Is there a term for the bad habit of putting off watching a movie precisely because you know you're going to love it?

Omg I do this all the time because I want to be in the best mindset and situation to enjoy the film to the fullest, so I watch super low priority movies most of the time because I think I’m too stressed or tired or overwhelmed to wrap my brain around a movie that deserves my full attention.  The silver lining though is this habit has led me to some hidden gems that actually pulled me out of my stressful mindset to where I fully enjoyed them, which is why I watch movies in the first place.  But okay this was a sign to watch the ones collecting dust in my watchlist!! Love Exposure, your time has come 

Delayed gratification

Sometimes I just feel too stressed out to care about another thing. Like, I know I'll love it, but I have too much other stuff to deal with to WANT to love it.

It’s not quite the same, but I will often keep skipping over foreign language films in my streaming queue and then when I finally get around to them, they are the best movies I’ve seen in months.

For me as a teen and young adult, is if a movie was pushed on me too much by family and friends.

I tend to tell myself, "I'm not in the right mindset" for this type of movie. I'll stupidly convince myself that I can't devote my full attention to it or it's not the right movie for where my head is at, even if it's a movie I've seen before. I randomly put on Saving Private Ryan at midnight, after a night out of drinking, after not watching it in over a decade. At a whim, I was locked in. I find it's best to get out of your head and let the movie pull you in.

https://preview.redd.it/ggaprra55osg1.jpeg?width=305&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fab0335aec88baa56542b7acf6a22047ecd38a30 Pleasure Delayer.

Yeah, that weird habit of saving the surefire great movies for later while grinding through the meh ones. No perfect term for it, but people call it pleasure postponement or backlog anxiety. You're not alone. Sucks about waiting decades on In the Mood for Love and High and Low.

Oh goodness, I feel this so hard. My biggest example would be Princess Mononoke, which i think could easily become one of my all time favorites. As such I just can't bring myself to ever see it

From the movie "Vanilla Sky" (2001) "Pleasure delayer". I don't recall if the original movie it was based on also had that line.

My tick is that I prefer to watch a new movie with someone, but movies are a big part of my emotional regulation, so I’ll rewatch movies I’ve seen over and over based on what sort of emotional needs I’m working on, and I end up with this huge list of “oh I have to wait for such and such to watch that”

Edging

I get this with Best Picture winners. Took me ages to watch Parasite. Still haven't watched EEAAO.

You do you. I watch movies for my enjoyment, so no I don’t deliberately hold back to watch a movie. Except perhaps if I’m pressed for time.

My problem is that I'm holding off on classic films because I want to see it in a theatre as my first experience watching it. I don't have a crazy home setup with speakers or anything, so I want to experience it on a big screen with good speakers. For example, I've been putting of watching The Exorcist for years because I want to watch it in a theatre around Halloween time. But yeah, I'm depriving myself ..

I do a similar thing when I’m mentally exhausted and know I’m not going to give my full attention to something I actually want to see. I’d call it opportune viewing.

Depression

Omg that’s exactly what I’ve been doing the past few days with the movie “Weapons”. Last week I heard ppl talking about how good it was it on Listnook and I watched a trailer and I knew it was going to be one of those movies I’d enjoy. I didn’t think I’d be able to watch it so soon because I don’t like to spend $ on movies and would rather wait until their free on streaming apps. Well I was searching on the Amazon prime app and saw that it was free to watch but I wanted to wait until I could watch the whole thing without any interruptions. I’ve actually decided today that since I’m off work early I’m going to finally watch it.

My “good movie” backlog is currently Guillermo del Toro‘s Frankenstein, The Life of Chuck, Sinners, Rental Family and a few others. Every night I think “hmmm, no I want to wait until I have enough mental energy to watch them properly” but that time never comes.

There's always a reason. But I find it's because I'm too tired to give the film the attention I know it deserves. It deserves my engagement. Or it's foreign language, and I don't feel like reading, otherwise I might pick up a book. I'm trying to wrestle with the idea that it's never the right time, and just try to put something on when I know I have the time to watch it without interruption, so I'm looking at the runtime, and I'm looking at when in the week I'm trying to watch that thing.

I'll bet German has a word for it

Not quite the same but I have a friend who has the strangest habit of not finishing things if he likes them too much. He makes breath of the wild but never beat the last boss, loves the sopranos but never watched the last episode, stuff like that. He says it’s because it’s so good that he doesn’t want it to be over, and if he never finishes it it’s never truly “over”, I often wonder if there’s a term for this practice.

I do similar, mostly because I’m not in the right headspace for what’s up next on my to watch list. If it’s a horror and I’m still anxious about work or family life I’ll postpone it for a comedy. If it’s a devastating drama I’ll wait until I’ve got time to process it afterwards

I do the same. If I watch all of the movies I think I’ll love right now, all that will be left is and 2-3 stars.. and that’ll be a sad day lol

I do this with some stuff but I think of it like I’m saving it for a rainy day when I need something really good to watch. But stuff with hype I try and watch asap bc too much expectations ruins things for me

I do this too sometimes, and then I finally watch it and get annoyed I waited so long.

I know exactly what you mean. I'm curious myself. I guess it's just procrastination, as you do not feel like getting into the mood, it takes power to watch it.

I know exactly what you mean. I'm curious myself. I guess it's just procrastination, as you do not feel like getting into the mood, it takes power to watch it.

Procrastin-admiration?

Anxiety

You’re bringing me back. I took a college language arts course and the professor had us watch In The Mood for Love. We had to choose between that and another movie to write an essay on; I chose the other movie. In The Mood for Love will always stick with me, though

Im not sure the term for that, but i watch movies I know ill love in small parts. 20 minutes here, 15 there, so I can think and ponder on it. I don't want them to be over.

I’m saving Paddington and Paddington 2 for when I’m rock bottom and need something happy and pure. They seem to be beloved, especially the second one.

The term is me🙂

Not sure. How about putting things in your queue and then never feeling like it's a good time to watch them?

I've been doing that a lot. I've been thinking of watching Thief, for example, but have kept putting it off. I want to watch more Hong Kong John Woo films, but don't want to binge them because I'll run out too soon. The last one I watched was Bullet in the Head, and that was back in September of last year. This is the main reason I haven't watched The Killer, the Better Tomorrow sequels, and Hardboiled. After Hours from Scorsese, that's another movie I've kept putting off watching.

It’s called “Masochism”.

Savoring the kill

Delayed gratification.

I think I do this bc I'm afraid it will end up being terrible and I'll be deeply disappointed. So I'll watch the lesser knowns first bc my expectations are lower then it's not as much of a letdown if they're bad.

I don’t know if such a term exists but I’m willing to bet it does in Japanese and/or German

Edgefilm

My annoying habit is to say to myself I’m not putting that movie on tonight because it’s 2 hours long. Then watch a series for 4 hours!

Yes, I do this all the time. I have also been putting off watching certain movies because I want to buy a new OLED first, to see them in the best way possible. I don't think it's wrong necessarily, but if it goes on for too long, and you're _never_ watching these movies, then you need to change up your strategy.

Your backlog is thousands of movies?

It is not a bad habit. I wait until I have the time to give a good movie the time and attention it deserves.

OP I do this exact same thing and you're the first person I've heard really describe it like I experience it. I haven't finished many of my favorite shows, when they get really good I just stop.  And I GOBBLE UP trash like a raccoon. I've seen at least 35 lifetime originals in the past year. 

I did this with the Kneecap movie last year. I was like, this is my kind of thing I can’t wait to watch it, then I was busy and realized, I don’t have time for a new obsession right now, I’ll wait to jump down this rabbit hole. Watched it recently and I was right. In the middle of a full blown addiction to this band and glad I waited.

i do it. its weird. i want to save them for the right headspace i think. dont want to "waste it"

Whose backlog is in the thousands or tens of thousands? That's ridiculous.

I do this with books and games!!!

“tens of thousands”?