I think it is safe to assume we are all staying inside. If you’re not, what is wrong with you, save lives, break up with your boyfriend, you could be killing people.

If you are one of the smart and safe people staying safe in quarantine, then there is a lot of free time for you! You could map out your next few years of college, which is smart, or reconnect with some old friends through facetime time and text. Exciting! When I’m not watching films or doing creative activities, I like to have my window open and listen to my neighbors shout a conversation to each other from across the street because they’re also staying safe and responsible. Movies take up a lot of my time though, and I would like to recommend some films you can watch while in quarantine. The films I will be talking about today won’t be solo films, but are film series and franchises that you can get invested in and spend several nights watching.

My first recommendation is the recent James Bond films. Daniel Craig does an amazing job as Agent 007. The films feature action, romance and humor in a way that brings light to a franchise known around the world. With a new film (hopefully) coming out in November, it will give you a great opportunity to step into the twists and turns of Bond’s world. As an added bonus, if you finish the films and are still wanting more Bond, there are 20 films before the recent revitalization of the franchise that are sure to impress. Even if some might be lack luster, it’s about the experience.

Fan of British accents? Interested in detective stories? Maybe you like modern reinterpretations of books written as early as 1887? If so, despite your oddly specific requests, you are in luck! Available on Netflix is the entire BBC series Sherlock. Okay, TECHNICALLY it is a TV series, but each episode runs at about an hour and a half, which qualifies as a short movie to me, plus there are only 13 episodes in the entire series. Most episodes will leave you enthralled in watching the way Sherlock Holmes mind unravels to solve a mystery. Whether it’s murder, theft or a disappearance, Holmes almost always finds his way to the truth. I would highly recommend this when you’re avoiding homework, as the series will do the thinking for you.

Finally, I am proud to recommend the biggest and most successful franchise in the world: the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is near impossible to find someone today that has not seen at least one film in the “MCU”, whether they are a fan or not. With 23 films in the series, this will occupy a few weeks of your time. To be specific, 3,000 minutes of your time, which is 50 hours of film! Do you have Disney+? BAM, you already have access to 19 of the 23 films. Do you have Netflix too? BOOM now you can watch 22 out of the 23. You may be wondering which film you can’t watch then, well that film would be 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, but most will agree, it is okay to forget that one. The short version of it is that Bruce Banner doesn’t want to be Hulk but cannot get rid of the Hulk, so he lives with being the Hulk. I just saved you two hours and fifteen minutes.

With that, I leave you with roughly 4,716 minutes of content to watch at home in this trying time. I hope that you are all staying safe, washing your hands and trying to find the light in every day during this dark time for the world. If it’s any consolation, you read the read all the way through this, and I appreciate that! Have a good week, stay safe, stay happy, and STAY INSIDE.

The opinions expressed in this paper are not necessarily those of Winona State University, the Minnesota State Colleges and University system, or the Winona State University student body.