What to watch when you don’t know what to watch
Has this ever happened to you?
In a world…
…where it’s movie night. You and your spouse, family, or friends have all agreed to sit, pop some popcorn, turn down the lights, and watch a movie. You turn on the TV, go to your favorite movie streaming service, and start scrolling…and scrolling…and scrolling. No one can decide which movie to watch, so you spend an hour just trying to decide. Before you know it, everyone is restless and demoralized because the magic of the opening credits has been delayed, and now someone has to stretch, or check their email, or go pee…again.
Movie Night is canceled.
What if I told you I have discovered a way to solve the movie night dilemma forever? All it takes is a willingness to try something new, stick to the plan, and allow for some real stinkers. But if you enjoy films and can watch them with the mind of a movie critic, this plan will work for you. You will never struggle to decide what movie to watch next ever again.
So, what’s the solution?
I call it The Film Franchise Method. Here’s how it works:
- Choose a movie genre
- Choose a film franchise
- Every time you have movie night and don’t know what to watch, go to the next film in the series until you have watched them all.
- Repeat Steps 1-3
Why this works
There is no searching for hours to find a film! You know exactly what movie you will be watching, so you can just sit, pop some popcorn, turn down the lights, and enjoy. And it’s okay to stray from the plan. If a new movie is released on streaming that you want to see right away, you can break from your current franchise and return to it the next time you don’t know what to watch! For instance, we recently interrupted the Star Trek franchise with John Wick 4. If you go a long time between watching successive films, and you’ve forgotten what happened in the last one, simply watch the trailer to refresh your memory. We had to do that with Alien vs. Predator.
Pro tip: Choose two franchises that merged in crossover films, like Alien vs. Predator, Freddie vs. Jason, and Superman vs. Batman, and watch the blended list in release-date order.
Below is a list of popular film franchises categorized by genre to get you started on the Film Franchise Method. I included classic and modern franchises, each with at least four films. I’ve marked the ones we’ve watched using this method with a👍. Each link will bring you to the franchise’s Wikipedia page with a list of films in release-date order. If you have a film franchise suggestion, feel free to comment below.
Movie Franchises
Action/Spy
Comedy
Family/Animated
Horror/Monster
Sci-fi/Fantasy
Sports
Superhero
by Jana K.
Massachusetts First 
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