Quirkbag Collection #11 – 25.07.25

What movie should I watch? Sound familiar?

For most, it’s a question as difficult to answer as it is to understand quantum mechanics.

It’s simple: there is no right answer to it. And yet, at the same time, your answer is also right no matter what you say. 

See, any movie you suggest is probably one that you previously enjoyed, and would want its story shared with others. So in the end, you should just recommend it anyway. 

I hate to break it to you, but chances are, unless you are seen as someone with great taste and experience with movies, they aren’t going to see it.

What Movie Should I Watch?

Personally, ‘what movie should I watch?’ is a question I have asked myself countless times. Ironically, I actually keep a list of movies I would like to watch, like a to-watch list instead of a to-do list. 

That list stands at around 100…and counting. (There are indeed about 100 years worth of movies made, come on)  

Seriously, there’s like thousands and thousands of movies today. English, Mandarin, Japanese, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Korean and you name it.

For the more average, less ‘connoisseur-like’ movie-goers, you’d probably watch a movie in your own native language. 

There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s natural and convenient, we’d understand the story better too. 

So unless you’re a movie connoisseur at a blue-cheese-loving-Cannes-Festival-going level (yes someone like that probably exists), most mainstream movies worth its salt would suffice in entertainment, maybe even education. 

What Are Movies…Exactly?

Now to be clear, ‘movies’ is a broad and generic term, which may encompass biographies, documentaries and featurettes for some.

But for simplicity, I generally refer to movies as fictional/real-life inspired stories captured as motion pictures for cinema. In other words, the big screen stuff advertised to you. 

Yes, you could argue all the semantics around definitions and all but that’s not really a priority when we ask ‘what movie should I watch?’

That Strange but Secretly Logical Phenomenon

Then there’s the phenomenon of ‘I don’t really feel it’ when a movie title is blurted out randomly. It’s almost a knee-jerk reaction. 

I mean, it’s basically the same thing as ‘what do you want to eat?’ – for which the universally agreed-upon reply is ‘I don’t know’. 

In examination however, ‘I don’t know’ is a logical answer to the question ‘what movie should I watch?’ because if you did know, then you’d have an answer to your own question. If you do know, that’s great! 

For most of us, we actually don’t know. 

Do you want to see a movie you already watched? Do you want to see a classic favourite? Do you want to see something new? ‘I don’t know.’ 

See? It comes out naturally. 

If I may explore this slightly further, how could you ever decide what movie to see if you simply ‘don’t really feel it’ for every movie suggestion? It’ll be 0 for 10 if 10 titles were raised. 

This brings me back to the point when I said people usually won’t bother seeing the movie you suggested. It’s simply too inconvenient unless you really hold some influence over them or expertise in movies (albeit possibly self-proclaimed). 

The Solution

There’s an easy solution: you don’t get a say. Decision paralysis is real. Most of us don’t want to make the decision because it’s hard, or in this case, it’s ambiguous. 

We’d rather delay and procrastinate this decision of what movie to catch than actually choosing one out of fear of the movie being bad. (And extremely ironically, we’d sit through a movie that’s bad in hope it becomes better although we have lost interest in the storyline.) 

Considering how the act of watching a movie consists of sitting and staring at a screen (a relatively simple task I might add), it is quite baffling how people can’t quite commit to that. 

Movies have always been storytelling at its peak to me. A good movie anchored by a strong narrative portrayed by a great cast breathes emotions and values into what might otherwise have been mere entertainment. That makes a great movie- one that makes me feel; makes me think; makes me invested in the characters. 

Solution: My Curated Movie Picks

If you have decided to commit to watching a movie this weekend, here’s my curated picks by genres in no order. They are movies that have left a lasting memory for me. 

Comedy/Rom-Com

1. Happy Gilmore (1996) – ‘Just tap it in’
2. Notting Hill (1999) – ‘Surreal but nice’
3. Ghostbusters (1984) – ‘Are you a God?’ 

Action/Adventure

1. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015) – ‘An anti-IMF’
2. Furious 7 (2015) – ‘The street always wins’ 
3. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) – ‘Use the force, Luke’

Rousing/Classic

1. Rocky (1976) – ‘Adrian!’ 
2. Terminator (1984) – ‘I’ll be back’ 
3. Top Gun (1986) – ‘I feel the need, the need for speed’ 

Honourable Features

1. Men in Black (1997) – ‘Did you ever flashy-thing me?’
2. Lost in Translation (2003) – ‘No. — Yes, it gets easier.’
3. Die Hard (1988) – ‘Welcome to the party, pal’ 

Let me guess: you still can’t make up your mind. I have taken the liberty to choose one for you, at the expense of your disagreement with my taste and choice. 

Now, you did have a choice. Go ahead with your choice if you have picked one from above. If not, try Notting Hill. 

And if you have seen it, see it again. 

Whatever your choice, enjoy the movie. It is ultimately one of the reasons the movie was made. And if nothing else, in the words of John Lennon:  

---

Click below to see other stories!

Click below for more serendipitous thoughts.