You can’t beat a good festive film with the family. With a little planning you can create special movie nights - where everyone’s happy and the kids call a truce for an hour or two.
We’ve put together a few tips for bringing movie magic into your home below. Get set to Jingle all the Way, ride the Polar Express, go on a Christmas Vacation, and witness a Miracle on 34th Street. Oh, and don’t worry if the rest of the family has gone out on a late shopping trip. These tips work just fine even if you’re Home Alone!
Get cosy and set the mood
Phones off please. Yes, just like at the cinema. A ringtone going off or a bright screen flashing on is a real distraction whenever it happens.
Something else you’ll need to sort out is the temperature. Too cold and grandma’s likely to start complaining. Too hot and… grandma’s likely to start complaining. A smart thermostat is a great way to adjust the heating without having to get up and spoil the movie.
With the Google Nest learning thermostat, you can control the heating using your smartphone, tablet or laptop - without having to sacrifice your favourite spot on the sofa. It learns your preferences and even turns itself down when you’re away to save energy.
Or you can set the mood with some smart lighting. If you want to be in full control of the lighting, go for a Philips Hue bulb. As the film begins, you can turn the lights using the app on your smartphone. You can also make the house lights a festive red to keep the atmosphere going. Also great for horror movie fans.
And if you want to take lights to the next level, throw in a Philips Hue Play light bar, Play HDMI sync box, Philips Hue Gradient 55” or 65” light strip. Then your lights will automatically react to what’s happening onscreen for an extra Christmas movie atmos.
Smart doesn’t mean complicated, and these bulbs are super easy to get set up. So make sure to add some to the stockings.
Sort the TV out
Let’s talk telly. If you really want to impress the family, you just know a large screen TV will wow them. Here’s how to choose the best…
A trip to Quality Street
When it comes to picture quality, a 4K TV will show off your movies in cinematic quality. It’s got 4 times the detail of Full HD, so everything is super-sharp.
If you really want the very best and don’t mind spending extra, go for an 8K TV. This super high resolution is 4 times higher than 4K, and 16 times higher than Full HD. Every tiny details pops out of the screen like you’ve never seen before. 8K is a big step up from 4K after all.
Yonder star. Near or far?
Before you decide on the size of your new TV, check your sofa set up to find out how far away you’ll all be sitting from the screen. Because the bigger your TV, the further away you can comfortably sit without starting to lose detail. On the other hand, if your room’s quite small, some TVs will just be too big for it. Biggest isn’t always best.
Screen size is measured diagonally from the bottom left corner of the TV to the top right corner. Simply use the same method to measure the empty space where your new TV’s going to go. As a rule of thumb, the perfect viewing distance is about 1.5x the size of your screen. So, measure the distance, do the maths and then you’ll know the size of TV that’s right for you. Check out our handy viewing distances guide for more.
Bring the noise
Now let’s think about sound. If you really want to feel every crash, bang and explosion of action-packed blockbusters like Die Hard (let’s not argue. It’s a Christmas movie) then think about getting a soundbar. It’s the best way of bringing cinema quality sound you can feel into your living room. Yippee ki yay to that.
The Samsung 5.1.2 sound bar really packs a punch, with sound that fills the room. Plus, it comes with Amazon Alexa built-in. So you can ask Alexa to turn the sound up or down - depending on how late your movie marathon goes.
Treat yourself
It’s the time of year to indulge a little, so have plenty of snacks and refreshments to hand. So get comfy, pop that those Pringles, pass round that quality box of chocolates, say yes to yet another mince pie and drink something suitably fizzy. Those New Year fitness resolutions can wait.
Finally, the big decision…
What will you be watching? The days of waiting for that big Christmas film to come on the TV are long gone. Good smart TVs packed with streaming services and set top boxes give you access to almost anything you want to watch. On demand.
To help you get started, here’s our pick of the best festive films on Netflix and Prime Video.
Need more help setting up the perfect festive movie night? Chat to one of our tech experts on ShopLive. They’ll happily answer all your questions, and they can help you checkout when you’ve made your choice. Or tune into our TV buying guide.
