movies that you play in the background

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

What films do you play in the background, maybe when you are working on stuff, watching occasionally?

Me:

I am Legend
Star Trek films
Star Wars films
LOTR
Ghostbusters

 

[JonathonWally]

Fight Club
Blade Runner
The Matrix
Empire Strikes Back
The Big Lebowski
The Hunt for Red October
Thomas Crown Affair
Clerks

Just a bunch of favorites

 

[Nociod]

Never.

If I start a film, it's because I intended to watch that film.., leaving it on in the background while doing something else would just be a distraction.

 

[God Magnus]

Blade
Blade Runner
Casino Royale
Coyote Ugly
Die Hard
Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Highlander
Silent Hill
Transformers (1986 or 2007)

There are others, but my pre-coffee brain can't think of them at the moment. Generally these are fun films to have on while I work on my web site or some other task like ironing. I've also been catching up on a lot of TV shows this way too including "Lost" and "Bones".

 

[SlyCardie]

Lately, it's been the Matrix. I love the movie, but I've seen it so many times that I don't even need to sit down and watch it straight up any more to follow or enjoy it.

 

[MyCylon]

It depends a lot on what I'm doing but generally speaking I like to have movies on in the background.

These are the ones I've probably played in the background the most (in no particular order):

- I, Robot
- Batman Begins
- Donnie Darko
- Lost in Translation
- Blade Runner
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- nuBSG (not a movie but...)
- Ghostbusters
- Solaris (Soderbergh)
- Airplane 1 and 2 (1 more than 2)
- Sixth Sense
- Unbreakable
- Total Recall
- Running Man


Some others I've had on but not as often (again in no particular order):

- Starship Troopers
- Commando
- Terminator 3
- Avalon
- Conan
- Last Action Hero
- ID4
- Minority Report
- Over the Hedge
- Quiet Earth
- Sixth Day

 

[ScottDS]

-any of the Indiana Jones films
-Airplane! (even though most of the gags are visual)
-several "go-to" Star Trek episodes, including In the Pale Moonlight and Yesterday's Enterprise
-sometimes I'll toss in the special features disc instead, like the 3-hour Blade Runner documentary or one of the Alien documentaries

 

[Jeri]

It's usually "El Dorado." It just makes me feel good to have it playing like music.

Occasionally, I will play some TOS episodes like that. It needs to be something that is already thoroughly burned into your brain -- and that you like.

 

[Twilight]

Alien

I put it on a LOT - if I'm cleaning my apartment or doing laundry on a saturday morning, it's a good bet that Alien will be on. (I do the same thing with Blade Runner too).

 

[Starbreaker]

Lord of the Rings or Star Wars is running all the time at my place.

 

[Mistral]

Shrek. The Incredibles. Ice Age. Toy Story. (Are you detecting a small child in my life? )

 

[RandyS]

I watch the movies for themselves. But when I'm sitting here at the computer, doing whatever, I usually like to listen to movie and TV episode commentaries.

 

[ladyheather69]

Jaws
Aliens
Tremors
The Burbs
Starship Troopers
Jurassic Park
Die Hard... any of them

I ususally don't put anyting on that is too serious... I would end up watching it. So it is usually a action flick or sci fi that I ahve seen a billion times.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I usually put on an episode of MST3K while I'm falling asleep.

 

[PKTrekGirl]

I work at home and whenever I'm not on calls, I keep TCM running in the background.

So for me, the answer to that question is 'pretty much any classic film'.

I've seen tons and tons of classic films, so I can usually follow along without even looking at the screen, because chances are I've seen the film at least once.

 

[zakkrusz]

I don't play visual media in the backgroud, that completely defeats the purpose of it. If I put it on it's because I'm going to watch it. Anything less would be disrespectful not to mention distracting. I do listen to music when I surf the net though since I find easy to multitask like that using two different senses. I've got my CD library ripped onto my PC so I just put ITunes on Shuffle and let it play.

 

[MyCylon]

^
I don't think it's disrespectful at all. That's overstating the case IMHO.

In most cases people will only have movies on in the background that they already know very well. Hence they've already seen and fully appreciated them.

And the visuals are by no means lost. They exist in the memory and are recalled when listening. For me, having a movie on in the background is, in a way, about going someplace else while I work. They create an environment and an atmosphere that you can get into. They also provide a story you can follow which is why I often prefer listening to movies rather than music (it depends on the tasks I'm conducting, however).

 

[The Master of Tarquin Hill]

For me, this question means "which movies are your favorite sleep aids?"

"Meteor" tops this list. This is the cheesey 80's version w/ Sean Connery.

"ST:TMP" is number two. I fell asleep in the theatre on its original run, and it has never failed me since.

If I don't feel like slapping in these VHS wonders...I just let Dr. Strangelove play on my TiVo.