How many movies you can watch in a day?

[God the Worms]

The most at one time was six when I watched all the Star Wars films. A strange day indeed. Talk about pleasure AND pain.

But mostly I average at 2 or 3.

[The Gravekeeper]

I was a participant in a b-movie marathon last year and got through 5 of the 6 movies chosen. I plan to participate again this year (provided it's going to be hosted; hopefully I won't come down with a sudden and very nasty head cold right in the middle of it this time).

[JaseSF]

When I was was younger and less busy, I would probably manage to get in as many as 6 or 7 movies in a row. Nowadays I'm lucky if I get in 3 in a week...

[AndyC]

I did B-Fest one year, which is 24 hours of continuous movies, of which I missed maybe six hours to catch some shuteye. Never came close to that many movies any other time.

Used to be three was a typical rental for me on a Friday or Saturday evening in. My friends were about the same. If I was really in the mood to just curl up and watch movies by myself. five or six would be quite normal, either starting in the afternoon or going late. For added fun, I'd try to have a bit of a theme.

These days, one is pretty much the limit for an evening, if that, and only a couple a week.

[Newt]

I cannot resist commenting: when we were at university and living in the big city, my (future) husband and I once took in three movies in one evening/night - at three different theatres!  AND we walked/ran/took the subway from one to the next (no car).  It was a lot of fun.  It would have been 1980 or '81.  I'm not sure that it would be possible any more, as so many theatres have closed so they are not so close together now.

[Hammock Rider]

I watched the Lord of the Rings Extended versions all in one day, although I had to take breaks between each movie.

[AndyC]

I cannot resist commenting: when we were at university and living in the big city, my (future) husband and I once took in three movies in one evening/night - at three different theatres!  AND we walked/ran/took the subway from one to the next (no car).  It was a lot of fun.  It would have been 1980 or '81.  I'm not sure that it would be possible any more, as so many theatres have closed so they are not so close together now.

I had a couple of friends who would be up for multiple movies in the theatre. This would be going back to the early 90s. At least one night every weekend for a while, we'd catch an early movie and a late movie. That could mean walking down the street, or it could mean driving across Kitchener at high speed, depending on what was playing where. Apart from a drive-in, I don't think we ever had the opportunity to see three in a night. But I guess downtown Toronto would have offered more opportunities.

The way the showtimes are set up nowadays, it's hard to find one movie playing at the right time of day, much less fit two of them together. It was so much simpler for me when there was an early show, a late show and a weekend matinee that were always within half an hour of 2pm, 7pm and 9pm. You could just decide to catch a movie, and the only real question was which one you wanted to see. The time was fairly consistent, and planning an evening around it, with a meal and some other entertainment, was fairly easy. Or you could pretty much guarantee that if you caught the early showing of one movie, you could get to the late showing of something else, whether it was in the same building or across town.

[Newt]

The way the showtimes are set up nowadays, it's hard to find one movie playing at the right time of day, much less fit two of them together. It was so much simpler for me when there was an early show, a late show and a weekend matinee that were always within half an hour of 2pm, 7pm and 9pm. You could just decide to catch a movie, and the only real question was which one you wanted to see. The time was fairly consistent, and planning an evening around it, with a meal and some other entertainment, was fairly easy. Or you could pretty much guarantee that if you caught the early showing of one movie, you could get to the late showing of something else, whether it was in the same building or across town.

True.  Those were the days!  As you say, the times made it made it easy.  Had to be at least 6-7 theatres within 'do-able' distance - and lots of eating places too.  All gone.     We took in a lot of first-run films back then.  And there was always The Bloor for older flicks.

[lester1/2jr]

one

[The Burgomaster]

As a side note: for TV episodes, I used to watch 4 or 5 consecutive episodes of THE SOPRANOS when I bought the DVDs.  Same with SEINFELD.  My wife and I would knock off as many as 6 episodes in a row.  Right now, we're working our way through boxed sets of LEAVE IT TO BEAVER and THE OFFICE.  We tend to watch about 4 episodes in a row, usually 2 or 3 OFFICE episodes followed by 1 or 2 LEAVE IT TO BEAVER.

[AndyC]

I once watched the entire first series of Star Blazers in one overnight marathon.

The past few weeks, my wife and I have been catching up on four seasons of Dexter, having only recently gotten around to checking it out. We usually watch two episodes in an evening, sometimes just one, and I think three on one occasion. We did the same thing with the first two seasons of Lost after our curiosity got the better of us and we ended up liking it. We usually set out to watch an episode, but without the commercials it only runs 40 minutes, so it finishes early enough that we decide to watch another one. It's gotten a little trickier with the fall season starting and other shows we want to watch, but recording and watching later makes a big difference. Cut the commercials out and you can fit three shows into two hours of viewing.

We are currently halfway through Season 4 of Dexter, having started at the very beginning of Season 1 and watching just about every weeknight. The intro has burned itself into my brain, but I will say it's a great way to watch a series. The story flows so nicely, and everything is fresh. I always hate it when we finally catch up and have to wait for weekly installments.

[Allhallowsday]

Two is more than enough.  I do have nights when IFC pops out a few Blaxploitation or the nearest facsimile, QUENTIN TARANTINO, and I'll watch 2 or 3... usually movies I've seen... sometimes TCM shows three movies that I may inadvertently catch most of... often films I've seen, but I do discover cool old gems that way... but, of late, I don't have much patience with any movie, they just capture my attention or not.  THE HEIRESS was on the other night, I ended up watching most of it.  It's probably OLIVIA DeHAVILLAND's best performance.  But I wouldn't have chosen to sit through the thing again, I just did.  And enjoyed it.  I've had 5 DVDs on the player for weeks... months... only upon request do I readily watch a DVD... so I have, but not lately by choice... I think 'cause I was disappointed in a slew of low-rent Horror films I'd bought that were... just boring. 

[AndyC]

The way the showtimes are set up nowadays, it's hard to find one movie playing at the right time of day, much less fit two of them together. It was so much simpler for me when there was an early show, a late show and a weekend matinee that were always within half an hour of 2pm, 7pm and 9pm. You could just decide to catch a movie, and the only real question was which one you wanted to see. The time was fairly consistent, and planning an evening around it, with a meal and some other entertainment, was fairly easy. Or you could pretty much guarantee that if you caught the early showing of one movie, you could get to the late showing of something else, whether it was in the same building or across town.

True.  Those were the days!  As you say, the times made it made it easy.  Had to be at least 6-7 theatres within 'do-able' distance - and lots of eating places too.  All gone.     We took in a lot of first-run films back then.  And there was always The Bloor for older flicks.

I'm probably one of a very small minority who misses the days when the audience standing for the playing of Oh Canada before a movie started. Not sure why I do. Maybe it just made the whole thing seem like more of an event. Or maybe it just seems like such a strange and excessive bit of formality in hindsight that I think it's cool.

[lester1/2jr]

doc. about world movie watching championship. 5 straight days of movies or something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvw1QzpWTCg

[Leah]

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH 1:45 My eyes burn Lester!