that they bring on the zzzs.

Howard's End is just too long, though I think it's quite beautiful to watch.

Ultimately, 2001 is exactly the opposite, beautiful pictures, very little dialogue. This tends to make people sleepy, as well.

 

[Greg_M]

CLEOPATRA Harrison, Taylor & Burton version. Not a great film, but looks incredible on DVD. Aways puts me to sleep. Better than Sleeping pills

 

[Brian W]

Just as a good book can put you to sleep, so can a good movie. With our evolved home theaters you can capture the theatrical experience, the best way to see "great" movies. Even so, I wouldn't think of seeing a great film like Citizen Kane or All About Eve if I was going to be distracted, I'm tired or needing to see something a little more contemporary (like with bells and whistles, or fast paced action...).

TV and VHS spoiled so many great movies over the years and sometimes I think people are still set in that "TV" or "at home" mind set when seeing a movie at home, no matter how great their equipment is. If you make it a theatrical experience it, un-interrupted, alert and in the mood it should be rewarding, unless it turns out to be a movie that just wasn't your cup of tea.

Also would like to add that B&W films can be truly beautiful. TV and VHS made these once artful images---ugly and that has carried a stigma with some people. Again with today's equipment and technology we are able to see some of these B&W films again in their true original luminance. Check out Ron's review of Sunset Boulevard...I'm counting the hours to next Tuesday when it being released...

 

[Craig S]

What movie did you fall asleep during, in the movie theater?

In my nearly 40 years of movie-going, there's only been one film which had me starting to nod off - Gosford Park.
To be fair, I saw it on a Wednesday afternoon right after work. It was a long day & I was pretty tired. Probably not the best film to see under those circumstances.

 

[David_N]

Sorry about this everyone, but I've tried to watch each Godfather movie on several occasions and fell asleep every time.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Vickie_M said:

One of my pet peeves is hearing people put down a movie by saying "I fell asleep during it" because it has nothing to do with the quality (or lack thereof) of the film.

I have to politely disagree here. There are a lot of films which fail to engage the audience at any level at all, regardless of whether or not the audience is tired. I know I've seen several films in which I'm wide awake and full of energy (around 9 to 10ish at night), and because the movie failed to engage me, my mind starts to wonder and gets bored.

While it may be true that how one falls asleep during a film is in no way a true gauge of a film's quality, nonetheless it bespeaks of how well the film conveys any interesting message to its audience.

 

[Brian Kaz]

I've only fell asleep during two movies at the theater:

Batman was the first

Wing Commander was the second. I would have slept through it completely but I nodded of with some Skittles still in my mouth. Later on, they lodged in my throat and choked me.


EDIT: Yes, I realize these are far from GREAT films...

 

[DeeF]

Welles' classics: A Touch of Evil and Othello, I'm snoring just thinking about them.

 

[Keith M.]

I have tried 3 times now to sit through the movie 2001...

Everytime I end up falling into a deep sleep. It doesnt even matter if im tired or not...

Glad im not alone...

 

[Shane Martin]

One of my pet peeves is hearing people put down a movie by saying "I fell asleep during it" because it has nothing to do with the quality (or lack thereof) of the film. You're tired, and probably shouldn't be watching the film in the first place. That's all.

In the case of Alien I fully admit that. I know when I want to watch Alien I do so at when I'm fully awake.
2001 is just flat our boring and uninspiring. I've tried to watch it several times under various conditions and nothing has worked. It is a wonderfully crafted film(if you are into the art aspect of filmmaking) but as far as entertaining and stimulating goes, it falls flat IMHO of course. Apparantly after reading this thread, I have many friends who agree

 

[Vickie_M]

but as far as entertaining and stimulating goes, it falls flat IMHO of course

See, I am so totally the opposite that we're just watching two different films. I get goosebumps, I get electrified, I get engrossed and fascinated. The hairs stand up on the back of my neck several times. I'm thoroughly entertained and highly stimulated (AND inspired!). But then, as I've said it before, I will ONLY watch 2001 in the theater. I've never watched it at home and I (probably) never will watch it at home, and we have a big screen, ceiling-mounted projector home theater setup too. It's just MADE for the big screen theater experience.

I realize I'm lucky that I live in a place where it is shown fairly often in the theater (I'm sad that I missed a screening two weeks ago), but I still take people's protestations of "boring" with a small grain of pepper.

 

[Brian Lawrence]

I find there to be a huge difference between a film the bores me and a film that makes me tired. Like Seth stated above, It can be some of the great films that have the effect of making the viewer sleepy.
For me their are certian films with music, sound design, and images that seem to have sort of a soothing lucid texture (or something like that) that just make me very sleepy regardless of how much I like the film. Some examples being Fantasia, Mulholland Dr. , 2001, Carnival of Souls, Blade Runner, Nosferatu (Herzog), & Picnic at Hanging Rock, which I think are all great films.
Boring films don't put me to sleep, they just cause me to lose interest and start thinking about things than what is up on the screen.