After a long week of crunching numbers at your accounting firm, training eager marksmen at a company like Outdoor Solutions, or responding to customer complaints in the HR department, the weekend is your time to relax. It’s time to kick back on the couch, throw on a good movie, and get lost in blissful CGI and explosions with family and friends. But why have a good movie night at home when you could have a great one? Here’s how you can make your next movie night next level.
Make a Game Out of the Movie Choice
Things can get frustrating when nobody can decide on a movie choice. Some people want an action blockbuster, others want a good chuckle from a comedy, and you prefer something a little spooky.
This is a great opportunity to make a game out of choosing the flick of the night! One option could be to put everybody’s movie choice on a spinning wheel and let it rip!—you can find them online, but buying your own is also an option. This way nobody can be mad about the final pick and everything is totally fair. Other options include making a bracket, drawing cards, or playing a board game, a trivia game, or a video game beforehand where the winner decides the movie.
Theme it Up
If you have a way to decide who chooses the movie beforehand, you have the added advantage of having a theme night! Is everybody coming over to watch Harry Potter? Dress up in your best wizarding attire and decorate the watch-space accordingly, accompanied by wizarding snacks like Bertie Botts Every Flavor Jellybeans. Watching a Marvel blockbuster? Do your best to dress as your favorite Avengers character! This is a fun way to shake things up and take some great pictures.
Have a Solid Setup
Nobody wants to come over and watch a movie on your 32-inch low-resolution TV. This is movie night we’re talking about! Your setup needs to be comfortable and inviting for guests, and the screen needs to be big enough to give off that “theater” vibe, even if it doesn’t touch both sides of the room. A little surround sound never hurt anything either. Does this mean you need to go out and buy the biggest and most expensive TV and speakers you can find? Of course not, but there’s definitely a middle ground area that dictates you, as the host, should be able to adequately entertain guests with an authentic theater experience—which is hard to do if everybody is huddled around your laptop.
What’s a Movie Without Snacks?
It’s a fair question. Nobody expects to sit down and watch a two-hour film without a little popcorn if you’re hosting a movie night. Be sure you’ve got a slew of different drink options, like soda, tea, lemonade, wine, and anything else you can think of; plus, having some candy available like you would get at the movies can truly raise the bar in terms of movie nights at home. But the one thing you absolutely need is popcorn. Plenty for everyone, buttered and non-buttered, kettle couldn’t hurt either, and a variety of different seasoning flavors to top it all with.
Tickets, Please
There’s something special about opting for a movie night at home rather than going to the theater, like not having to worry about people playing on their phones, not spending an arm and a leg for tickets, and the ability to pause it whenever you please. By following these tips, you’ll elevate a normal movie night into an unforgettable one.
