Have you ever slept, or at least felt sleepy, while watching a movie?
That's
my biggest problem recently. I don't know if I was just too tired for a
movie or the movie was just boring; sleepiness during movies sometimes
is unavoidable. Yeah I know it's silly but I'm gonna write about it
anyway, and it's great if you join me discussing this topic!
Before we talk too much, I wanna tell you that in my case, falling asleep or feeling sleepy during movie happens only when I watch movies at home.
Like, from DVDs or laptop. I have never fallen asleep when I was
watching movies in cinemas. Really, you pay for a movie ticket, you
enter the theater, and you fall asleep in there? (But some of my
friends told me that they really have slept during movies in cinemas;
they said they're sleepy, that's all, and it's ridiculous!)
Perhaps that has something to do with the way I watched my movies. I
always set my room as comfy as it can be before I watch movies. Too bad
I don't have those kinds of hi-tech home cinema appliances with audio
and big screen and all; it's only my TV or my laptop (laptop is much
preferred; I wear a pair of headphone for it). Then, yeah, I sit in a
way that I could move my body or legs or hands freely.
Another reason would be about the movie itself. There is
always that kind of draggy-plotted movies (I'm not saying if it's a good
or bad movie) that require your patience, your concentration, to fully
digest and understand the movie as a whole. Like THE ASSASSINATION OF
JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD by Andrew Dominik; beyond its
beautiful portraits and all (that train hijacking scene!), gosh it's so
awfully slow. Or movies from certain director (Michael Haneke, for
example: CACHE, AMOUR) wow it requires great amount of patience.
My point is, sometimes I as a viewer should understand that not all kind
of movies can be viewed in whatever situation or condition I am in. I
mean, sometimes I think when I got back home from work and I feel like
watching a movie, I don't think I could simply play, say, David
Fincher's ZODIAC (which I think needs some concentration and thinking). I
would rather choose something lighter.
I remember
back when I watched THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, I feel so
goddamn sleepy. Really, it's a 3-hour journey of decades of Benjamin
Button with basically no 'exploding' point wherever in the plot. The
kind of movies you admire for its artistry rather than its narrative
form.
So, whenever I feel like, "Nah, it doesn't work
for me", I would turn my player off and get to sleep. But, I'll visit
that movie again sometime, whenever I feel better and fresher (maybe the
next day, or the next morning).
And of course, I
won't consider it 'a bad movie' just because I can't digest it. "Gosh
this movie is awful, it's so boring," some people said when watching
these kinds of movies but again, I never consider a movie good or bad
before finishing it until the ending credit rolls.
I think it's unfair to consider something good or bad before even seeing it till finished.
I think it's unfair to consider something good or bad before even seeing it till finished.
Some
people even watch a movie only to see how it ends. Some people go, "Holy crap when will this goddamn movie end, it's just awfully long"
because they can't survive the boredom. But, hey, I think the point of
movie-watching is not about how the story ends; it's about how we enjoy
its every second.
How about you, guys? Have
you ever felt sleepy, or even slept, while watching a movie? Is it
really that boring? How do you react to your sleepiness? Or maybe you
have suggestion for us avoiding sleepiness during movie? Let's discuss!
Give your opinion in comment box!
cover image taken from http://www.visualphotos.com
I actually fell asleep watching the 3rd Matrix movie in theaters. I woke up during a big death scene and was like "wtf?" As a rule for myself, I try not to watch new movies while lying in bed or things like that, just in case that happens. But yeah, I've fallen asleep during movies plenty of times!
ReplyDeleteI never fell asleep in theaters. Sometimes I watch movies when I half-lying on bed but I don't think it's the reason of my sleepiness. Same here! Many movies are left unfinished because I fall asleep before they end :D
DeleteThe last time i actually fell asleep was during Soekarno! It was just so boooooooring and painful! D: As for home-viewing i usually need to have zero distraction to ensure maximum movie experience (must be zero distractions!)
ReplyDeleteMy parents sometimes do fall asleep in movie theaters. But i think it was because the films were too slow-burning for their taste or, well, they just tired.
Haven't seen Soekarno. Is it that boring? Wow.
DeleteMe too. Sometimes I even locked my door and turn off the lamp to avoid any drop-ins from friends and all, just wanna be quiet in my room while watching movies
I fell asleep twice in cinema and all those movies are from Europe, lol-_-
ReplyDeletewhat movies? :o
Delete"Le Gai Savoir" and another movie from Festival Sinema Perancis.
DeleteTapi gue pernah ngantuk banget nonton The Godfather, padahal gue sebelum nonton gak ngantuk sama sekali, lol-_-
Godard yah? Wah kalo film2 itu saya harus bertapa dulu tuh, sedia sesajen (baca: kopi, dll) supaya ga terbawa ngantuk. Bukan berarti filmnya boring yah, cuma yang kayak gitu emang perlu treatment khusus sih, haha
DeleteKalo kata saya sih, sebagus2nya sebuah film, kalau nontonnya dalam kondisi capek/ngantuk ya bakal ketiduran. Saya biasanya nonton kalau otak lagi belum cape2 bener, jam 7-8 malam lah, soalnya kalo nonton jam 10-11, apalagi lewat jam 12, ya mau dipaksa juga bakal ketiduran. Pengecualian buat tv series sih, saya nonton Friends dari jam 9 malam ampe jam 5 subuh ga ada ngantuk2nya sih
ReplyDeletesependapat. sejauh ini belom ada film yg bagusnya kayak gimanapun yg bisa bikin gw yg tadinya ngantuk jadi ga ngantuk lagi
DeleteI fell into a deep sleep watching Transcendence and The Monuments Men. There are reasons why this could happen. 1) Age doesn't lie. You enter the studio, sit comfortably, light's out, the AC kicks in and I even watched those in a broad daylight or 2) The movies are way too boring.
ReplyDeleteAge doesn't lie! That's the key.
DeleteI once felt very sleepy and slept for around 10 minutes during The Wolverine. I can always manage myself to feel excited anytime I watch movies in cinema. The thing is, sometime we get to the cinema, when we're not in a 100 percent condition. You know: working and watching movies at one day is sooooo tiring anyway. Moreover, my movie time is always: Wednesday and Friday.
ReplyDeleteAh, you reminded me also. Yep, Wolverine also got me sleepy (I remember watching it back in Ramadhan last year, empty-stomached).
DeleteGood to have a "movie-time"! I wish it also worked for me but so far it didn't really work.
Oh, I know what you feel, bro :p
DeleteDuring the first half of the movie, everything is just another nodding off hehe
It's never easy to have movie time anyway, 'casue sometimes you need to wait patiently for certain movie---only to get a real free time hehehe
Good to share, Bar. Hopefully, you can get rid of yr sleepiness soon!
Transformers 2 and The Tree of Life come to mind haha.
ReplyDeleteTransformers 2 is boring as hell! Lol! But I don't agree with you about The Tree of Life. It's calm, but awesome.
Delete