I love movies as much as the next person. Okay, I probably love movies a little more than the next person. And yet even I find that every once in a while I hit what I like to think of as a “movie plateau.” It's when you can't remember seeing a really good movie lately. It's when you aren't excited for anything coming out soon. It's when you feel like you might actually be getting bored of movies!

Everyone will hit one of these movie plateaus every so often. I happened to hit one in the past week. I decided that I didn't want to linger in the “no good movies to watch” funk I was in so I figured out how to pull myself out of it fast. Then I figured that perhaps I should share this newfound wisdom.

I have discovered the secret to ditching the movie plateau and the boredom in the blink of an eye. The trick, ladies and gentlemen, is to look to the past.

Everyone has a favourite old movie. Mine is Casablanca. Whenever I'm bored of movies I pop in Casablanca and watch the saga of Rick and Ilsa unfold tragically in front of me. Suddenly the magic of the movies is reignited within me and I can go along my merry movie-watching way. I think that most people have an old favourite movie, like an old blanket that you can always wrap yourself up in and get all warm and cozy. So if you find yourself in a movie rut, first try popping in your favourite old flick.

Didn't quite work for you? That's okay. There is another way to look to the cinematic past to reignite your passion for its future. There are hundreds of old flicks that you have yet to discover. All you have to do is pick one you've always wanted to watch and give it a try. I, for one, had never seen any of the Back to the Future movies before this past weekend. A friend of mine discovered this shameful fact and insisted that we spend the weekend having a movie marathon. We did and it was fantastic. It got me thinking about how many movies there are that I haven't seen that are just waiting to tell me their stories.

If you don't have a favourite old flick, or if you do but it's not working for you this time, try to think of a movie that you've never seen but have always wanted to.

If the discovery of “new to you” movies doesn't reignite your passion for cinema, then I have one more suggestion for you. Try watching something completely out of your comfort zone. Normally an action flick person? Try an art house film. Normally one for the sappy romance? Try a sci-fi flick.

Everyone is bound to find themselves in the midst of a movie plateau every now and then. Hopefully the next time you are struck by one, you'll be able to pull yourself out of it that much quicker.