Monday, April 20, 2015

How to binge-watch movies?

Putting aside the fact that I am an engineer & a book addict (in civil words, a reader!), I am also a movie & series addict. I generally binge watch a series till I finish all the seasons before I move onto a new one. Also one of the the reasons why I like to start a series after it has been completely aired. With movies too, it's a similar story. But binge watching movies doesn't mean picking all the hits in a row or picking randomly either. No. The pleasure lies in finishing an entire genre of movies from the old to the latest! I am not writing 'oldest' because honestly, in my case, I don't have the patience or tolerance to watch those black and white, 4-hour long movies that leave me with a headache. I go for 1980's to recent flicks. Once I come across a movie that I really like, I research the hell out that genre, listing all the movies that are similar to it, read the abstract IMDB plots (obviously not to give away too much), filter out & discard the shitty ones based on rating & 'critical reception' from Wikipedia (I need a reason why a movie was rated low. In all fairness, ridiculing a movie demands justification, not only to its makers but also to me!). After I am set with the list of pearly white, praised movies, I glue my butt to the chair (metaphorically, of course) & wrap up the genre. The only times I watch movies in random is when I don't come across a good movie & hence have no reason to exploit that genre. This seems like a futile, time wasting exercise, but to a movie nerd like me, this is systematic indulgence. Take for example the time I watched The Italian Job. A heist movie aimed as a revenge, starring Charlize Theron, Matt Wahlberg & Edward Norton. This led me to discover so many other heist movies that were released years ago & would have stayed hidden from me if I hadn't followed my 'binge watching algorithm'. The thought shudders me! I discovered movies like The Bank Job, The Heist (simple & clear & all in the name, I know), The Inside Man, The Town, Man on Wire & similar ones like Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels and so many more! This is the same way as discovering Donnie Darko, Requiem of a Dream, Mulholland Drive, The Fountain, Holy Motors, etc. after watching Inception & Source Code. I could go on endlessly about how many amazing masterpieces I have discovered this way. Time Travel, Cons, Robbery, Sci-fi (and its sub categories like, future of planet, new invention, alternate scientific theories), Romance, Comedy, Animation, Historic movies, are only some of genres I partially exploited & can't wait to explore so many more. So, if you are a movie geek like me, I suggest you give this method a try. You may find something spectacular, who knows! 

2 comments:

  1. Nice article Sonali ! Beautifully written. It's definately worth giving a try. :)

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