A New Way to Choose

When it comes to watching movies and television shows, what contributes to your enjoyment the most? What is so important that you would not be able to enjoy what you're watching without it? My theory is that your answer to this question will be the perfect guide for how you choose what to watch next.

I'm going to approach this challenge a little differently. I won't be giving you suggestions about which shows or movies are good. Instead, I'll be giving you the tools to create your own path that you can weave through the world of the silver screen and television. Gone will be the nights filled with countless minutes spent browsing your streaming service, only to eventually settle on a movie or T.V. show that you "guess seems interesting," based on nothing more than the synopsis and a couple of images.

Let's return to the question I presented at the beginning; what factors in a film or T.V. show are the most fundamental to your enjoyment? Your answer is likely similar to mine: it depends. If I'm in the mood for a visual masterpiece, I might watch BBC's "Planet Earth" series. If I want captivating dialogue or immersive acting, I might put "The Crown" on. The benefit of my system is that it doesn't matter what mood you're in, nor what type of movie or show you feel like watching on a given day. My system forms a daisy chain of film and television that morphs and develops as it progresses, making T.V. watching one continuous experience rather than a series of individual sessions, disjointed and incoherent.

Admittedly, there is one flaw to my system. The starting point. You need to decide on what you're going to watch first. But after that first evening in front of the T.V., the rest of your television-viewing life can careen off in whichever direction you want it to. Allow me to elaborate.

First, we need a starting point. As I have mentioned, with this system, the onus of deciding on the first movie or T.V. show is on you. For the sake of this explanation, let's choose something based on the preferences of one of the judges of this challenge, Lea Palmieri. According to her short profile on the challenge homepage, Lea Palmieri appreciates a good love story. I recently watched a movie called "Before Sunrise," starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. It soon became one of my favorite romance movies, so let's consider that a starting point if you haven't seen it already.

Here's the next step: Enjoy the movie! When the movie ends, it's time to reflect; what did you like the most about it? The acting? Cinematography? Editing? Scriptwriting? Sound design? The beauty of filmmaking is that so much work goes into producing a film, so there are countless facets to consider. For this particular movie, Ethan Hawke's acting truly stood out to me.

Once you have established your favorite element of the movie, it's time to pick something else to watch. In this case, I loved Ethan Hawke's acting, so next, I only search for Ethan Hawke movies. This narrows down my options. It's much easier to choose from a handful of movies with the same actor than from the vast sea of digital posters on Netflix. So I do some searching, and I find "Dead Poets Society." Easy option. It's a classic that I'd always been meaning to watch, but I had never got around to it. This is my chance.

It is an incredible movie. The acting is brilliant, the story is touching, and I would be lying if I said I didn't shed a tear. But what stood out to me the most was the writing. I have seldom seen movies that present such potent, gripping dialogue. I look up the screenwriter; Tom Schulman. Suddenly, I have another list of movies to choose from, and this time, I'm confident that the writing will be great, because I know what the screenwriter is capable of. I end up going for "Me, Myself & Irene," very tonally different from "Dead Poets Society," but I'm letting my method take control.

So that's the system. Identify one particular element of a movie or T.V. show you enjoy, choose a cast or crew member responsible for the good quality of that element, and hone in on other movies or T.V. shows that feature that cast or crew member. Just keep following that pattern, and you'll always find something to watch that has at least something you will enjoy. By limiting your options to a specific cast or crew member, you are ridding yourself of those countless minutes spent going through your streaming service menus, looking for something gratifying, yet without any real appetite. My method might push you out of your comfort zone, and it might force you into realms of visual media that you had never considered before. I consider that to be a wonderful thing.