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To the film buffs:
Darth Ledger
Posts: 6,594 ✭✭✭✭✭
What do you look at to determine whether a film is terrible, bad, mediocre, good, or great?
As in what factors do you pay attention to while watching and exactly how much does your personal opinion affect your review? As in does emotion towards the film come into play when giving a review?
As in what factors do you pay attention to while watching and exactly how much does your personal opinion affect your review? As in does emotion towards the film come into play when giving a review?
"If you make yourself more than just a man... If you devote yourself to an ideal... You become something else entirely- A Legend."
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GIFSoup
And how much importance should you put into the technical aspects vs. your personal response to the story and how much it engaged you emotionally and intellectually? Personally, when I judge a film, I consider whether or not it entertained/engaged me, what the purpose of the film is and try to judge accordingly and how well it all comes together to tell the story and plot. How does the cinematography contribute to telling the story? How does the music support the emotional state of the characters? Do I care about the characters?
And lastly, good taste helps
Now, when the talent changes to directors such as Fincher, Tarantino, Nolan, Jackson, the Coen Brothers, etc, I pay attention to aspects I ignore in stuff like Transformers. The directors I just listed are known for creating works that are story-heavy, so I take that into consideration when evaluating them.
I agree with Pumpkin about grading individual aspects of a movie: the whole is what matters. I no longer issue letter grades or numerical scores because I feel that if someone is really interested in what I have to say about a work, then they will want to read what I have to say instead of just skipping to my grade or score.
But yes, the idea is to remained entertained for the entire duration. If I'm not, I'll discuss why.
I also pride myself in my views constantly changing every time I revisit something. A perfect example would be the extended edition of The Two Towers. I used to consider it a plodding mess but when I watched it again on Blu-ray, I found it to be another majestic entry in that series.
So Crucify the ego, before it's far too late, to leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical. And you will come to find that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.
For me, the first thing I say: did I have a good time watching? This is what really matters to me when I watch a film. If I enjoyed it, then obviously something resonated with me. If I didn't, then clearly there was a misstep.
Let's look at some recent films from the past few years:
30 Minutes or Less stars Jesse Eisenberg in a comedy about criminals, getting drunk, fucking your friend's sister, blahblahblah. In short, it's a comedy. I'm not going to the movie to examine acting, the score, or any technical aspects. I'm going to laugh and joke around with friends.
Dreamworks or Pixar films I go in with a different approach. A kid would go in ready to laugh a bit, while I go in looking for characters and plot. There isn't acting, I never really have a problem with voices, and the animation is usually top notch. I want to feel the characters, I want to be emotional, I want the film to bring me to tears. I don't mean this with every animated film, just the ones that are critically acclaimed with everyone saying it will do this. How to Train Your Dragon is an example of a film that did all of that and more. Cars 2 is an example of a film that failed epically at doing so.
I've never seen an Oscar movie without first hearing people calling it an Oscar quality film. So, when I see films like The Social Network, The Hurt Locker, or any other nominees/winners, I'm expecting and looking for quality. Is it believable? Something The Social Network did was create that welcoming environment of a normal college campus that made everything believable. The characters have their faults, something you won't see as much in an animated film let's say. Their problems need to be felt, not just seen. Acting isn't something I see unless it's bad. If you do good job on acting, then I won't notice you acting, I'll notice your character. If you do bad, I'll fail to see the character and instead see you, the struggling actor.
Then comes your action films. This is really a wide field. You have the ones you'll take seriously, like The Town, and the ones you can't because they are so fucking awful that you want to shit yourself and cry of embarrassment from being in the theater, like Transformers. Perhaps hating on Transformers is getting away from the point, which is, did you have fun? The thing is, it's hard NOT to have fun with an action film. This is why I'm usually a bit more strict, not as much with Oscar films of course, but I am. I need to feel urgency, the action, and most importantly, the characters. If I don't give a fuck about the characters, I won't give a fuck about the plot, therefore, I won't give a fuck about the action. I'll be left just wanting to see other people killing or beating each other just for the hell of it. The characters are the heart and soul of not only action films, but all films. In the end, everything is meaningless if your character can't hit home with the viewer.
And then there's horror and romantic comedies, which I don't really watch. So, I don't have much to say on that mother, other than every fucking romantic comedy is the same fucking predictable shit. Always. -.-
Really though, despite everything I've said, it's all about enjoying the film. Tron: Legacy for example. There are complaints about the direction, the acting, the plot, etcetc. I enjoyed it. I laughed, I was wowed, and I got emotional. There's nothing that can be said to make me dislike it.
As a final note: if I consider the film worthy enough for me to buy a blu ray, then the film is successful in my eyes. I'm a 16 year old guy who wants to spend money on an infinite number of things, so money for blu rays come short. I have LOTR: ROTK, Inception, The Social Network, Sherlock Holmes, HBP, DH1, Star Trek, Clash of the Titans (didn't love the film, it was just real cheap at Target), Gladiator, Tron: Legacy, Saving Private Ryan, and soon, DH2 and Star Wars.
So Crucify the ego, before it's far too late, to leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical. And you will come to find that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.
I don't feel like I can review films because I don't know enough about them, I can only tell you my favorites. Im first and foremost a reader and writer, and I watch a crapload of movies. I usually fall in love with the ones that suck me in, give me a dense storyline and believable characters, along with cinematography and a willingness to be unusual. I'm personally big on cinematography for some reason...
Evaluating the quality of a movie is something really subjective and personal. First, because it's a piece of art as any other. In second place, there's this term in Movie Theory that we call "spectatorship". It refers from to the social, educational, political, economic and cultural background of a person. Everyone is affected by these factors and it explains why the audience of some countries rejects a movie, while others from another countries accept it. Of course, most of the movies, today, are appealing in world-wide terms, but they still suffer from different leves of acceptance varying from country to country.
As a graduated filmmaking student, I believe I watch a movie in a different way than a regular spectator. When you start to study the field, you begin to pay attention to details that are not only on the screen, but behind it. A movie stops being just a source of entertainment. Speaking of source of entertainment, I think we can classify in groups:
1. The ones that entertain and amuse you.
2. The ones that make you think, ponder.
3. The ones that entartain and make you think.
The best movies are the ones that definility make you ponder and entertain yourself at the same time. Everytime a movie ends, I ask myself: "What did I gain from this experience? How did I react?". Usually, my favorite films are the ones that stay with me for days. Sometimes months.
I remember my teacher saying that you know when a movie is good when you are watching it and you don't look at your wrist watch one single time. That's true. Watching a movie is like an immersion. Is to dive into this experience. If the movie can make you forget the world around you, you can be sure that it's good.
So many people awnser the discussion of the thread saying: "A good movie is a movie that has great acting, is well shot and well produced, has great visual effects". But.... Guess what? Judging this factors are subjective too.
There are so many questions envolving the "spectatorship". How impartial is your opinion on a movie? Do you let others people opinion estabilish a pre-judgment of a movie before you watch it?
Interesting discussion.