# What are your favorite "background" movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318 "2017-01-16T16:51:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318/1 "2017-01-16T16:51:26Z")
In the “Arrival” thread, one of the posters mentioned that “Contact” is a movie they like a lot, and often have running in the background while doing chores. That got me to thinking, because I have several of these: movies I love so much and know so well that I can (and do) put them on in the background while taking care of other tedious tasks, and still be able to easily keep up with what’s going on even if I get involved in the task and miss big chunks of them. Mine are: - Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory - Jurassic Park - Hotel Transylvania (1 and 2) - Zootopia - Fright Night (the one with David Tennant) - The Stephen King TV movies “Rose Red,” “The Langoliers,” and “It” (I have them all on DVD) - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone What are yours? For the purposes of this thread, please limit your list to movies you actually do/have done this with, not just ones you think you might. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318/2 "2017-01-16T23:07:20Z")
As a kid I would often times (like 4 or 5 nights out of 7) fall asleep watching 1977 The Hobbit on Betamax. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318/3 "2017-01-16T23:39:24Z")
I like the [Moroder](https://www.amazon.com/Giorgio-Moroder-Presents-Metropolis-Special/dp/B005J7K950) version to Metropolis as well as the newest longer [reconstructed](https://www.amazon.com/Metropolis-Restored-Authorized-Brigitte-Helm/dp/B00007L4MJ)version, I will also play [M](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M_(1931_film)), and both trilogies of Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. I have also been known to do [Intolerence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intolerance_(film)) and [Heavy Metal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Metal_(film)). ---
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318/4 "2017-01-16T23:53:19Z")
Branagh’s Henry V Jose Ferrer’s Cyrano De Bergerac Metropolitan ---
**Author:** ![RadioWave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RadioWave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadioWave)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318/5 "2017-01-16T23:59:22Z")
For me, it would be one of the LOTR movies or any episode of new Dr. Who. Back in the VHS days, I had a college roommate who recorded The Princess Bride three times on a single tape (back to back to back) so that he could have it on for six hours straight while he studied, ate, whatever… I spent a lot of time in my room that semester. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318/6 "2017-01-17T00:41:29Z")
_Total Recall_ (the original Schwarzenegger version). “GIVE DESE PEOPLE AY-UH!” _Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure_. Not much of a plot, so it doesn’t demand to be followed. _The Jerk_. Even less of a plot. _Star Trek: The Motion Picture_ (or, as I call it, “The Motionless Picture”). A quiet, restful film that murmurs softly in the background without distracting me. _Citizen Kane_ used to be one of my background movies, but I kept paying attention to it instead of doing the stuff I should have been doing. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318/7 "2017-01-17T00:47:14Z")
I’ve seen \*\*\*Casablanca \*\*\*and _ **The Great Escape** _ so many times I can easily visualize what’s happening on the screen while I’m working in the kitchen (I live in a basement efficiency apartment). ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318/8 "2017-01-17T00:49:31Z")
“Umbrellas of Cherbourg” “Marat/Sade” Both are great music. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318/9 "2017-01-17T01:10:40Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > \*_Citizen Kane_ used to be one of my background movies, but I kept paying attention to it instead of doing the stuff I should have been doing. After countless viewings - still no way I could do anything else. Eons ago for parties we’d set up: _Tesuo_ _THX1138_ _Zardoz_ _Santa Sangre_ _Alien_ bunch of others I can’t remember By MILES the best, though, was _Kamikaze '89_. Especially as you got more fucked up, and occasionally looking at it, and maybe seeing a stringy-haired Fassbinder - in that incredible leopard skin suit - trying to brandish a gun, or his hapless sidekick indignantly driving away in that insane three-wheeled chopper, or the whacked-out lady with the vertically shifting diorama nature panels in her basement, or the Combine-sponsored Laughing Contest, apparently watched by almost all of Germany. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318/10 "2017-01-17T01:39:48Z")
_Predator_ _The Naked Gun_ _Blues Brothers_ _O Brother, where art thou?_ _Big Lebowski_ TV - _Futurama_ ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318/11 "2017-01-17T01:54:25Z")
_My Favorite Wife_ especially, but practically anything with Irene Dunne, except _Penny Serenade_, which is too sad to ever watch again. _Return of the Secaucus 7_ _Priscilla, Queen of the Desert_ _My Brilliant Career_ made-for-TV-movie _Sybil_ Any Universal monster movie, especially the originals, especially with commentary track. Also RKO’s _King Kong_, and either the 1931 (Paramount) or the 1941 (MGM) _Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde._ Especially with commentary. Several Hammer horror films. _Cool Runnings_ _Alien_ The original _Planet of The Apes_ The movie that came out in 1977 under the name _Star Wars_ _The Wizard of Oz_ Also, endless reruns of _L&O: TOS_. ETA: I have lots of foreign films and silents I have watched multiple times, but they require visual attention, so they don’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318/12 "2017-01-17T03:13:51Z")
Oh–I forgot _The Birdcage_ for my list. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318/13 "2017-01-17T14:38:21Z")
Pretty much any of the big blockbusters from the mid-1980s until the early 2000s. To name a few of my favorites: Sixteen Candles Terminator The Breakfast Club Terminator II Top Gun Uncle Buck Aliens Predator True Lies Alien3 Alien Resurrection Lord of the Rings (all three) The Italian Job I’ve seen them all (either straight through or in snippet form) so many times that I can usually recite any given line word for word a few seconds before the character does. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318/14 "2017-01-17T14:50:32Z")
I cordially dislike the idea of a “background” movie. Waste of electricity if you asked me. If I’m going to watch a movie, I’ll sit down and watch it while focusing on the story and imagery. If it’s background mood I’m after, then music is the preferred means to achieve that end. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318/15 "2017-01-17T15:08:01Z")
_A Few Good Men Legally Blonde Miss Congeniality My Cousin Vinny Sister Act Forest Gump_ These are just a handful of those that are in constant rotation on cable. I know them so well it’s like having old friends in the house with me. I know exactly where my favorite parts are and will stop and watch them and then go back to whatever I’m working on. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318/16 "2017-01-17T15:10:05Z")
[QUOTE=Cardigan] I cordially dislike the idea of a “background” movie. Waste of electricity if you asked me. If I’m going to watch a movie, I’ll sit down and watch it while focusing on the story and imagery. If it’s background mood I’m after, then music is the preferred means to achieve that end. [/quote] Different strokes, I guess. I like music when I’m writing, but when I’m doing something tedious, I need a bit more of a narrative. Plus something to look at occasionally. I pay the electric bill, so I’m allowed. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318/17 "2017-01-17T15:49:45Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > I cordially dislike the idea of a “background” movie. Waste of electricity if you asked me. If I’m going to watch a movie, I’ll sit down and watch it while focusing on the story and imagery. If it’s background mood I’m after, then music is the preferred means to achieve that end. Do you live alone? Not that anyone has to justify their choices but for me it’s a habit ingrained in me since I grew up a poor latch key kid (just kidding; I was alone a lot as a kid but I didn’t mind it at all). Since I’ve lived most of my life alone the habit has stayed with me. I definitely turn on the jams for certain chores though, so I can understand that. ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318/18 "2017-01-17T18:08:46Z")
The Fifth Element Close Encounters of the Third Kind Any Alien movie (yes, even Alien3 or Resurrection) Any Lord of the Rings movie ---
**Author:** ![Sammie222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Sammie222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sammie222)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318/19 "2017-01-18T10:00:42Z")
Four Weddings and A Funeral, My Family and Other Animals, Harry Potter series. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318/20 "2017-01-18T13:24:35Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Do you live alone? Not that anyone has to justify their choices but for me it’s a habit ingrained in me since I grew up a poor latch key kid (just kidding; I was alone a lot as a kid but I didn’t mind it at all). Since I’ve lived most of my life alone the habit has stayed with me. I definitely turn on the jams for certain chores though, so I can understand that. Not currently, but I did live alone for several years. I’m something of an introvert and I guess I like to be alone with my thoughts. Quiet is nice (but certainly can be overdone) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-background-movies/777318.md?page=2)