How Many Movies Can You Watch in a Row?
Filed under: Fandom, Exhibition, Home Entertainment, Toronto International Film Festival
How many movies can you watch in a row before they all begin to blur into one? As I'm sure many happy yet weary attendees of the Toronto International Film Festival can testify, it's very tempting to cram as many movies as possible into every viewing period at a festival. Beyond the confines of festivals, movie fans in general want to see as many good movies as possible, and time is short.
I sat through Rainer Werner Fassbinder's epic 15 and 1/2 hour Berlin Alexanderplatz during a very long night and a morning at a theater and felt drained, both physically and emotionally; I've watched seven movies in a row at Fantastic Fest and loved every moment; I've sat through eight movies back to back to back on videocassette in one day while on vacation. Lately, though, I find I'm lucky if I can watch even two movies in a row without interruption. Even if I had more unbroken availability, after two or maybe three movies I feel like I need a break, especially if they were good flicks. I want time to absorb what I've seen and think about them. That's especially true if I plan to write about them; the experiences begin to blend together, fusing themselves into an unholy viewing memory that is sometimes difficult to separate into individual segments.
How about you? I'm not talking about movies playing in the background while you do other things, but films that you're actively engaged in watching, either at home or at a theater. What's the most that you've seen in a row? Are some movies better as part of a double -- or triple or quadruple or whatever -- feature? When do they start to blur?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-20-2009 @ 3:09PM
Sean said...
I think I only can get through 2 movies in a row. If I had breaks in between (a good hour or so) I think I would top off at 3. Plus, they'd all have to be different genres.
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9-20-2009 @ 6:54PM
holly said...
I covered a two weekend film festival (I think it was 10 feature films and 30 shorts) and I think the reason I liked the first weekend's movies more wasn't all about quality as much as my exhaustion
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9-20-2009 @ 3:58PM
emersondartagnan said...
I think I did 6 or 8 once. It took up a majority of the day.
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9-20-2009 @ 4:04PM
Joey said...
I watched all three extended LotR back-back-back with my cousin over the summer. When one ended we immediately put another in. We did it pretty easily and are planning on doing the same with all six Star Wars. If I wasn't talking with my cousin though, throughout the marathon I couldn't have done it. We really watched them, but I think I would have gotten bored by myself.
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9-20-2009 @ 4:47PM
MilesD said...
my local theater (the Somerville Theater, just outside of Boston) holds an annual 24-hour-long sci fi film festival that I attended last february. 12 movies from noon 'til noon. It wasn't easy, I made it. Some people have been going to the festival for its entire 25-year run!
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9-20-2009 @ 5:17PM
Stephie said...
I can get through 3 movies at a stretch (with frequent breaks), but after that, they all tend to become rather blurred.
And they often make for some interesting dreams after I head off to bed. LOL
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9-21-2009 @ 2:50PM
Chris Wall said...
Me and my friends once did a 24 hour marathon of watching an entire season of 24 hour after hour (with 20 minutes break between each hour playing Playstation).
I think at the end I thought I was Jack Bauer and was speaking in an American accent for the next two days.
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9-20-2009 @ 5:41PM
DJ Heinlein said...
I have pushed around three or maybe four films in one day without attempting to multitask other duties while watching the movies. I have paused the films several times for bathroom breaks and food replenishment. Does that count as cheating?
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9-20-2009 @ 5:57PM
stuntman_james said...
2 years ago, the week before the oscars, I watched 6 movie in a row....3 at home and 3 at the theater, including driving 60 miles to see Venus with Peter O'Toole so that I had all the major categories covered for the oscars that year......my ass was numb and my eyes hurt like hell!!
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9-20-2009 @ 7:02PM
Jenn Brown said...
My personal best is 9 features in a day, although I have done cinemapocalypse, while only 6 films was 14 hours with only about 5 minutes between films and their Q&As.
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9-20-2009 @ 8:29PM
renec147 said...
ive watch all six star wars in a row with only the break of about 45 sec between to star the next on they did not blur at all i remembered them all prefectlly
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9-20-2009 @ 9:06PM
Noahphex said...
Five in a row easy. Six if I gave the energy. Beyond that it'll get hazy for me.
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9-20-2009 @ 9:22PM
Steve Von Gunten said...
I can sit through as many movies as my seat (rear end) can handle or if its a boring movie as to when I fall asleep!
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9-20-2009 @ 10:07PM
Kate said...
As long as the TV works, I can watch as many as I can.
And it's not a movie, but I just got into 'Oz' and whenever I get into a new TV show (especially a good one), the folks at Blockbuster know my name and measurements by the end of the evening. 'Mad Men' and 'Sex and the City' are the recent shows on TV to deplete my wallet.
Otherwise, I could do about 3-4 a day if I don't have to do anything, so I'm usually making up for lost time. (Like when my laptop was in the shop last week. Intolerable! How am I supposed to watch two movies at the same time without it? Yeesh).
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9-20-2009 @ 10:23PM
Aaron said...
I had just gotten back from a deployment, and needed to catch up.
Ended up seeing 4 movies at two diffrent theatres.
good fun but very taxing by the end of the day, so much so that I fell asleep on the ferry ride home.
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9-21-2009 @ 12:59AM
Chelsea said...
As long as I have something in mind to watch next, I just keep going until outside forces stop me, even if they're movies I've seen before.
I do the same thing for shows too. I'll gather a series up and watch it straight through.
I just get sucked in. Sometimes I'm so into what I'm watching I'll actually hold off on bathroom breaks.
"Okay, as soon as this movie is over I'll use the bathroom... Okay, after this movie, I gotta eat something."
It's a problem.
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9-21-2009 @ 2:42AM
shadowracer said...
In a theater I can manage 6 hours worth of film with occasional breaks. At home I can easily do 15 straight with breaks, the rest is devoted to eating(you need to try and have at least one full meal) and sleeping
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9-21-2009 @ 6:21AM
MCW said...
Suddenly, the people in this movie seem a little less psychotic, with their city-spanning movie watching and meticulous movie schedule making: http://tinyurl.com/Cinemania
No wait, scratch that, they're still completely out of their minds.
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9-21-2009 @ 9:41AM
randomperson said...
I saw 21 movies in a row a couple of years ago. The goal was 30, but unfortunately I fell asleep during the 22nd, Toy Story. The two other guys I was waching with saw 25.
We only saw movies under two hours, most were around 90 minutes long. Thats the last time I´ll try something so stupid. Even if you get 15 hours sleep afterwards the next day is still going to be ruined.
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9-21-2009 @ 1:23PM
Beeslo said...
I actually did a quadruple feature a month ago consisting of: Alien: Director's Cut, The Hangover, Funny People and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. But prior to that, I attend Butt-Numb-A-Thon back in 2006 where we watched around 12 in a 24 hour marathon. We finished the marathon with 300 and Smoking Aces (which hadn't even been released yet).
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