On deciding what to watch

[Tommaso]

You may have a point there, seriously.

[Highway 61]

The second thing I think about is how tired I am. The Surrealists always argued that watching a film in the dark is like slipping away to a dream, but I don't want to actually fall asleep if I'm predisposed to doing so. I tend to watch slower-paced films, or films where the frame settles and allows the viewer to really soak in everything, when I am wide awake. If I finish a long day of work and I want to pop in a DVD, it's usually something in English and usually something where the average shot length is on the lower end of the spectrum.

This is me in a nutshell. Virtually every opportunity I've had to watch a movie in the last two years has been around 10PM, after coming home from work, making dinner, washing the dishes, etc. After that, I'm drained, and I have to fight to stay awake for anything that's not a TV show or a modern Hollywood crowd pleaser. And I know exactly what you mean about average shot length. That might be the determining factor in how I pick something to watch at the end of the day. I've always wondered if older posters here have the same issue. Is it only because I grew up in the generation of rapid cutting and miniscule average shot lengths that I find it easier to watch, or does every one at this point find it easier?

Ultimately, what all this comes down to, is that I've realized that I've ruined many great movies by watching them in unideal conditions. Last week I watched The White Sheik for the first time, but didn't like it one bit because I was forcing myself not to fall asleep, and instead of focusing on the film, all I was doing was counting the minutes till it was over.

I found that the only solution to this is to watch documentary films. For whatever reason, I can stay alert much longer if a film is non-fiction, perhaps becomes everything is more immediate, and in my worn-out state I don't have to make the imaginative leap of becoming engrossed in the world and characters of a fictional film.

[onedimension]

Dr. J:
We talked of the education of children; and I asked him what he thought was best to teach them first. Johnson: "Sir, it is no matter what you teach them first, any more than what leg you shall put into your breeches first. Sir, you may stand disputing which is best to put in first, but in the mean time your breech is bare. Sir, while you are considering which of the two things you should teach your child first, another boy has learnt them both."

[fiddlesticks]

The second thing I think about is how tired I am. The Surrealists always argued that watching a film in the dark is like slipping away to a dream, but I don't want to actually fall asleep if I'm predisposed to doing so. I tend to watch slower-paced films, or films where the frame settles and allows the viewer to really soak in everything, when I am wide awake. If I finish a long day of work and I want to pop in a DVD, it's usually something in English and usually something where the average shot length is on the lower end of the spectrum.

I didn't write that (that was Grand Illusion), and in fact I am usually the opposite. I have a less-than-ideal home video setup, and quality film-watching can't really take place until it's good and dark outside. My whole day generally points towards that moment, so that's when I'll put in the most challenging, attention-demanding flick. If I'm too tired for something like that, I'll generally just go to bed and read. If I'm watching a movie during the day, I'll pick something that doesn't need ideal viewing conditions and can suffer distraction more easily; this is where the Golden Oldies or otherwise English-language-short-ASL films come into play. It's also when I employ the Sloper approach of watching kevyippy movies I don't expect to like. In fact, maybe today's the day for that Elvis doco....

[Highway 61]

Huh? I'm sorry about that. I have know idea how that happened. I'll go back and edit the post.

[Yojimbo]

An affliction from which I have long suffered from, and is probably related to yours, goes by the acronym: 'tibshgatwiy'

An acronym is supposed to be pronouncable. How do you pronounce that?

tib-sh-gatwee!

[Sloper]

When I can't sleep, I nearly always watch the same film: Aguirre, Wrath of God. It's not that it's a cure for insomnia (early silents with the music off are quite good for that), just an incredibly soothing film to watch while in a state of agitated fatigue.

[tojoed]

An affliction from which I have long suffered from, and is probably related to yours, goes by the acronym: 'tibshgatwiy'

An acronym is supposed to be pronouncable. How do you pronounce that?

tib-sh-gatwee!

Snappy. It might catch on.

[GringoTex]

What a timely thread. I have just put my Netflix account on hold in order to reduce distractions from the project of whittling down the kevyip

I committed to six months of 2000s movie watching for the lists project, and am doing so via Netflix. Now my kevyip is up to 250 films and my netflix queue is at 300. It's out of control.

[cdnchris]

I'm proud to say I have no kevyip (not counting my wife's DVDs she's picked up, but those are her problem) but my NetFlix is at 457. With a kid now it's hard to get to watch anything. Sometimes I can watch with my wife but other times I have to wait till she falls asleep. It's much harder in the fall since all her TV shows are on and she loads up the DVR and works through them every night and weekend. It's been two weeks into the new season and the 80gb DVR we have is 90% full and none of it is anything I want to watch. It's going to be a long fall.

Basically I'll make a list in my head of the films I feel like revisitiing and when it comes time for me to watch I usually just throw in a random one from that mental list that matches my mood or whatever came in from NetFlix.

[Napier]

It's much harder in the fall since all her TV shows are on and she loads up the DVR and works through them every night and weekend.

Sounds like you need another TV Chris.

[Gregory]

Slight tangent, but since it's come up: The condition of being too tired to make it through a film is unfortunately one I've pretty often found myself in, especially when I was in grad school. I rarely fall fast asleep during a film but usually start taking "long blinks" and then doze off for around five minutes at a time, drifting in and out of sleep. I then back the film up and "watch" what I just dozed through again, and sometimes yet again. I've long thought this is a really unique way of experiencing a film. The first time I ever saw Vampyr, it was this way (not be cause I was bored of course). It probably took me almost two hours to reach the end. Ever since, that film has evoked a dreamlike mood pretty much unlike any other film, even when I see it again fully awake. Likely it would have done that anyway, but perhaps not as much. Thus I was pleased to see a writer (Jessica Winter) in the last film issue of The Believer argue that certain films can take on a unique power if one is too drowsy to watch them fully awake. However, she didn't really mention drifting in and out of sleep, which is the crucial part of the experience for me.
Getting off on a real tangent now... Watching films a little too drunk late at night is a related condition, at least in my case. I was amused to later read GringoTex say somewhere on the forum that he thought it was good to see Borzage films while somewhat inebriated because it helps one ignore some of the flaws; in my case. the predominant effect of alcohol is sedative, which doesn't really help anything. I watched many of the Ford and Borzage films in Fox's recent box sets after midnight and in this condition. Some of these were first-time viewings and I now feel like I need to go back and watch them all again and reassess. With Borzage, I thought They Had To See Paris was delightful, an true underrated gem, whereas I found most of the 1930s films (e.g. Song o'My Heart and Young America) disappointing and routine. Who know how much I missed in each film? Probably not too much, but one never knows. I enjoy the process of reviewing films in different moods and in different times in one's life. Reading this thread and thinking of all the brutal pans of films I love I've seen on- and off-forum, I can't help but wonder how often the person was simply too drowsy or in the wrong mood. Surely that's been an issue with some of my viewing experiences, again, especially while I was in grad school and often watched films when I should have been sleeping.
(Edited for typo)

[Yojimbo]

What a timely thread. I have just put my Netflix account on hold in order to reduce distractions from the project of whittling down the kevyip

I committed to six months of 2000s movie watching for the lists project, and am doing so via Netflix. Now my kevyip is up to 250 films and my netflix queue is at 300. It's out of control.

I'm close to finalising my very first personal Top 1,000 list so my recent viewing has been concentrated on films which I think might make the grade: for the most part my selections have proven rewarding ones.

[Sloper]

The first time I ever saw Touch of Evil I'd just come back from America and was severely jet-lagged. To this day I'm not sure whether the sense of vertiginous disorientation I feel every time I re-visit it, and my complete inability to follow or care about the plot, are more down to that initial viewing or to the film's inherent qualities.

I first saw Vampyr when I was incredibly angry about something, and I felt like a rabid dog that had been hypnotised, with a pocket watch, for 70 minutes. I first saw Zodiac in a similar mood, on pay-per-view in a Sydney Novotel, and it was a perfect choice - no other film could have occupied my mind so completely at that moment. Really saved my life.

[domino harvey]

It's certainly arbitrary, but until recently (I just moved this summer and most of my DVDs are in storage) I would decide what to watch mostly based on aesthetic reasons. Not the aesthetic of the film, but the shelving holding the DVDs. I stick out the cases of the unwatched films slightly from the rest, and there's nothing more satisfying than finishing a film and sliding it all the way back in. If there was one section with more cases sticking out, I'd often tackle that area. Boxes got torn through so I could slide those behemoth slipcovered mothers back. It was a good system and I will pick it back up again when me and my darlings are reunited

[Yojimbo]

It's certainly arbitrary, but until recently (I just moved this summer and most of my DVDs are in storage) I would decide what to watch mostly based on aesthetic reasons. Not the aesthetic of the film, but the shelving holding the DVDs. I stick out the cases of the unwatched films slightly from the rest, and there's nothing more satisfying than finishing a film and sliding it all the way back in. If there was one section with more cases sticking out, I'd often tackle that area. Boxes got torn through so I could slide those behemoth slipcovered mothers back. It was a good system and I will pick it back up again when me and my darlings are reunited

Speaking of boxes, I've found the standard Deep Discount box to be great for storing groups of films: I've most of my DVDs stored in wardrobe shelves so the DD boxes are handy for manoevring films in and out of position as the wardrobe shelves are at least three deep

[Finch]

Fantastic thread and very timely for me as well: I caught myself staring at my DVD shelves lately and just not being able to decide what to watch. I completely sympathise with the feeling of having so much film and TV shows available and yet never settling on any particular title. Length is definitely a factor for me, especially on weekday nights when I've gotten in from work, so I tend to favour 90 minutes to 2 hours. I quite fancied putting on The Thin Red Line for another spin but eventually decided against it because it clocks in at nearly three hours, and I favour watching very long films on weekends (though I vividly and fondly remember the time when I sat down to watch Les Miserables with the intention of watching one part each over three nights: I started with Part One and was so engrossed that I watched all three parts in one session).

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that every now and then, I doze off for 10-15 minutes only to then rewind back to the last scene I watched awake: I had a great time watching and comparing the 1988 workprint and the 2005 cut of Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid over two days while I was visiting my partner in Oregon recently but had to rewind several times on both viewings because I kept nodding off. (Peckinpah's workprint is wonderful even if inevitably rough around the edges; Seydor's 2005 cut is a disaster - cutting lines like "Paris, France"?!)

Some films always do the trick for me. I have found that watching an Ozu film on a Sunday afternoon is a wonderful way to relax: the measured pacing, the gentle humour and the humanity of his films always casts a spell on me; it almost feels like meditation. Naruse's Flowing which I recently rewatched had a similar effect.

On the few occasions I can spend with my partner (blame the US immigration law for discriminating against binational LGBT couples), I usually let him pick from the pile of DVDs I brought with me: this usually works out quite well; we chuckled our way through Midnight (the Leisen) and he loved My Man Godfrey.

[essrog]

Oedipax, I could give you a great big hug for so perfectly articulating the kevyip paralysis conundrum. What was tough before has gotten tougher since our son was born a little over a year ago. As the opportunities for watching movies dwindle and tiredness increases, the paralysis gets worse. It kills me because as a film teacher it's not only a hobby but my job to keep learning, and I've been feeling stagnant lately. To address the point about feeling guilty re-watching something, because of my class I've watched Citizen Kane something like 30 times in the last six years. Meanwhile, my copy of Port of Shadows continues to mock me from its position next to my DVD player, where it's resided for the last month or so.

[Michael Kerpan]

I dozed every now and then when watching Ruiz's time Regained (which I liked) -- which seemed especially appropriate.

[Yojimbo]

I dozed every now and then when watching Ruiz's time Regained (which I liked) -- which seemed especially appropriate.

had you been eating 'madelaines'?

[Mr Sausage]

Just tonight I really wanted to watch a movie with an overpowering soundscape and ambiance, heavy on the bass and lower frequencies. I thought of Blade Runner, but I'd seen it again recently. So, after some deliberation, I decided on Exorcist III, because I remember a lot of low frequency noise and pounding and snarls layered against enveloping single tones, ect. It was exactly what I needed (and it had my heart pounding enough that at the end I felt over-heated in the midst of this bitterly cold night).

I suppose I decide what to watch based on whim.

[lubitsch]

Since I'm a slightly fascistoid control freak with a love for lists, I've completely solved all problems described here. As a very young student I tried to knock down complete director's oeuvres, so I know my Fassbinder, Chabrol, Fellini and Truffaut.
Since I run now the video library myself and don't have to ask what's available and am responsible for the expansion, I've made a nice super list using the imdb. For every year I went through the film listings in the year index clicking list of titles which have helpfully attached votes and ratings to them. So I wrote down all the films with a significant vote number and good enough rating up to 1954 and additionally went through many different film histories and lists.
This means I have a list of the interesting films available and just have to finish it off year by year. I've arrived in 1941 and naturally feel like god because I've the feeling I've seen almost everything worth watching and available, the lists also helps to recognize missing films in our video library for which I go hunting. There's roughly a dozen films before 1941 for which I'd murder in order to get my hands on, but otherwise it's a very satisfying thing to know that one is progeresing slowly but determinedly to close all gaps though I suppose from 1960 on the whole affair will become more difficult, but since 1931 I average 70-80 films per year.
Obviously I never rewatch films except if I have to write something about them. I've a good memory and if I've forgotten almost everything from the film it can't have been that good.
I never sleep during films. If I'm too tired I'm too tired, there's no point in watching then and I never miss a minute of a film or fast forward through parts.
Last I don't watch any clunkers, I feel compelled to trust people if they say that a film is truly bad and one gets a certain feeling reading the plot, seeing the staff list and maybe a few critical words what to expect. I've see everything from laurel &Hardy from 1927 to 1940 but don't feel compelled to watch more Shirley Temple films beyond Wee Willie Winkie.
So let's just say a list is always a helpful thing though it hasn't to be made the way I've done because you could argue very well that it produces bizarre results. I've seen 11 Ozus and 8 Mizoguchis, but since they never ran on TV and were hardly available even at our video library then, I didn't bother, so they are all from 1931-1942, while I haven't seen Tokyo Story yet!
Which has its advantages, too. It's a bit dispiriting to close off complete decades knowing that one has seen the stuff most praised in complete, so it's nice to know that you've complete continents yet to discover.

[Ben Cheshire]

Lubitsch, thanks for your interesting post, and everyone else's on Page 2 I've just read (Naturally I enjoyed page 1 as well). Your method is quite different from mine (one film/recommendation leads to another, discovering only whatever crosses your path, in no particular order), and I would point out that you haven't so much "solved" the problem of the original poster, instead you're attempting to do something that the original poster has dismissed as impossible (apologies if I've misrepresented posts, I'm only summarising in very broad terms). Correct me if I'm wrong here but I think what most people are doing are attempts to deal with the films that have already called out to them enough to be blind-bought into their collection; instead what you're doing is actively seeking out films for once-only viewing. Of course there's nothing more or less valid about either method, its just ineresting to note the difference.

The way I see my own viewing is that I'm looking for films (and their ideal representations on home video) to add to a corpus of beautiful things that I can admire throughout my days time and again. The sad fact seems to be that I don't end up reviewing things much, because of the same guilt others have felt about rewatching when I could be experiencing something new. Its strange but for that reason I find it very hard to rewatch anything within at least six months, and sometimes longer. If its a terribly serious and artistic film that i don't have a strong connection with, it'll be a LOT longer, if at all.

I also found Domino's system really fascinating:

... I would decide what to watch mostly based on... the shelving holding the DVDs. I stick out the cases of the unwatched films slightly from the rest...

I had one similar a while ago for a shelf of my favourite DVDs. When I wanted to turn to an acknowledged good time, I'd keep these DVDs (for they were all DVDs back then) in the order I'd viewed them, so that when I got to the end, I knew that when i started again it'd be at the absolute longest time period I could be re-seeing, so there was a much better chance I'd enjoy watching again.

My "keyvip" was kept separate from these, as were the rented DVDs who visited and left again.

[Tommaso]

The way I see my own viewing is that I'm looking for films (and their ideal representations on home video) to add to a corpus of beautiful things that I can admire throughout my days time and again. The sad fact seems to be that I don't end up reviewing things much, because of the same guilt others have felt about rewatching when I could be experiencing something new.

In my case it's somewhat different: I rather feel 'guilty' for NOT rewatching the films that clearly deserve it because I also tend to watch unseen films instead. Sometimes I clearly feel that watching a film just once (and then again perhaps only four years later) simply doesn't do justice to that film as a piece of art which has to be re-experienced and studied closer in order to really become familiar with it, in a way that is perhaps similar to endlessly replaying the cds by your favourite musicians so that you know all the tunes by heart.

[Ben Cheshire]

Thanks for that Tomasso, that's definitely an attitude I'd like to try taking. I know I've felt that at times, like when i was studing film in my lit courses back in the day, and when I first got obsessed by Orson Welles and Douglas Sirk. I was hypnotised by both of them I would watch Touch of Evil and Written on the Wind and just marvel at the way they chose to shoot things, the rhythm of shots, the framing, all that jazz. I haven't felt it for a while.