Better living through binging

The word “binge” means indulging to excess; it’s classically associated with eating and in a more contemporary fashion, also associated with watching TV—a lot of it. In fact, it almost always gets phrased in the pejorative.

But why does binge-watching have to be a bad word? After all, aren’t intensive athletic programs like SoulCycle just a form of binge-exercising? And you’re not a nincompoop for binge-reading the novels of William Faulkner. Binge-watching King of Queens may not provide much cultural or intellectual nourishment, but there are all sorts of ways you can spend the entire weekend on your couch and still feel good about it.

Jacques Rivette originally divided his 13-hour opus Out 1, a series of diversions loosely centered on French acting troupes, into eight contiguous “episodes.” When the restored 1971 film hit Netflix last year, the streaming service literalized this narrative device by carving the film into eight binge-able pieces. Out 1 might feel like work compared to the eagerness of Western cinema, but try to force down a couple of episodes of French vegetables in between mainlining full seasons of Charmed.

One of the most riveting cinematic events of 2016 was technically an eight-hour, five-episode television show. Ezra Edelman’s O.J.: Made in America originally aired on ESPN, but was also released to theaters in order to qualify for year-end movie awards. Now available on Hulu Plus, it offers one of the most complex portraits of race, class and celebrity in America ever put on screen. Divided back into episodes here, the rich detail and irresistible pull of O.J.: Made in America has arguably found its ideal home in the binge-watching world.

An audiovisual analogue of the exquisitely tasteful name-dropper The New Yorker with documentaries, short films, animation, poetry and more formed into a full season of weekly episodes. The first season, available on Amazon Prime, includes work from acclaimed directors such as Alex Gibney, Steve James, Jonathan Demme, Eugene Jarecki and Dawn Porter, and appearances from Paul Giamatti, Courtney Barnett and Alan Cumming.

Created by Turner Classic Movies in collaboration with The Criterion Collection, the upstart FilmStruck (www.filmstruck.com) is the answer for those unimpressed by the offerings on Netflix and Amazon. It’s the sole streaming home of The Criterion Collection, which the site has formed into ready-made binge-fests in categories such as “Circus Acts” (including La Strada and Freaks) and “Existentialism in Film” (including Le Samourai and Seconds).

MUBI (www.mubi.com) offers 30 films at a time, with a new one added daily, so there is always something new and unusual. The selection is all over the map, but they tend to program around themes; currently they’re showing several Marcel Pagnol movie adaptations, including dueling 1961 and 2013 versions of Fanny. If you want a wider selection than the MUBI model allows, check out the foreign and independent-minded Fandor (www.fandor.com), which programs mini-film festivals such as its “Directed by Women” series, featuring works from Agnès Varda, Kelly Reichardt and Maren Ade.