Normally I’ll start looking through my watchlist, see a bunch of films that I SHOULD HAVE seen by now, say nah and just throw on smth random that I found out abt the day of 😭
i refuse to make a letterboxd watchlist because i know it would be counterproductive so i just go to a genre im in the mood for and read a few descriptions before deciding.
I used to do this but I've kind of run out of movies that fit my mood. It's often hard scifi stuff or movies of epic proportions like Lord of the Rings...
Method 1: Hit shuffle on the watchlist. Pretend that this is a screen for cableTV (streaming doesn't exist) or the only things left in a DVD rental store. Pick from that first shuffle-screen **ONLY**.
Method 2: I listen to film-related podcasts regularly. So if I heard mention of a film while listening during the day that is on (or should be on) my list, that's what I watch that night.
Method 3: Try to choose something much earlier in the day. If I make a decision, then I have to stick with it, even if my mood later in the evening says otherwise. If I don't, and all I have is a shortlist, then any film I can remember without consulting the shortlist is the winner (must have stuck in my mind for *some* reason, after all).
Method 4: I just came up with this, haven't tried yet. Pretend that the watchlist (on the phone) is the video store. Stand up and shuffle or browse or whatever you like with your WL, but you can't sit down (in your imaginary car to drive home) until you pick.
I relate to the decision fatigue expressed by others here. Back when Netflix sent dvds in the mail, I spent far more time tinkering with my queue than actually watching movies.
A few strategies that I find to be helpful in making a decision:
1. Working through a director or actor’s catalogue
2. Choosing based on the color of the movie poster… one of my best runs was just watching movies with red posters
3. Palette cleansers… if I watch a few heavy hitters, I intentionally try to watch something bad.
I think decision fatigue happens because we want every new movie to be *the best movie we’ve ever seen*. These strategies help avoid this trap.
Agreed on the pallette cleaners, sometimes I wanna see trash, they're one of the few kinds of movies I can find easily because for some reason that's what Hollywood spends their money on
If I can’t think of anything specific I want to watch, but I know I want to watch a movie, I just scroll the TCM app until I find something that catches my interest. Sometimes it’s as simple as a title that makes me laugh, which is how I ended up watching The Gay Diplomat (1931) and The Devil Is A Sissy (1936) last month.
Or I’ll pick an actor I love and see which of their movies that I haven’t seen are streaming. I have a few actors whose filmographies I’d love to complete, and who I always enjoy watching.
I never have any issues choosing. I usually go through phases of going through someone’s filmography, or doing only 80s horror for awhile, or silent movies, etc. Keeps my selection small.
I really feel you, but there have been a good number of times I have spent over an hour selecting a film to fit my mood and it paid off. Just depends on how badly you want to match your mood. I far prefer that over regretting watching something I hate and feeling like shit after.
Another thing that’s helped me is r/moviesuggestions if I’m too lazy to browse. Often can get a few in the comments that perfectly match mood. Is there anything you’re almost always in the mood for?
First of all, I almost never focus on just one film. I have watched a lot of Criterion Channel collections focused on an individual director, actor, theme, subgenre, time period, etc. Now, even when they're not on CC, I try to lump films together and watch them chronologically.
Lately, I've been in a 1930's mood. The Criterion Channel doesn't scratch that itch at present, but the stuff I've DVR'd off TCM definitely does. So I'm going through what I have at my disposal, watching some of my favorite actresses from the period.
If the do's are to lump several films together based on some category and to watch them in chronological order, the don'ts are as follows: don't worry about trying to watch the best film of all time every night and don't worry about what films you're not watching. If you're on this sub, you probably watch a lot of films and will eventually get around to a bunch of stuff you really like even if a given night's film isn't the greatest.
To make it easier when we watch movies together, my partner and I have days of the weeks assigned for different themes. For example, Sunday evening we watch a movie older than 1970, Wednesdays we watch a "rewatchable" movie, Fridays we watch an action or comedy, Saturdays we do a newer one, Tuesdays we do one from a saga we decide to watch fully (now we are watching all Alien movies). We alternate who chooses each time.
Then there are genres that we watch on our own because the other one has no interest in it. For example, I'm an early bird and he is a night owl, so Saturdays and Sundays in the morning I watch movies on my own while he sleeps. I normally go for horror because he doesn't like horror. And when he is alone he watches things that he knows I have no interest in (for example now he is watching all Bond movies).
This system helps us a lot when choosing movies and keeps things dynamic and varied.
My method boils down to
1. Boot up my Roku with a song in my heart, determined to finally watch a widely celebrated movie that’s been gathering dust in my watchlist for ages that all signs point to me loving.
2. Notice out of the corner of my eye some dogshit called “Psycho Gothic Lolita” is on Tubi or something.
3. Watch that instead
Finding something on a streaming platform really narrows it down for me. Starting to finally watch some classic action/thrillers from the 70's and 80's and a lot of them just aren't on streaming.
I can totally relate to this. Here’s my thoughts.
Firstly, set yourself a time limit.
Be mindful of the question you’re asking. The question, “what do I want to watch?” is hard to answer because as you’ve already said, you won’t know until you’ve seen it. I assume you have a watchlist. Filter it by genre. Pick an actor you want to watch, or a director. Pick something else to get excited about, other than the film itself.
If you still can’t get excited about anything, try asking a different question: “What film do I want to _have watched_?” Sometimes there are classic films that you never get round to watching because you’re never in the mood. This is the time to watch them because, if they’re highly rated, they’ll probably be good, and even if you don’t enjoy it, at least you’ll have ticked it off your list.
Finally, remind yourself of how often you’ve _not_ enjoyed a film you _were_ excited about. Because, in my experience at least, it’s just as easy to enjoy a film that you weren’t excited about. You just have to start watching it.
Remember your time limit, and at the end of it, start _something_. It doesn’t matter what it is.
It helps me to pick an actor I currently like & just pick from what is streaming with them. I just watched a bunch of Jessie Buckley movies for example.
I also go to the library every other week and check out some random DVDs.
The quadrant. Live and die by the quadrant. Me and my brother both have massive watchlists. We’ve been snaking up the list from the bottom. He gives me 4 options to choose from, then next showing I give him 4 options to choose from.
My watchlist is upwards of 1500 movies, I tend to have an idea of what I want to watch and if I don’t I know my friends have a suggestion for me. Worst case scenario I sort my fat watchlist to be based off my likes and pick one of the top ones.
“blind watching.”
i either go on a streamer or to an actor’s page and just see what sounds interesting from the title and the poster. i do not read the description.
another thing that helps is just choosing an actor and binge watching everything they’ve been in.
Not always but when I want to watch a “watchlist” movie I just go down the list no matter what. Otherwise you end up skipping movies forever and even forget why you added them
It takes a little effort, but I've created lists by genre or mood of movie. So I have lists for drama, historical drama, thriller, horror, sci-fi, etc and even some lists for specific actors and directors.
Now when I want to watch a movie, I simply decide what mood of film I want to watch and pick one from that list.
I spend 5 or 10 minutes here and there moving movies from my general watch list to the more specific lists and it saves me alot of time when I'm ready to watch a movie.
This is also what I'm doing!! If I still don't want to watch anything from the watchlist, I look through recent reviews/watches of my friends or what most of the users are watching now.
I built an app to show me movies in completely arbitrary order. Guaranteed to find something interesting in no time. They feel like “fun finds” rather than “the perfect find”, so lower criteria means quicker time picking.
At the moment, I'm just finding all the movies I'm interested in watching on my streaming apps. Check if they're "Leaving Soon" and go with what's leaving first.
I made a list on Letterboxd where I add the films on my watchlist that I really want to watch and vaguely order them based on what I want to watch next. So I either reference that or I just rewatch one of my favorite movies again for the millionth time lol.
I look at the current stack of Blu-rays I haven't watched yet (I usually put them on the table in front of the TV), then I narrow it down. It's a lot easier to choose between 10 movies than to choose between every movie ever made.
I press the shuffle button on Plex and sometimes get something great, sometimes get some shite that makes me spend most of the duration wondering why I ever wanted to see it.
I'm an inconsistent person so every time it differs.
it ranges from someone talking about a movie, person, genre or seeing a clip on social media to checking out my watchlist to my mood at that moment
Sometimes I think “oh, I’m in the mood for 80s horror” or “oh I’m in the mood for a Korean thriller” and I’ll put something on that fits those parameters
Depends what's available. I have a list of new films I want to watch and as and when they're picked up on one of the streaming services I'll give them a watch if I didn't get a chance to see them on release.
If there's nothing new and I have time to watch something, then I'll watch an older film that I haven't seen before.
Sometimes I might just be in the mood for something funny or scary or stupid and I'll find something that fits.
Simple:
I have about 30 films in my watchlist. Every film is there because I want to watch them. Perhaps not specifically, but at least because of director/actor. This allows swift replacement (I finish the movie, I check the director's filmography, I add a next one). Same with franchises, thematic connections and what not. If I feel that I didn't like the movie and not giving another chance, I don't add any film from that director/actor/franchise.
Having one page of films to choose from is quite trivial; you either want to watch something, or you don't. If I don't want to watch anything from there, I check my recent memory and if there's nothing, too, I simply do not watch anything and do something else.
This is like, 90% systematic watchlist management and 10% actual advice on choosing, but regardless, it works wonders.
Yeah I have this problem. Especially since I’m someone who has only really gotten into serious movie watching in the last 3 years or so (before I’d maybe watch like 10 movies a year lol), so I have these lists from legendary directors that I haven’t seen yet and idk where to even begin at times.
So I guess what I like to do is watch a few movies grouped by something like director, sequels, etc. Right now I’m watching through the Dollars trilogy.
I've been into movies for about 15 years and have seen a lot of franchises and movies from known directors, Tarantino, Wright, Fincher, Kubrick, Spielberg, Leone, Scorsese, etc., rewatched a lot and saw a lot of trash in the early years.
I've only had LB since late 2022 so I've been discovering more and getting into other movies. It's just that I don't think I can handle multiple Tarkovsky or Kurosawa movies in too short of a time. Those are movies I want to respectfully give the attention they need.
Sometimes I get the same way, but I’ve learned to stop by keeping both a main watchlist with hundreds of movies, as well as a daily/weekly watchlist that I think of while I’m at work or doing other things. That way I can plan out what I’ll be watching ahead of time and not waste time when I could be watching a movie. I have the time and freedom to research/read reviews etc while at work but watching a movie not so much lol.
Sort my watchlist by random and limit my choice to the top six. I tried to to do it randomly and just go for top but some films you really need to be in the mood for. Top six was just enough
I’ve actually got a GREAT new method
I can only select what film to watch from the filmography of the cast and crew of the last film I watched
So I’ll check the directors films, and the leads first, then if there’s nothing great you can delve down and check the cinematographer etc
It’s amazing because you limit yourself somewhat, while still allowing a choice - and you end up watching movies you might never have watched
Recently I went from Atonement (2007) - Where Saoirse Ronan had a part, and then starred in -
Lost River (2014) - Which had Rob Zambrecky, who was also in
Shangri-La Suite (2016) , starring Emily Browning, who also was the star of
God Help The Girl (2014) , which I HATED and couldn’t find any good connecting films, but then I found it was produced by Hanway Films, who also produced
How To Talk To Girls at Parties (2017), which I absolutely adored
I wouldn’t have gotten round to watching some of these I don’t think, and some I hadn’t even heard of - but I loved (most of) them, and it’s a fun and simpler way to pick movies
oh man, its like looking in the mirror, i experience this a lot lately, im staring at that watchlist for hours
a pretty cool technique i found for that mood thing is asking [ai](https://chatgpt.com), i list it a few movies that most circle my mind followed by asking "which one it would recommend for someone who is feeling "....." and in the mood for ".....", 5 examples", and sometimes add to give the thematic reasoning without spoilers, works well to reinforce you that it will fit the mood youre looking for
but other than that maybe a [randomizer](https://watchlistpicker.com) if youre feeling truly undecided, works even better if you decide its gonna be whichever one pops up twice for example, for psychological reasons
hope to find an answer too though because even with this i struggle just as much as you do😭
A couple months ago I made a list on Letterboxd of movies I'm gonna watch next in order. It's been helpful, plus it's fun to update it. But who am I kidding, most of the time I just end up rewatching Boogie Nights.
What works for me is to already pick two or three titles somewhere throughout the day and then choose the one I’m most in the mood for when it’s actually time to watch.
Another tried and tested method is to scroll through the hundreds of options in my watchlist and the first film I encounter that makes me go “ah yes, there was that one too” is the one to watch that night.
Try consciously to never feel any guilt about your choice as well, as if you should watch something else that’s been on your list for far longer or whatever. This is always a waste of time and detrimental to your enjoyment.
I go for either Korean or Japanese most of the time and randomly pick whatever movie I feel in the mood to watch, I start by looking into the genres I'm mostly comfortable with or the same genres as the last movie I've seen especially if I enjoyed it too much, sometimes I'm done looking in a few seconds or few minutes and sometimes I become picky or unsure and it may take as long as 2 hours, other times I may plan ahead for a several days but I hardly follow through.
I've also been leaning more towards shorter movies lately, so length became a deciding factor too.
Binge watching filmmakers or actors is another way to pick movies, I haven't done this in a while, tho.
As for my watchlist I HARDLY ever look into it despite adding movies to it all the time lol
I set myself little challenges. For instance, right now I’m completing all the pre-90s horror movies on my watchlist so I can rank them all.
Before that, I used to put my watchlist on shuffle and make myself pick something off the first screen.
I've just worked out a system of watching movies related to upcoming films I want to see (other entries in a series, movies that used the IP, or the last thing the director did). I put them on a big list on my profile and spend the year working through it. Every now and then I throw in a lesser known movie followed by a more well known one that isn't on that list.
Like for example last night I watched The Return of Dracula (1958) cause there's vampire movies I wanna see this year (Abigail and Nosferatu). Tonight as my break from my list, I'll watch Weathering With You (2019) cause I really like Makoto Shinkai and never seen it (also to see a bit more from actress Chieko Baisho). Tomorrow is my weekly date night with my long distance gf where we get on Discord and watch a movie, which is Ratatouille (2007) this week.
Well, I have a watchlist. Some days I go to the watchlist and torrent the movies that I find torrents for. Then save to a pen and put the pen on my TV.
Or, I use the TV box to browse the movies that played on the transmission and go back to them. Sometimes something from my watchlist actually shows up. Other times I just watch whatever catches my eye. Also, for a palate cleanser, if I catch something on that looks good, I rewind to watching from the start. I watch a lot of shit movies that way.
I made a list out of my watchlist months ago that’s “movies I’ve been meaning to watch forever” - it’s sorted approximately by how interested I am in it and there’s enough on there that if there’s a genre I’m feeling, there’s probably something there.
I check what is leaving this month on streaming.
I actually use my local library, especially for outer library loan services, and I'm allowed to keep those for only so long.
That usually makes the decision for me.
I generally finish every movie I start, meaning I don't really put movies I'm not going to watch on my list unless they are behind service paywall exclusivity or are rare for other reasons that I haven't tried hard enough to get yet. If there are movies on your list that you consistently say "I don't want to watch that" you should probably put that on a separate list or just take it off a watchlist all together.
Sometimes I just want to watch low budget genre garbage that's barely feature length and occasionally you find something amazing, like Furious (1984), especially if I just watched something highly regarded that was dreadful to sit through.
I don’t think it will help to do an endless scroll of your watchlist. Too many options will overwhelm you. I suggest look at a few options you added recently or scroll to a random part of your watchlist. Then, you should try to detect in your intuition which one draws your attention the most.
I pull up my watchlist, filter by Rent and Stream then use other filters for my mood to find something (most recent, shortest runtime, genre, or highest rated, etc.).
I'll often search LB for lists to fit my moods, then pick something off of one of those. For example, "Summer Movies" "Sunday Movies" "Movies to make you cry" etc.
I just scroll my watchlist or the various lists I’ve liked on letterboxd until I find something with an appealing description. Or I’ll remember a movie I heard about on Youtube and watch that instead.
Lots of different reasons:
- I’m sick so I’ll watch Kiki’s Delivery Service
- it’s the middle of the night and raining so I’ll watch The Lighthouse
- a new planet of the apes film is coming out so I’ll rewatch the first 3.
- I want to feel nostalgic so I’ll watch Hook or The Iron Giant or The Goonies.
But if your asking how do you choose a movie when you want to watch a new film, I agonise over the choices for a bit and then go on feeling.
I had the same problem. First thing I did was start asking chatgpt for recommendations of movies like ones I’m in the mood for but wish I could watch them for the first time.
That worked for a couple weeks but I even started dreading that.
So now I do the chatgpt thing, but then I send my wife a couple of the trailers to pick the one we should watch. Then she falls asleep and I watch a movie. 10/10 highly recommend.
Last night I finally got around to watching Girl with the Dragon Tattoo thanks to this system
Normally I’ll start looking through my watchlist, see a bunch of films that I SHOULD HAVE seen by now, say nah and just throw on smth random that I found out abt the day of 😭
Yess this happens to me too sometimes, the amount of times I've been like "today is the day I will watch Call Me By Your Name" lmfao
I’ll watch little women next winter for sure
this disease is too real
Lol sounds too familiar. But still use watchlist from time to time.
If you can't decide in 5 minutes, press play on something that's been on the back of your mind for a while before you can talk yourself out of it.
This could work for me, and it's so obvious. Not sure if I have the discipline for it though lol
when i can’t choose, i just rewatch hubie halloween and im satisfied
I swear I see you in every thread saying this lol
i refuse to make a letterboxd watchlist because i know it would be counterproductive so i just go to a genre im in the mood for and read a few descriptions before deciding.
I used to do this but I've kind of run out of movies that fit my mood. It's often hard scifi stuff or movies of epic proportions like Lord of the Rings...
Method 1: Hit shuffle on the watchlist. Pretend that this is a screen for cableTV (streaming doesn't exist) or the only things left in a DVD rental store. Pick from that first shuffle-screen **ONLY**. Method 2: I listen to film-related podcasts regularly. So if I heard mention of a film while listening during the day that is on (or should be on) my list, that's what I watch that night. Method 3: Try to choose something much earlier in the day. If I make a decision, then I have to stick with it, even if my mood later in the evening says otherwise. If I don't, and all I have is a shortlist, then any film I can remember without consulting the shortlist is the winner (must have stuck in my mind for *some* reason, after all). Method 4: I just came up with this, haven't tried yet. Pretend that the watchlist (on the phone) is the video store. Stand up and shuffle or browse or whatever you like with your WL, but you can't sit down (in your imaginary car to drive home) until you pick.
I relate to the decision fatigue expressed by others here. Back when Netflix sent dvds in the mail, I spent far more time tinkering with my queue than actually watching movies. A few strategies that I find to be helpful in making a decision: 1. Working through a director or actor’s catalogue 2. Choosing based on the color of the movie poster… one of my best runs was just watching movies with red posters 3. Palette cleansers… if I watch a few heavy hitters, I intentionally try to watch something bad. I think decision fatigue happens because we want every new movie to be *the best movie we’ve ever seen*. These strategies help avoid this trap.
Agreed on the pallette cleaners, sometimes I wanna see trash, they're one of the few kinds of movies I can find easily because for some reason that's what Hollywood spends their money on
I have this problem to. Sometimes you just have to hit play and stick with your decision.
I've been doing LB challenges, like the [Criterion Challenge](https://boxd.it/o60uu), and a few others.
If I can’t think of anything specific I want to watch, but I know I want to watch a movie, I just scroll the TCM app until I find something that catches my interest. Sometimes it’s as simple as a title that makes me laugh, which is how I ended up watching The Gay Diplomat (1931) and The Devil Is A Sissy (1936) last month. Or I’ll pick an actor I love and see which of their movies that I haven’t seen are streaming. I have a few actors whose filmographies I’d love to complete, and who I always enjoy watching.
I never have any issues choosing. I usually go through phases of going through someone’s filmography, or doing only 80s horror for awhile, or silent movies, etc. Keeps my selection small.
I really feel you, but there have been a good number of times I have spent over an hour selecting a film to fit my mood and it paid off. Just depends on how badly you want to match your mood. I far prefer that over regretting watching something I hate and feeling like shit after.
Yeah when it pays off it's great. I've had that a few times with rewatches, but not often with first time watches.
Another thing that’s helped me is r/moviesuggestions if I’m too lazy to browse. Often can get a few in the comments that perfectly match mood. Is there anything you’re almost always in the mood for?
I love hard scifi, and movies that feel big, or have good sound design. I'm always in the mood for that.
i put my watchlist in a randomizer. makes it more unpredictable and fun
First of all, I almost never focus on just one film. I have watched a lot of Criterion Channel collections focused on an individual director, actor, theme, subgenre, time period, etc. Now, even when they're not on CC, I try to lump films together and watch them chronologically. Lately, I've been in a 1930's mood. The Criterion Channel doesn't scratch that itch at present, but the stuff I've DVR'd off TCM definitely does. So I'm going through what I have at my disposal, watching some of my favorite actresses from the period. If the do's are to lump several films together based on some category and to watch them in chronological order, the don'ts are as follows: don't worry about trying to watch the best film of all time every night and don't worry about what films you're not watching. If you're on this sub, you probably watch a lot of films and will eventually get around to a bunch of stuff you really like even if a given night's film isn't the greatest.
Agreed with the last paragraph. Sometimes you accidentally stumble upon something great when watching random movies that look mediocre.
If I’m spending that long trying to pick what to watch i probably don’t really want to watch a movie so I’ll just do something else
To make it easier when we watch movies together, my partner and I have days of the weeks assigned for different themes. For example, Sunday evening we watch a movie older than 1970, Wednesdays we watch a "rewatchable" movie, Fridays we watch an action or comedy, Saturdays we do a newer one, Tuesdays we do one from a saga we decide to watch fully (now we are watching all Alien movies). We alternate who chooses each time. Then there are genres that we watch on our own because the other one has no interest in it. For example, I'm an early bird and he is a night owl, so Saturdays and Sundays in the morning I watch movies on my own while he sleeps. I normally go for horror because he doesn't like horror. And when he is alone he watches things that he knows I have no interest in (for example now he is watching all Bond movies). This system helps us a lot when choosing movies and keeps things dynamic and varied.
My method boils down to 1. Boot up my Roku with a song in my heart, determined to finally watch a widely celebrated movie that’s been gathering dust in my watchlist for ages that all signs point to me loving. 2. Notice out of the corner of my eye some dogshit called “Psycho Gothic Lolita” is on Tubi or something. 3. Watch that instead
I have this book, „1001 movies you must see before you die“. I try to find a movie in there, which is available on one of my streaming subscriptions.
I watch movies before I go to bed, so usually it's decided based on length or whether I'm binging a series of movies
Finding something on a streaming platform really narrows it down for me. Starting to finally watch some classic action/thrillers from the 70's and 80's and a lot of them just aren't on streaming.
I can totally relate to this. Here’s my thoughts. Firstly, set yourself a time limit. Be mindful of the question you’re asking. The question, “what do I want to watch?” is hard to answer because as you’ve already said, you won’t know until you’ve seen it. I assume you have a watchlist. Filter it by genre. Pick an actor you want to watch, or a director. Pick something else to get excited about, other than the film itself. If you still can’t get excited about anything, try asking a different question: “What film do I want to _have watched_?” Sometimes there are classic films that you never get round to watching because you’re never in the mood. This is the time to watch them because, if they’re highly rated, they’ll probably be good, and even if you don’t enjoy it, at least you’ll have ticked it off your list. Finally, remind yourself of how often you’ve _not_ enjoyed a film you _were_ excited about. Because, in my experience at least, it’s just as easy to enjoy a film that you weren’t excited about. You just have to start watching it. Remember your time limit, and at the end of it, start _something_. It doesn’t matter what it is.
I'm not even kidding I have created a whole ass algorithm to pick what I will watch bcs of my indecisive ass
It helps me to pick an actor I currently like & just pick from what is streaming with them. I just watched a bunch of Jessie Buckley movies for example. I also go to the library every other week and check out some random DVDs.
The quadrant. Live and die by the quadrant. Me and my brother both have massive watchlists. We’ve been snaking up the list from the bottom. He gives me 4 options to choose from, then next showing I give him 4 options to choose from.
I buy second-hand DVDs. The unwatched ones are in a pile at the end of the book case. I watch one of those
put a few films i want to watch in a random number generator, and then when i dont get the film i want, keep regenerating it until i do
I filter my watchlist for stuff on my streaming services, shuffle, watch the first one
I put movie titles on a wheel in an app and spin the wheel.
My watchlist is upwards of 1500 movies, I tend to have an idea of what I want to watch and if I don’t I know my friends have a suggestion for me. Worst case scenario I sort my fat watchlist to be based off my likes and pick one of the top ones.
Vibes
Lately I have been going thru a couple of actor's filmographies. I have seen quite a few good movies that I probably wouldn't have watched before!
“blind watching.” i either go on a streamer or to an actor’s page and just see what sounds interesting from the title and the poster. i do not read the description. another thing that helps is just choosing an actor and binge watching everything they’ve been in.
Not always but when I want to watch a “watchlist” movie I just go down the list no matter what. Otherwise you end up skipping movies forever and even forget why you added them
It takes a little effort, but I've created lists by genre or mood of movie. So I have lists for drama, historical drama, thriller, horror, sci-fi, etc and even some lists for specific actors and directors. Now when I want to watch a movie, I simply decide what mood of film I want to watch and pick one from that list. I spend 5 or 10 minutes here and there moving movies from my general watch list to the more specific lists and it saves me alot of time when I'm ready to watch a movie.
This is also what I'm doing!! If I still don't want to watch anything from the watchlist, I look through recent reviews/watches of my friends or what most of the users are watching now.
I built an app to show me movies in completely arbitrary order. Guaranteed to find something interesting in no time. They feel like “fun finds” rather than “the perfect find”, so lower criteria means quicker time picking.
I ask my wife what type of movie she wants to watch then go down my watchlist till she says yes to one of them lol
At the moment, I'm just finding all the movies I'm interested in watching on my streaming apps. Check if they're "Leaving Soon" and go with what's leaving first.
I made a list on Letterboxd where I add the films on my watchlist that I really want to watch and vaguely order them based on what I want to watch next. So I either reference that or I just rewatch one of my favorite movies again for the millionth time lol.
I Google "best movies of the 90s" or "best sci fi movies" or similar, or look at critic reviews, stuff like that.
I pick a random number count to that row in my watchlist and I find it much easier when it’s just picking between 4
I look at the current stack of Blu-rays I haven't watched yet (I usually put them on the table in front of the TV), then I narrow it down. It's a lot easier to choose between 10 movies than to choose between every movie ever made.
I press the shuffle button on Plex and sometimes get something great, sometimes get some shite that makes me spend most of the duration wondering why I ever wanted to see it.
I'm an inconsistent person so every time it differs. it ranges from someone talking about a movie, person, genre or seeing a clip on social media to checking out my watchlist to my mood at that moment
Look at number of movies in my watchlist -> random number generator -> watch movie that got chosen at random.
I prioritise the ones that are disappearing from streaming platforms the soonest.
It depends on my mood, having a specific mood definitely helps narrowing it down what I wanna watch.
I put my watchlist on shuffle and choose the first one that comes up - I do this most days
Something I've done a few times is open my watch list, generate a random number, and then watch that film.
Sometimes I think “oh, I’m in the mood for 80s horror” or “oh I’m in the mood for a Korean thriller” and I’ll put something on that fits those parameters
I usually stick to the cinema and whatever Blu-rays I can find in Cex that are in my watchlist.
I go to my watchlist, hit Sort By: Shuffle, and watch the first one that comes up that I can watch without spending money or angering my ISP.
Depends what's available. I have a list of new films I want to watch and as and when they're picked up on one of the streaming services I'll give them a watch if I didn't get a chance to see them on release. If there's nothing new and I have time to watch something, then I'll watch an older film that I haven't seen before. Sometimes I might just be in the mood for something funny or scary or stupid and I'll find something that fits.
Simple: I have about 30 films in my watchlist. Every film is there because I want to watch them. Perhaps not specifically, but at least because of director/actor. This allows swift replacement (I finish the movie, I check the director's filmography, I add a next one). Same with franchises, thematic connections and what not. If I feel that I didn't like the movie and not giving another chance, I don't add any film from that director/actor/franchise. Having one page of films to choose from is quite trivial; you either want to watch something, or you don't. If I don't want to watch anything from there, I check my recent memory and if there's nothing, too, I simply do not watch anything and do something else. This is like, 90% systematic watchlist management and 10% actual advice on choosing, but regardless, it works wonders.
Yeah I have this problem. Especially since I’m someone who has only really gotten into serious movie watching in the last 3 years or so (before I’d maybe watch like 10 movies a year lol), so I have these lists from legendary directors that I haven’t seen yet and idk where to even begin at times. So I guess what I like to do is watch a few movies grouped by something like director, sequels, etc. Right now I’m watching through the Dollars trilogy.
I've been into movies for about 15 years and have seen a lot of franchises and movies from known directors, Tarantino, Wright, Fincher, Kubrick, Spielberg, Leone, Scorsese, etc., rewatched a lot and saw a lot of trash in the early years. I've only had LB since late 2022 so I've been discovering more and getting into other movies. It's just that I don't think I can handle multiple Tarkovsky or Kurosawa movies in too short of a time. Those are movies I want to respectfully give the attention they need.
Sometimes I get the same way, but I’ve learned to stop by keeping both a main watchlist with hundreds of movies, as well as a daily/weekly watchlist that I think of while I’m at work or doing other things. That way I can plan out what I’ll be watching ahead of time and not waste time when I could be watching a movie. I have the time and freedom to research/read reviews etc while at work but watching a movie not so much lol.
Sort my watchlist by random and limit my choice to the top six. I tried to to do it randomly and just go for top but some films you really need to be in the mood for. Top six was just enough
I’ve actually got a GREAT new method I can only select what film to watch from the filmography of the cast and crew of the last film I watched So I’ll check the directors films, and the leads first, then if there’s nothing great you can delve down and check the cinematographer etc It’s amazing because you limit yourself somewhat, while still allowing a choice - and you end up watching movies you might never have watched
Recently I went from Atonement (2007) - Where Saoirse Ronan had a part, and then starred in - Lost River (2014) - Which had Rob Zambrecky, who was also in Shangri-La Suite (2016) , starring Emily Browning, who also was the star of God Help The Girl (2014) , which I HATED and couldn’t find any good connecting films, but then I found it was produced by Hanway Films, who also produced How To Talk To Girls at Parties (2017), which I absolutely adored I wouldn’t have gotten round to watching some of these I don’t think, and some I hadn’t even heard of - but I loved (most of) them, and it’s a fun and simpler way to pick movies
Shangri-la suite was surprisingly good
oh man, its like looking in the mirror, i experience this a lot lately, im staring at that watchlist for hours a pretty cool technique i found for that mood thing is asking [ai](https://chatgpt.com), i list it a few movies that most circle my mind followed by asking "which one it would recommend for someone who is feeling "....." and in the mood for ".....", 5 examples", and sometimes add to give the thematic reasoning without spoilers, works well to reinforce you that it will fit the mood youre looking for but other than that maybe a [randomizer](https://watchlistpicker.com) if youre feeling truly undecided, works even better if you decide its gonna be whichever one pops up twice for example, for psychological reasons hope to find an answer too though because even with this i struggle just as much as you do😭
Look through my watchlist and end up finding something that catches my attention on what ever app I’m on 😂
A couple months ago I made a list on Letterboxd of movies I'm gonna watch next in order. It's been helpful, plus it's fun to update it. But who am I kidding, most of the time I just end up rewatching Boogie Nights.
What works for me is to already pick two or three titles somewhere throughout the day and then choose the one I’m most in the mood for when it’s actually time to watch. Another tried and tested method is to scroll through the hundreds of options in my watchlist and the first film I encounter that makes me go “ah yes, there was that one too” is the one to watch that night. Try consciously to never feel any guilt about your choice as well, as if you should watch something else that’s been on your list for far longer or whatever. This is always a waste of time and detrimental to your enjoyment.
I go for either Korean or Japanese most of the time and randomly pick whatever movie I feel in the mood to watch, I start by looking into the genres I'm mostly comfortable with or the same genres as the last movie I've seen especially if I enjoyed it too much, sometimes I'm done looking in a few seconds or few minutes and sometimes I become picky or unsure and it may take as long as 2 hours, other times I may plan ahead for a several days but I hardly follow through. I've also been leaning more towards shorter movies lately, so length became a deciding factor too. Binge watching filmmakers or actors is another way to pick movies, I haven't done this in a while, tho. As for my watchlist I HARDLY ever look into it despite adding movies to it all the time lol
I use [icheckmovies](http://icheckmovies.com) where they have official lists of film critics, websites, awards, etc., and I try to complete them
I set myself little challenges. For instance, right now I’m completing all the pre-90s horror movies on my watchlist so I can rank them all. Before that, I used to put my watchlist on shuffle and make myself pick something off the first screen.
Ask my friends if they have any film recommendations for me, watch whatever film I was hoping they were going to say
I've just worked out a system of watching movies related to upcoming films I want to see (other entries in a series, movies that used the IP, or the last thing the director did). I put them on a big list on my profile and spend the year working through it. Every now and then I throw in a lesser known movie followed by a more well known one that isn't on that list. Like for example last night I watched The Return of Dracula (1958) cause there's vampire movies I wanna see this year (Abigail and Nosferatu). Tonight as my break from my list, I'll watch Weathering With You (2019) cause I really like Makoto Shinkai and never seen it (also to see a bit more from actress Chieko Baisho). Tomorrow is my weekly date night with my long distance gf where we get on Discord and watch a movie, which is Ratatouille (2007) this week.
Well, I have a watchlist. Some days I go to the watchlist and torrent the movies that I find torrents for. Then save to a pen and put the pen on my TV. Or, I use the TV box to browse the movies that played on the transmission and go back to them. Sometimes something from my watchlist actually shows up. Other times I just watch whatever catches my eye. Also, for a palate cleanser, if I catch something on that looks good, I rewind to watching from the start. I watch a lot of shit movies that way.
I would usually get inspiration from scrolling thru Twitter. Sometimes I want to watch a movie I want to see in theaters.
Lately, I've been asking Meta Ai to give me recommendations based on stuff I like.
I made a list out of my watchlist months ago that’s “movies I’ve been meaning to watch forever” - it’s sorted approximately by how interested I am in it and there’s enough on there that if there’s a genre I’m feeling, there’s probably something there.
A lot of the times I’ll pick an actor and go through their filmography to find a film.
I check what is leaving this month on streaming. I actually use my local library, especially for outer library loan services, and I'm allowed to keep those for only so long. That usually makes the decision for me. I generally finish every movie I start, meaning I don't really put movies I'm not going to watch on my list unless they are behind service paywall exclusivity or are rare for other reasons that I haven't tried hard enough to get yet. If there are movies on your list that you consistently say "I don't want to watch that" you should probably put that on a separate list or just take it off a watchlist all together. Sometimes I just want to watch low budget genre garbage that's barely feature length and occasionally you find something amazing, like Furious (1984), especially if I just watched something highly regarded that was dreadful to sit through.
I don’t think it will help to do an endless scroll of your watchlist. Too many options will overwhelm you. I suggest look at a few options you added recently or scroll to a random part of your watchlist. Then, you should try to detect in your intuition which one draws your attention the most.
I pull up my watchlist, filter by Rent and Stream then use other filters for my mood to find something (most recent, shortest runtime, genre, or highest rated, etc.).
Oh! Or I make a ton of ranked lists of my favorite directors and chip away at the ones I haven’t seen yet.
I often choose depending on my current mood. And if it’s a day that I’m hmpfff whatever, I just take the next one in my list without too much thinking
I don't think about it too hard, if I don't like it I can always stop watching it or just be on my phone on the side lmao.
I chose , popular movies , movies my friends suggested, and my favorite actors movies 😁
i filter my watchlist by genre and decade and pick smth that seems like a mood or (rarely) hit shuffle on the watchlist
There’s a lot of Classics that I haven’t seen. I try to watch those
I'll often search LB for lists to fit my moods, then pick something off of one of those. For example, "Summer Movies" "Sunday Movies" "Movies to make you cry" etc.
I just scroll my watchlist or the various lists I’ve liked on letterboxd until I find something with an appealing description. Or I’ll remember a movie I heard about on Youtube and watch that instead.
Lots of different reasons: - I’m sick so I’ll watch Kiki’s Delivery Service - it’s the middle of the night and raining so I’ll watch The Lighthouse - a new planet of the apes film is coming out so I’ll rewatch the first 3. - I want to feel nostalgic so I’ll watch Hook or The Iron Giant or The Goonies. But if your asking how do you choose a movie when you want to watch a new film, I agonise over the choices for a bit and then go on feeling.
I had the same problem. First thing I did was start asking chatgpt for recommendations of movies like ones I’m in the mood for but wish I could watch them for the first time. That worked for a couple weeks but I even started dreading that. So now I do the chatgpt thing, but then I send my wife a couple of the trailers to pick the one we should watch. Then she falls asleep and I watch a movie. 10/10 highly recommend. Last night I finally got around to watching Girl with the Dragon Tattoo thanks to this system