Movie binge

I’ve been on a movie binge. Curse you, free preview of movie channels I don’t have.

It’s a phase. It always is.

I’ll tear through a pile of books. Or magazines. Or TV shows. Or DVDs and recorded movies.

Lately, it’s movies. I have so many on hand that I’ve never watched, it’s sick.

I’ll watch an hour here, half an hour there. When it’s done, I’ll visit IMDB to see all the trivia, goofs and quotes. I’ll check out Metacritic to see what Ebert and company thought of the movie.

This research adds at least 15 minutes to the “viewing time.”

I went through a phase where I watched several Hitchcock movies in a row: “Rear Window,” “Psycho,” “The Birds,” “Vertigo.” I am woefully behind in the classics, so I’ll study up on them every so often.

Now, it’s whatever’s on that damn preview. Mind you, all of these were first-time viewings for me. “Air Force One,” “Ju-on,” “Open Water,” “Stage Beauty,” “Saw,” “Coffee and Cigarettes,” “Team America: World Police.”

I was lucky enough to see the episode of PBS’ “American Masters” featuring Cole Porter before starting on “De-Lovely.” Weird knowing the biography before watching the biopic unfold. Even weirder, learning the subtext of the some of the greatest songs ever written.

Though I have a small handful of movies I’d like to see in the theaters (fewer than usual for this point in the summer), I’m tempted by the tiny theater in my home with the good sound and the hopelessly outdated 20-inch 4:3 screen.

Once I’ve seen a movie, by the way, I’m set. No repeat viewings, except on the rare ones I can watch again at 2 in the morning. (As opposed to movies to fold laundry by.)

It’s either this or start writing screenplays.