You’ve got four free hours, and you’ve been hearing all the buzz about “At Berkeley,” so you’re thinking about watching it. Critics are eating it up, but we have some other suggestions for using your time. Instead of acting like all four hours of the film are actually interesting, do these four things instead. Save “At Berkeley” for when you’re a nostalgic alum.
1. Find something you’d enjoy more on Netflix.
Let’s do some math here. You’re dealing with a 244-minute documentary — four hours and four minutes to be exact. On average, dramas run about 40 minutes per episode, sitcoms run for 20 minutes per episode and films normally run from one-and-a-half hours to two hours. That means you could watch half a season of Breaking Bad, four episodes of “Game of Thrones” or nearly three other films in the time that it would’ve taken you to watch “At Berkeley.”
2. Tour Berkeley on your own.
Do you realize how far you can walk in four hours? A guided tour is around 90 minutes long. That leaves you with enough time to go up the Campanile and go up to the Big C. Even better, we suggest going up to Grizzly Peak instead for a view of Berkeley, San Francisco, Oakland and, on clear days, San Jose. From the Campanile, that’s about a 90-minute walk, but the view makes it worth the torture.
3. Get the best food coma ever.
Berkeley’s got a wonderful food scene, but most people stay confined to Asian Ghetto, SpoonRocket and dining halls. Treat yo’ self. In this particular route we created (consisting exclusively of pizza and dessert places), it would take you 20 minutes total driving or 103 minutes walking (which leaves plenty of time to shovel food into your mouth) to have the experience of a lifetime.
4. Sleep.
Here’s an issue that wasn’t addressed in “At Berkeley” — sleep deprivation. Why not use those four hours to catch up on all that sleep you’ve been losing? With the bombardment of deadlines and the stress that looms over you as a result, you’ve probably lost the ability to fall asleep altogether. Counting sheep is a dated technique. Sleeping pills seem to build an unhealthy dependency. The solution? We highly recommend putting “At Berkeley” on.
GIF sources: butabi7293 (Reddit), elcycle (Reddit), bitterstar88 (Tumblr), dankwayfarers (Tumblr) and fifa-rager (Tumblr)
