Home viewing offers a range of quality options
More and more, home tends to be the best place to see movies that make you think. That is, of course, opposed to movies that tend to stun (if not stunt) your thinking — in other words, movies so big and loud they overwhelm their plot lines and characters and any points they might be (often inadvertently) trying to make, often with CGI. Those latter movies are what tend to play best in theaters.
Oh, sure, you can go to the Magic Lantern, which I tend to do. But even with its revolving-door practice of film exhibition, often playing playing three to five movies and often at times that don't always fit my viewing schedule, the Lantern doesn't offer the range of viewing choices that home-viewing options do.
Just to cite one example: Netflix. If you are a Netflix subscriber, one of 50 million I might add, you have access to literally thousands of movies in virtually every genre imaginable. And more recently, the service has been offering original material, such as the ongoing series "House of Cards," now in its third season.
And then you have the other options, from Hulu to Amazon Prime, Comcast On Demand to DirectTV streaming. So, yes, your choices even over the past half-dozen years have grown immensely.
The question now is what, among all these riches, is worth watching? That, of course, is a matter of personal taste. But if you pay any attention to critical views, then you might want to pay attention to a recent online story. It is an attempt to mash Netflix offerings with the critical compilation service Metacritic, and the result is titled "The best-reviewed 17 movies on Netflix right now."
Check it out. I've seen 11 of the 17, and I intend to check out the other six. I still like going to theaters, even when all that's being offered is something with Liam Neeson carrying a gun. But mostly I go there for nostalgia sake, for a sense of community and to enjoy movies that need to be seen on a BIG screen for full effect.
Movies, in other words, whose primary purpose is not necessarily to make me think.