Watching movies in several segments?

[jcflash5]

Do you guys and girls ever watch movies in segments? Like say if you only have an hour to burn you pop in a 2 1/2 hour movie and only watch an hour? I don't normally do this but I was wondering if doing it takes away from the movie watching. I kind of want to start doing this as I don't ever usually have time to watch a full length movie.

[detective392]

Never I always watch a movie straight through. I don't think it takes anything away from the movie as I did do it during Inception as I got sick half way trough and finished the next day and didn't feel like it took anything away.

[benbess]

Originally Posted by jcflash5

Do you guys and girls ever watch movies in segments? Like say if you only have an hour to burn you pop in a 2 1/2 hour movie and only watch an hour? I don't normally do this but I was wondering if doing it takes away from the movie watching. I kind of want to start doing this as I don't ever usually have time to watch a full length movie.

Yeah, I do it all the time. Not by choice, more by necessity. I like to watch movies with my kids when I can, if they are more or less age appropriate, and sometimes with homework and whatever we can only watch for something like 45 minutes a night. My 14 year old son and I just got through Gladiator that way over three nights. Great film, imho. Hadn't seen it all the way through since 2000 in the theaters. He and I take turns on the stationary bike and try to beat each other's times while we watch. And then when we're done with the movie we chat about it and critique it.

I may be one of the few on here like this, but having kids means a built in movie buddy. Love it.

And sometimes even when I'm watching something solo I just don't have time to watch the whole thing. It does kinda distract a little from the dramatic experience--but it's not that bad, and I get to watch a lot more movies that way. I average probably 3 movies a week at home, maybe more.

[iam1bearcat]

i never do this. and if i start a film and have to stop, then when i restart it, i start from the beginning.

[NWilz]

i did in school when we had 45min classes

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

i never do this. and if i start a film and have to stop, then when i restart it, i start from the beginning.

This is exactly what I do

[42041]

Never by choice. In many films the pacing/flow/continuity/immersion is essential to the movie's visceral and emotional effect.

[stevo4264]

Originally Posted by crazyBLUE

This is exactly what I do

That makes three of us.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by benbess

And sometimes even when I'm watching something solo I just don't have time to watch the whole thing. It does kinda distract a little from the dramatic experience--but it's not that bad, and I get to watch a lot more movies that way. I average probably 3 movies a week at home, maybe more.

I don't have a damaged attention span, but unless it's something like Seven Samurai that makes you feel like five minutes have gone by in an hour, it feels kind of punishing to sit for one whole movie for ninety minutes...
I use movies and Instant Netflix to substitute for TV, so rather than feel like I'm in my "home cinema", I like to think that I've tapped into those old fashioned TV channels that still show reruns and movies, and I'm used to the breaks of half-hour/one-hour shows, with bathroom/snack commercial breaks.

So, I like to "serialize" half an hour each of three movies over the week, and fill the rest in with TV reruns. Keeps variety, and leaves a little for the next day.

[Dixon]

I usually only watch a movie if I know Ill have the 2 hours or so required to watch the whole thing. Though I usually watch the special features and all that extra content the next day if it's too late to watch it directly after the movie.

But I do believe that a lot of what you feel as the viewer is based on watching the movie all the way through in one sitting, as someone above stated very eloquently.

[Rob J in WNY]

I am a bit variated on this. I usually try to watch any new BD immediately or soon after purchasing. I'll watch them all the way though most of the time. New BD purchases or Netflix BD/DVD rentals are high-priority titles for me to watch, so they get my full attention.

I do occasionally watch Netflix-streamed movies incrementally, for reasons as it's easy to pick up exactly where the film was left off, and most titles I watch over streaming are not as important to me. Most streaming titles are watched more for "curiosity" than deeper interest, though there are exceptions. For instance, a lot of 007 James Bond titles came up for streaming, with Netflix HD quality video. I'll be streaming away a lot in the coming days and weeks.

[Snikt]

It all depends. I drive the girlfriend crazy. New purchases, I'll watch them all the way through and then check out the special features.

Sometimes, not always, I'll just pop in a movie for a few minutes then switch to a game or something else.

Example: I'll pop in X2 just to watch the mansion attack or Punisher: War Zone for the final shoot-out.

But most of the time I'll watch the entire movie.

[jwerk]

Originally Posted by benbess

Yeah, I do it all the time. Not by choice, more by necessity. I like to watch movies with my kids when I can, if they are more or less age appropriate, and sometimes with homework and whatever we can only watch for something like 45 minutes a night.

Me too. I would prefer to watch a movie straight through, but sometimes life gets in the way(and that's ok).

[miller_time22]

I would always prefer to watch movies straight through, but it doesn't happen all that often due to work and family obligations. So my choices are: 1) no sleep, 2) don't watch anything very lengthy, or 3) watch in as large chunks as possible. I typically choose #3, just so I can watch more films than I would otherwise.

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by jcflash5

Do you guys and girls ever watch movies in segments? Like say if you only have an hour to burn you pop in a 2 1/2 hour movie and only watch an hour? I don't normally do this but I was wondering if doing it takes away from the movie watching. I kind of want to start doing this as I don't ever usually have time to watch a full length movie.

HELL NO!

As an artist myself, I consider it a grave injustice and insult to my fellow artists to not watch a film or presentation from start to finish as it was designed to be experienced.

[X400]

yeah i do when im watching a film with my cousin; he gets bored very easily and when its a slightly amateur/badly made film he just cant stand it (not to say it doesnt happen when we're watching something good either)

but we'll take breaks at the end of a scene (never in the middle of one) and either come back to the film at a later time in the same day or even days/weeks later we may even watch other films before coming back to where we broke off

(we have a rule to finish every movie we begin even if its horrible so taking breaks do come in handy)


we very very rarely take breaks on a good film if we do its usually a snack-run either to 7-11 or to raid the kitchen

[Asian Hawk]

A friend and I made the mistake of renting U-Turn (back in 1998) and stopping halfway to go see The Big Hit. When we got back and finished the movie, it just wasn't the same.

But over the years, I got use to splitting a movie up over a couple days or more (even up to a week later) due to my wife always falling asleep halfway thru. No biggie, it's like a novel....put your bookmark in and pick it up where you left off later.

[Brightstar]

Only if its more then two hours then i do it

[bkbluray]

I like watching movies straight through, but I'm not opposed to watching longer (2 hours +) movies in several segments. Ideally I wouldn't want to watch a movie in more than 2 segments.

It's funny, I watched Scott Pilgrim vs. the World in about 4 segments (half hour each day before work). I'll have to watch it again, straight through, and it would probably be much better.

[Donnie D]

Originally Posted by Petra_Kalbrain

HELL NO!

As an artist myself, I consider it a grave injustice and insult to my fellow artists to not watch a film or presentation from start to finish as it was designed to be experienced.

That's exactly how I feel about it! People put so much into creating something for me to experience, I have to be respectful and give it my full attention.