With the start of a new year and the exciting start to university life for our freshers, it’s an excellent time to socialise and meet new people. One of my favourite things to do with friends new and old is movie nights. Whether it’s making a day of it and going out to the cinema or staying in order take-out or cooking yummy snacks, getting all comfy and sharing a meaningful experience through a film is always rewarding.
Bonding over childhood films and favourite genres is a great way of getting to know people. If you are looking for a night in I find hanging out and watching a movie with friends is a comfortable and chill alternative to partying or going out. It is a wonderful feeling showing someone a film they have never seen before that you love or seeing a film you’ve never heard of for the first time that is someone’s go-to feel good movie! Connecting people through film and TV is wholesome fun and a great way to make friends.

Some of my favourite films are ones shown to me or that I have shared with friends. Apps like Netflix-Party and Disney+ watch together means we’ve been able to hang out watching stuff with friends even if we can’t be together in the same room making movie hang-out nights more accessible which has been a huge help over the last two years. But making the most of being together and meeting new people is what freshers week is all about. Not to mention there are multiple societies to join such as Fim Soc and a few TV fandom societies full of great people bonding over a shared love of media. Brighton also has some great movie theatres with the Odeon in central Brighton and the Cineworld a short bus ride away down at the Marina there is also the Duke of York off London Road that has old reshowings of classics and great viewings of foreign cinema from around the world so you can explore new movies with friends. Trying new genres and broadening your horizons through film is a great way to expand the voices and stories you encounter in life although most movies are works of fiction there is a lot that can be learnt through this form of media.

I asked some of the Badger team what their favourite movie to watch with friends are and why, here are our movie recommendations: 

 Kato (Me) Film and TV editor

 I would say out of all my favourite movies to watch with my friends are films like Pride, films about togetherness with funny and heartfelt moments but at the moment I personally have enjoyed watching What We Do In The Shadows with my housemates. Starring and directed by Taika Waititi it is a hilarious mockumentary about vampire friends and housemates which always makes us laugh. There is also a spin-off TV show by the same name that is well worth a watch if you are looking for a similar flavour. What We Do In The Shadows can be streamed on Amazon Prime.

Some of our Arts editors recommend  classic teen comedy Mean Girls (2004)- and I agree it has got to be a go-to sleepover classic. It can be watched on Netflix and Amazon Prime. They also suggested Twilight (the movie and also the entire saga if you can make people sit down for a marathon) . It is on both Netflix and Amazon Prime and is always a good laugh if you’re in the mood for soft emo vampire love stories. 

Joshua Curran Staff writer 

‘There Will Be Blood ‘is my favourite film to watch with other people. Beautifully shot and set in the Californian prairie, it tells the tale of an oilman, played by Daniel Day-Lewis, in the early 20th century establishing his empire and coming up against a local preacher, played by Paul Dano. While not the lightest watch, the more brutal elements of the story are offset by Daniel Day-Lewis’s goofy accent, which is easily one of the most fun voices to attempt to copy in cinema history. Overall, it is both a great movie from a critical perspective and a fun movie to watch with friends.’ This movie can be found on Amazon Prime or purchased on YouTube. 

Ali Arief  Editor-In-Chief at The Badger

As an avid Shrek fan, it would be easy for me to recommend watching Shrek with your housemates. It’s the go to, the feel-good film that will have you in stitches and quoting it forever. However, I am not going to recommend this movie to you today. What I am going to recommend instead, is an absolute masterpiece set within the Shrek-sphere. You have heard of Shrek the animated classic, now get ready for Shrek: Retold. A YouTube movie made by 3IG, Shrek: Retold is Shrek remade, with over 200 collaborators. Every scene, every line of dialogue was remade, with some sequences being live action, some animated, and some claymation. It is a love letter to the Dreamworks classic that will amaze you. I have watched Shrek: Retold on YouTube three times now, and I am always left hysterically laughing and feeling content, knowing that human beings are so creative and can do absolutely anything they set their minds to. If you are looking for a feel good, free movie that’s a love letter to one of the best animated movies ever made, Shrek: Retold is perfect for a laugh with your friends or your housemates. 

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