A night in with Midd Movies, Middlebury’s newest streaming platform

It’s Friday night. Through a hazy memory of Middlebury of ancient times (well, a year ago), you can picture what you would normally be doing: getting dressed up in ridiculous outfits, gathering friends from near and far into teeny tiny rectangular dorm rooms, and going out to all of the best spots on campus to dance the night away. Now, Friday night causes tension; students feel the strain of the restrictions they must adhere to in order to stay safe. Five people in your room? That’s a no-go. Dance parties? What dance parties? With Midd Movies, however, all these worries seem to dissolve. 

Midd Movies is a Middlebury College exclusive streaming platform, hosted by MCAB. On the site, you will be greeted by a vast array of over 700 films, arranged by category: comedy, romance, action and more.

“This service offers backup programming and alleviates pressures from many student [organizations] to constantly plan events,” Trishabelle Manzano ’21, member of the MCAB board, said. “Those who are introverted, like myself, and/or those may not feel as comfortable leaving their rooms can simply use this service to their hearts content on the weekends. Sometimes we just have to give ourselves one of these mental health days as well.”

If you’re a fan of comedy, you’ll find classics like “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” as well as more modern films like “The Big Sick” and “Crazy Rich Asians.” Action, science fiction, horror and mystery movies are abundant, so you’re sure to find a film that you and your friends can agree on. Date night? Midd Movies has got you covered. With romantic movies like “Dirty Dancing” and “The Notebook,” you’re sure to lock eyes with a quarantine cutie while appropriately socially distanced and masked. From my first-hand experience watching “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,” date night has never been so suave or exciting. 

​"Whether you’re from Middletown or the Midwest, Midd Movies offers anything but middling movies (i.e. Midway (2019)) to the Middlebury community. We have the ability to watch some of the greatest works of cinema in the past century: everything from “Boss Baby” to “Cats” is available on Midd Movies. It is the best use of your tuition since 10:00 p.m. Ross,” MCAB board member Gibson Grimm ’22 said.

This past weekend, my friends and I decided to watch “Mamma Mia.” We set a laptop at one end of the hall, hooked it up to a speaker and spread out so we could dance to all of the best ABBA tunes. Enjoying one another’s company and rekindling the best of Middlebury in times past has never been as easy as it is with the help of Midd Movies. What once seemed daunting and limited has grown into an exciting challenge. Instead of deciding whether or not we can spend time with our friends in a global pandemic safely, we are exploring fresh, new ways to do so.