Movie Nights
Posted on : 02-08-2009 | By : Alex Shaw | In : Site News
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Once I get my router working again (it’s really unreliable at the moment which makes partying up on XBL almost impossible on busy nights) we’re going to start having movie nights. This means I’ll set a date and time and film and everyone who turns up can join a party with me and Tony (two parties if we get a big crowd) and synch up their DVD players to start watching a movie at the same time. It’s complicated but really fun once it works.
You guys should feel free to suggest films we can all watch together. The more popular the film, the more likely it is that a lot of people will have it. So Shawshank Redemption should be in everyone’s collection, but Braindead (while awesome) will most likely be only owned by a few. Comedies are also probably the most condusive to audience participation. Maybe even musicals.
Some things to remember.
- PAL (UK) and NTSC (USA) DVD’s run at different speeds so whoever has a version at odds with the rest may have a job keeping up with the crowd.
- Blu-Ray all run at the same speed.
- Unless you have a wireless headset you’ll have to make sure your batteries are charged in the controller and (here’s the annoying part) nudge the d-pad at least once every 15 minutes or it will turn off and you’ll be kicked from the party. If you DO have a wireless headset, make sure that one is charged. Why haven’t Microsoft patched this yet? We should at least get an option to just leave the damn pad running. They might sort it out when the whole party watching thing happens with Netflix in the states, but that might also not apply in the UK.
- Folks in the USA are going to have to turn up at odd times like three in the afternoon so I’m thinking Sundays would be best.
So the ideal is one film everybody loves in a format everybody has on an evening everybody can make with fully charged batteries, popcorn, drinks and patience for when it doesn’t quite work as planned. We did this last year with Back to the Future and it worked pretty well dispite Paul’s version being PAL vs our two NTSC.
So now it’s up to you guys. Who’s up for this and name five films you’d like to do for it, we’ll see if we get some consolidation somewhere.
Here are my five…
- The Goonies
- Ghostbusters
- Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail
- This is Spinal Tap
This has no bearing on the Film Club, but we may talk about the experience on the podcast anyway. Over to you, dear listeners.
Ohh.. could be an interesting social experiment! (Actually that’s what they called big brother at first so maybe not a good aim to have
)
Five Films I have I think might be good shares:
1. Reservoir Dogs
2. Matrix (Original – people get split by the 2nd and 3rd)
3. Life of Brian (Just to get another Python on the list)
4. Highlander
5. Shaun of the Dead
I have all of those on R2 DVD so that’s fine by me.
This is a very cool idea. The only snag is that I’m one of those Yanks, so I’ll be fighting the scheduling and PAL issues. All but one of the films suggested are a ton of fun (I will never get The Goonies, but that’s just me). Watching Shaun of the Dead with a bunch of Brits would be a blast!
“Unless you have a wireless headset you’ll have to make sure your batteries are charged in the controller and (here’s the annoying part) nudge the d-pad at least once every 15 minutes or it will turn off and you’ll be kicked from the party. If you DO have a wireless headset, make sure that one is charged. Why haven’t Microsoft patched this yet”
Well the best thing to do Alex is either get a wired pad or a play and charge kit, that way the pad stays active at all times, Problem solved
I’d say the Holy Grail or Spinal Tap would be my two picks from the first list