The blog of photographer Kim Ayres

What do you want to watch?

“Because I’m not in the mood to watch something I really want to watch.”

“Well what choice does that leave us then, if you don’t want to watch something you don’t want to watch, and you don’t want to watch something you do want to watch?”

“You know what I mean.”

“How can I possibly know what you mean?”

In fact I’m being unfair. I do know what exactly she means; I’m just being awkward because I can’t decide what to watch either.

Some films you want to save up as a special treat for the right moment. If you watch them in the wrong frame of mind it’s like having a bag of your favourite sweeties after you’ve had a big dinner and are full up. It’s a waste.

With Rogan away we could watch any DVD we want without worrying that it’s unsuitable for an 11 year old, or that we can only start watching it after he’s gone to bed. So here’s a rare opportunity to just sit down and watch something where it’s still early enough in the evening for there to be a good chance we’ll both be awake at the end of it.

“You still haven’t seen House of the Flying Daggers yet, which I know you’ll enjoy. Or what about Goodbye Lenin, which you got me for Christmas? We still haven’t seen that yet.”

“I can’t face anything with subtitles tonight, sorry.”

“So what do you want?”

“Something light”

“We don’t have anything light. You always want something light, so anything light gets watched right away.”

“Don’t we have anything recorded from the TV during the week?”

“Only heavy documentaries about global terrorism, conspiracy theories and that thing on the First World War I haven’t seen yet. Oh, and that drama about the guy who suffers a complete personality change after an accident and his wife struggles to cope, but that has no appeal right now.”

“Well what would you watch if I wasn’t here?”

“Some mindless action adventure thing, or The Good, The Bad and The Ugly which is still in the cellophane wrapper from my birthday because there’s never a good time to watch it.”

“I don’t fancy that.”

“I know you don’t. So what are you wanting to watch?” I scan the videos and DVDs on the shelf again, desperately hoping something will present itself. “What about Manhattan? You love Woody Allen and you’ve been itching to watch it again.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing it again, but just not tonight.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not in the mood to watch something I really want to watch.”

25 comments

Anonymous said...

hahahaha..I totally understand this...I get like this all the time..My hubby used to go and rent a movie that he may have heard me say I would like to see but the thing is I don't want to see it the day he rents it.
I totally have to be in the right frame of mind to watch a movie. I want to really enjoy it and know I can get right into it.

There was nothing unusual about your post to me I live that all the time.
Similar to the post I did the other day about the movie BORAT....now that is a movie you really need to be in the mood to watch and have no kids around!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Funny, funny stuff.

Movie Producer Alert: There is a need for movies to be made that no one wants to watch unless they don't want to watch anything heavy, light, inspiring, dramatic, moving, funny, action-paction, or sad.

Z said...

There are other things to do while the child is away and there's a hope you'll both be awake at the end of it.

Looking sideways at the shelf, I'd have gone for The Straight Story, Criminal or The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. Though I've seen them all before. Hm. No, that's all right, nothing wrong with seeing a film a few times, surely. That's why you buy and not rent them.

savannah said...

seriously and totally understood the feeling!!! i have 4 movies, newly purchased, unwrapped..and i haven't watched a single one..why? because the mister isn't home and when he does return in 2 weeks, he'll want to watch them and i'd rather watch them with him!

i have on the other hand, watched all the movies/tv series, etc that i've been putting off watching for the last month!

aside: my town

Anonymous said...

I am waiting for someone in my family to purchase a DVD player for me: for Christmas, my birthday, our anniversary, the first day of spring--any day, for any reason. Then I could watch all the movies I have not seen elsewhere, in the comfort my living room, the one with the TV that I claim as mine alone.

"We have a DVD player in the basement," says my husband, who lays claim to that TV and that remote control. "You never watch anything but news," says my daughter. "Yeah, sure," says my son, but I am pretty sure he is not hearing me.

So I never watch movies I'm not in the mood to watch, or watch the ones I wish I had seen in the theater, or watch any other movies for that matter.

What, buy the DVD player myself? Then what? I'd have to watch all those movies when I am not in the mood for them, at all the wrong times!

jotcr2 said...

??? Hubby and I have very different tastes in movies. We usually end up watching political or conspiracy documentaries. How sad is that.

Gyrobo said...

You should try watching the paint dry. It's all the fun of snail racing, and the smell is intoxicating!

Kim Ayres said...

Quinn - Haven't seen Borat yet. I know the rest of the world is raving about how fantastic it is, but nothing I've seen from the trailers makes me think I'll enjoy it.

Carole - it's definitely a niche market that's under exploited :)

Z - welcome to my rambings and thank you for taking the time to comment. I've not seen of any other movies you mention - I'll head over to the Internet Movie Database later and check them out.

Savannah - The Galloway News is about the nearest we have to a local paper

Restaurant Gal - Time to stick your request on the fridge door :)

Jo - I enjoy political and conspiracy documentaries, but Maggie's not so keen

Gyrobo - I enjoy watching the neighbour's tree grow, though it gets cold at this time of year

Anonymous said...

Fantastic is probably not the word I would use to describe BORAT...it is deffinately humourous but it is also very X rated and crude in many places and one of those movies you really need to be in the mood to see.

( If it weren't so x-rated it would be every 12 year olds favorite movie..alot of potty humour too.)

The main humour is that he is making a "documentary" and so many people in the film believe he is the character he is playing and it is their reactions that are the most funny of all.

Gyrobo said...

You should try sneaking out at night and putting peanut butter on that tree.

Nothing bad can come from that.

Kim Ayres said...

Quinn - I daresay I'll end up watching it one day.

Gyrobo - it attracts the rare Giant Scottish Sloth, which isn't the kind of thing you want hanging in your neighbour's tree

Pat said...

She's missing her little boy. I remember! That reminds me I have a taped Sopranos I haven't seen. Goody!

Kim Ayres said...

She's not the only one Pat. But no, we have a version of this conversation at least twice a month

Kav said...

I got that thing that records all your tv programmes and it's cut down on mindless staring at shite tv for hours on end - now I just watch what I've recorded and then turn off d'telly. The device is called a VCR, I believe.

Anonymous said...

I totally relate to that - sometimes the thought of committing to 2 hours of anything is too much to think about - I wish there were half hour short movies. I do however thoroughly recommend "The Queen" - the performances are subtle, screamingly funny, and for the girls, some really sob aloud bits. A really clever movie!

heybartender said...

Ha1 I'm glad our is not the only house that has this problem. Found you through Z's blg (Razor Blade...)and decided to drop by. We have a million movies (no tv, though) and never seem able to make a quick decision.

Moby Dick said...

Go to the movies. Dead Silence was pretty good. Pan's Labyrinth was great. 300 is very gory.

Mary Witzl said...

I am also glad to learn we aren't the only ones with this problem.

The husband prefers
Arnold Schwarzneggar movies with plenty of gratuitous violence and action. The kids go for whatever they think I really don't want them to watch, like Team America, which I thought was wonderfully funny, but not suitable for kids for various reasons. Apparently all their friends' mothers have allowed their kids to see Team America, figuring that it can't be too bad because it is animated. None of them, I probably don't need to add, have actually watched Team America themselves.

I like movies that are intelligently acted, and generally those with a message that isn't rammed into one. My husband could not be more bored by movies like that, though occasionally he does amaze me. We both watched Vera Drake recently and he actually liked it. Wonders will never cease.

Pendullum said...

You guys could have been us...
and I howled asI was there... and it made all the sense in the worldto me...

BStrong said...

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is best viewed while it's still in the cellophane wrapper.

I enjoyed "The Illusionist" and my wife enjoyed "Persuit of Happiness".

Christina M said...

Hahha, it is called female intelligence :-) We are smart creatures.
Happy WDSD!

Kim Ayres said...

Kav - We're not short of recorded stuff, it's deciding what we're in the mood for is always the problem

Shebah - I'd quite like to see "The Queen", although I guess it'll be the biggest load of Monarchist propoganda since "The Lion King"

Bartender - welcome to my ramblings and thank you for taking the time comment. I think the ability to make a decision is inversely proportional to the number of films you have in your collection. "Option Paralysis" is the phrase, I think :)

Spider - I'd love to go to the movies, but the nearest cinema is 20 miles away and is seriously crap. The nearest decent one is about an hour and a half's drive away.

Mary - I still haven't seen Team America yet. I want to, but Maggie's not keen.

Pendullum - this is turning out to be more common than I'd realised :)

Bstrong - whaddayamean? The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is a classic!

Christina - I never doubted it for a second

Attila the Mom said...

He. When the kids were little we nixed all the Southpark and Beavis and Butthead shows.

When they'd go off to visit the grandparents, we'd rent them ourselves and laugh our heinies off. LOL

BStrong said...

You're right, my bad. I was thinking of a different western. Maybe I should think a bit before I responed

Mark Williams said...

This post made me laugh out loud. Val and I usually have these kind of exchanges in the video shop itself and usually leave me tight lipped and incandescent. They really don't make enough films!

All content copyright of Kim Ayres. Powered by Blogger.