When do you watch movies? Do you have a regular or semi-regular pattern for watching films or do you just check them out as and when you feel like it?
Have you considered a weekly movie night? No? Well, maybe you should. Having a weekly movie night can make watching movies feel like an event, and who doesn’t want that?
Over the last few years, in large part due to the rise in streaming services, watching movies has become a little less special. Instead of setting aside a Saturday night to watch a movie with the family, it has become all too easy to just watch movies alone, perhaps on a tablet, on the phone, on the toilet, or on the go.
And if we’re watching films on a phone while out and about, it is easy to become distracted. A couple of minutes into a murder mystery and instead of paying attention to the clues unfolding on screen, we’re getting bombarded by notifications from Instagram.
This can seriously impact our concentration as well as our enjoyment of a movie. It also stops the film from being an event, as it becomes just a thing which continuously fades into the background when we’re chatting to friends or responding to a sea of messages.
So, put the phones and the tablets down (put them in another room if you can’t resist their allure), and go back to watching on your TV screen. And while you’re doing it, start working on your movie night.
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The list
Pick a night of the week, ideally one where you’re likely to be in the house at the same time each week, and allocate this as your move night. It can be a Monday, a Thursday, a Sunday afternoon if you prefer, just try and keep it the same each week.
Now, once you have your night, you need a film schedule. Sounds formal, but it’s not.
Essentially you need a list of films that a.) you want to watch and b.) you can access with ease. There’s no point in creating a list of movies that you can’t get hold of.
Obviously compile your list however you see fit, but try to create it from the following: i) New movies you want to watch; ii) classic movies from the past; and iii) a few random streaming titles you’re curious about. Try not to lean too heavily on direct-to-streaming titles, as they often tend to be a bit lacklustre, and see if you can favour more of the big cinema releases instead, as these tend to be better.
Once you have a rough idea of the films you want, jumble them all up and start putting together a big list. Space things out a bit, so you have a few weeks of blockbusters, followed by a couple of weeks of classics, and then a week for smaller streaming titles.
And if there is a long running film series you’ve been meaning to watch, maybe the Nightmare on Elm Street films or the Fast and the Furious pictures, pop them on your list too. You don’t have to watch them back-to-back, you could space them out between new movies, allowing you to dip in and out every other week.
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Grab some popcorn
The list you’ve just compiled is your starting point. As the weeks go by, keep adding to it.
If a bunch of new movies hit the cinema that you want to see, but you would prefer to watch them at home, add the names to your list. Keep adding titles, and keep the list growing.
And then from here just maintain your movie night, week in, week out. Plan a few breaks in between, to allow for life stuff which crops up throughout the year, and go from there.
Keep track of what you watch and in no time at all you will have worked your way through plenty of films, had some memorable movie nights, and will have made watching movies an event again. Sounds good, right?
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Thank you for stopping by It’s A Stampede! to read this post. For more posts be sure to check out the recommended reads below.
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