Watching movies habits (1 Viewer)

[Konstantinos]

I didn't find a similar thread, so I thought to start one.
What are your watching movies habits?
I mean, how often do you watch movies at your home?
Do you watch them in one sitting without any break?
And whatever else you can think of to say, related to the topic.

Lately, (I don't know when it started, maybe in the last year or so?) I simply can't watch a movie in one sitting.
I mean, I fall asleep!
For example, I tried to watch Casablanca UHD yesterday. (of course, it's not the film's fault, I have watched it again in the past)
I watched the first 20 minutes, and then I dozed off. The movie continued playing until then end (I cannot understand how I sleep with the audio on and the volume up!)
Now, tonight I tried to watch the rest, and I again watched another 20 minutes and fell asleep!!!
I'm so sad that this happens.
Another time just recently, I don't remember which movie, I watched it in 4 sittings! In 4 consecutive days! And it was just a 90 minute movie!
I guess it's because I don't sleep well, I sleep usually 4 hours during the night, and sometimes maybe 1-2 additional hours during the afternoon.

 

[Walter Kittel]

My sleep is severely fragmented, so I can sympathize. I do sort of have to plan my viewings around times when I feel relatively rested, otherwise it can be difficult to view longer films in one setting. This tends to be more of a problem when revisiting something with which I am familiar. Usually, first time viewings are more engaging and I am not as susceptible to dozing off. In terms of falling asleep while viewing something, this tends to be more of a problem watching televised programs and sometimes baseball vs. a planned film viewing. Additionally, the quality of the film goes a long ways for me in maintaining my level of interest unless the pacing is extremely deliberate.

I don't watch as much film as I would prefer due to fatigue issues, but I still do enjoy what I manage to view. Lately I have been taking in more Westerns due to March's HTF Western Challenge and the resultant exposure to films I had never seen. These films have been engaging due to their novelty (for me) as described above.

All this talk about sleep makes me think it is time to try to get a bit of shut-eye. Good luck managing your sleep.

- Walter.

 

[Jeffrey D]

I have a touch of OCD with my viewing habits. In the living room, I only play
BluRays and UHDs, and I watch a film pretty much all the way through. In my bedroom setup, I mostly play DVDs of TV series, and I
let the shows get me tired enough to sleep.

 

[David_B_K]

Because of my schedule, I find I do not spend enough time watching movies. I am up @ 5:30 AM and head off to work @ 6:30 AM. I get home at around 4:30 PM. I have to be in bed by around 9:00 PM in the hope of getting to sleep by 9:30 PM for a chance at 8 hours of sleep (I usually get 7-7.5 hours on weeknights). If I go to the gym after work, or stop at the supermarket, or take my dog to the vet, etc., I get behind on my free time. By the time my wife and I prepare dinner, watch Jeopardy! and a news program or YouTube video or symphony concert, it seems like there is not enough time for a movie.

This most recent Western Challenge has sort of opened my eyes. As usual, I did not participate, using the excuse of not having time. As it was winding down, I started wishing I had done it. It would have forced me to actually start watching films again, and most classic westerns only run about 90-100 minutes.

I talked to my wife and we plan to change our viewing habits. We can always watch Jeopardy! on the weekends instead of watching the barrage of cooking shows we watch on the Food Network (many of which are reruns). That way we will have time set aside to actually watch our large collection of films. I don't know how many films I have that are still in their wrappers, but there are a lot. Next time there is a "movie challenge" I plan to participate.

The one thing I want to avoid is watching an intensely exciting or suspenseful edge-of-your-seat movie that ends 5 minutes before going to bed. Makes it too hard to wind down.

 

[Konstantinos]

Fortunately I don't own a TV and I don't feel the need to watch TV too.

 

[BobO'Link]

I typically watch 2 to 10 movies on weekends with each watched all the way through in a single sitting and all planned around other activities. I'll watch another 2-3 during the week, again in a single sitting.

I will *not* start a movie so late (roughly after 7pm) that I'm likely to fall asleep on it, but it happens sometimes anyway. After 7:00 weeknights I'll normally only watch TV series (on disc) as they're easier to watch in bits and pieces (aka - I'm likely to fall asleep by 8 most nights, rarely making it to 9).

I'm retiring June 30th so that'll all change in some fashion...

 

[Konstantinos]

I typically watch 2 to 10 movies on weekends

10??
That's 5 films per day!!

 

[BobO'Link]

10??
That's 5 films per day!!

Yes, it is. Some days it might be more. Though more than 5 is a somewhat rare occurrence, typically only during a movie watching challenge here on HTF or another movie forum. Specifically a SF/Fantasy one and a Horror one. Plus - many of the movies I watch are older films with run times of 90-100 minutes. That means 5 movies is "only" around 8 hours a day with breaks for food/restroom being another hour or so. Considering you typically have around 15 hours/day outside sleeping/grooming that still leaves ~5 hours for other things... unless I decide to watch The Lord of the Rings trilogy's expanded versions in a single day (which I do every couple of years). Even if I'm watching newer/bloated films with 120+ run times it's only ~10-11 hours a day of movie watching. Quite easy to do and something I'll do at least once a month.

During those challenge months it's not unusual for me to watch 110+ movies in the respective months. I've done 150 in the Horror one (lots of shorter films - 60-90 minutes that year). That's with a full time job - something I won't have very much longer.

 

[Dale MA]

I have two daughters, aged six and ten, and every weekend we go inside our home theatre and watch movies together as a family. We’ve been doing this for years since they were born, and they love watching movies from all eras in the cinema room. In fact, my eldest daughter has fallen in love with the Western genre. We’ve been doing the Western Fest for nearly a year now, watching all the Westerns we have in our collection from the earliest—working through them in chronological order (nearing the new Arrow Video release of A Fistful of Dollars). Her favourite actor is now John Wayne! Not many kids in her class say that John Wayne is their favourite actor! It just goes to show you that this hobby and movie fandom can be carried down the generational line. It’s been a wonderful thing to see and a great pastime to have as a family.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Well, over the last 3 or 4 years, most of my movie watching has been done at home. I am totally clueless now about what is going on at the cinema and some of the theaters I really enjoyed going to closed during Covid and never reopened. I also moved further away from one of the cinemas I used to go to, so don't get there much. Now I live sort of at the intersection of three states and so, my trips to the cinema can end up being in any one of those three states.

The closest cinema to me is a large multiplex that often has some of the worst presentations of films I have ever seen. So, I basically despise going there. If I am going out to a film, I end up having to go for a drive to get there, generally about an hour away no matter which state I decide see the film in. It seems odd to me that the city closest to me does not have a cinema any longer.

Watching at home, I try to see a few films a week. Mostly, the world now stresses me out a lot. Plus I've seen several people I know sink into some severe struggles, so watching a film for me tends to be a way to escape for a bit. My only problem at times is that it can take me a while sometimes to get into a film because my mind is racing with other thoughts, and I need the movie to pull me out of those thoughts.

The open cruelty our country and some others have resorted to is troubling and it is heartbreaking to watch happen. So a good movie is truly like medicine to me. It is like taking a pill that removes the pain for a couple of hours.

I love going to the cinema but today there tends to be fewer and fewer films being made that inspire me to go out and see them. I'm just not into all the sequels and superheroes and animation really. I got invited to go to the cinema last weekend but declined because the film they were going to see was a Marvel film. That was how they identified it, I don't actually know what it was because they just said Marvel film and I openly admitted I am not really into them.

So, most of the films I tend to watch, are older films rather than recent releases.

Usually what happens is I start thinking about a certain genre or filmmaker or some type of film and I think "Well, let me look at some of these pictures and really examine them. Try to find things about them maybe I never noticed."

I do find myself looking backwards a lot more than looking forward. Sometimes I want to look at a specific year in film, or decade. Sometimes I want to pick two films and examine how they relate to each other because they are in the same genre.

Right now, I am in the midst of watching two films that seemed to be a good match. Way of the Gun (2000) and Two Guns (2013) were films I did not see at the time they were released. I think they just struck me as, I don't know, likely just goofy pictures that would not appeal to me. I don't know why. But having watched Two Guns, I liked it. It's not a great film, but everybody involved makes it a worthwhile watch and it falls into that action with a little bit of smartass comedy kind of place. So, next up is Way of the Gun, which has several things that make it seem to fall right into the same place as Two Guns, although they were made more than a decade apart. So, I want to see how they compare, what seemed to change in the decade between them, and see if I should have seen these when they were in theaters.

So, the way I get myself to watch more films is to basically create these little film watching projects for myself. Which I may or may not talk about here. I've also been considering a book, which I can't talk about, but I have been examining films for that potential project for some time.

I recently suggested two films I am interested in comparing to everybody here, as a small challenge to watch both of them. Nobody 2 and Heads of State, the connection between them being they are both summer action comedies and one is directed by the guy that directed the first Nobody film, which I really enjoyed.

So, I guess I do these things for my own amusement but they sort encourage me to watch more films and when I am watching at home I feel like I end up picking the films apart more. Delving a bit deeper into them. It is different to me than watching in a cinema.

I think that kind of explains my habits.

Typically, I don't dress up in a nun's habit while I am watching films, I hear some people do and it enhances their experience. I mean, I am open to trying it, if people suggest it and have had good experiences doing it.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

My movie watching is strictly at home these days -- the last time I was in a theater was 2019. Watching at home works better for me -- no people talking, and I can pause the film if I need a bathroom break or want to get something to drink.

That said, I am finding it difficult to find the time to watch as much as I used to. I generally only watch films during the evening unless the weather is really crappy. We have other things going on many evenings, though, so I probably watch anywhere from zero to three movies in a week anymore. When I was working, a film in the evening was a nice way to relax after a hard day. Now that both my wife and I are retired, our evenings seem filled more often with other things.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I watch almost exclusively at home. I got dragged to Elvis and Top Gun Maverick when they were in the theaters and both times, the auditorium was filled with lit up cell phones and screaming children. During Elvis, the air conditioning wasn’t working which made a bad experience even worse.

Since then, the only movie I’ve seen at the theater was the Fathom event showing of Monty Python and the Holy Grail a few weeks ago that was ruined by a multitude of people constantly checking their cell phones and watches and some guy who actually answered his loudly ringing phone on speakerphone.

Whenever I watch a movie at home, which is more often now that I’m divorced, I only start it if I know I can finish it before bed, so that means I usually don’t start a movie after 7PM.

 

[DaveF]

Saturday night is movie night. We alternate who gets to choose the movie weekly — give or take social plans that have us skip movie night.

I don’t go to the theater very often, for reasons, but I wish I could go more often.

The rest of the week is TV: we watch shows together nightly, when schedule allows.