Monday, August 07, 2006
Movie Appreciation
Ok, I’ll admit it.
I love movies.
But who doesn’t?
Anyway, In the last week and a bit, I’ve seen 3 flicks. (I know I should be studying!!)
Pirates 2 – I really, really, really liked it! A Great Follow-up to the first movie.
The Lake House - A chick-flick. It was ok, but the girlfriend enjoyed it more….
Ultraviolet – I liked this. Entertaining and fun. No matter what the crits say.
I don’t understand it. Am I so gullible and naïve that I enjoy most movies that Hollywood and co throw at me?
Normally, I’m a very sceptical person that analyse something and looks for the faults therein. (Hey, It’s my job – I have to do it – I get paid for it!). But when it comes to movies, I’m a much more accepting and forgiving person.
Take Ultraviolet for instance:
The story is nothing new.
The acting isn’t fantastic (Although I’ve always digged Milla!)
A lot of the stuff was clearly and obviously CGI.
It gets bad reviews left right and centre.
And about 80% of the people I know, will hate it.
But I enjoyed it. Why?
I could see that the creators of the film didn’t take themselves too seriously.
I believe they did the best they could do - and didn’t slack off or anything, but the way they did certain things just illustrated : “Hey this is a kick-ass entertaining movie. Don’t over-analyse. Don’t look for the purpose of life. Just sit back and enjoy!”
I just think I look at things different than most people.
I believe the rating system is stupid. Scoring all movies on the same scale of 1-5 stars just doesn’t make sense. There are SOOO many factors that contribute to someone enjoying a movie or not.
A great story.
Fantastic characters.
Entertainment factor.
Exciting way of telling the story – production
Your own state of mind and personal history.
Hype around the movie beforehand.
And even “Who you watch it with” – sometime you’ll enjoy a movie more watching it with person than another. I’m sure you all can think of even more things contributing to your enjoyment of a film.
Bottom line: 2 things.
1) If I say a movie is good – don’t take my word for it.
I say that for about 70% of movies I see.
2) Don’t just dismiss a movie as a bad flick, because the story sucked or the actors were bad. Yes sometimes these elements are so overpoweringly bad, that the entire movie suffers – but sometimes you fixate so much on the bad story, that you miss out on the fun the directors and actors are trying to have with you....
I love movies.
But who doesn’t?
Anyway, In the last week and a bit, I’ve seen 3 flicks. (I know I should be studying!!)
Pirates 2 – I really, really, really liked it! A Great Follow-up to the first movie.
The Lake House - A chick-flick. It was ok, but the girlfriend enjoyed it more….
Ultraviolet – I liked this. Entertaining and fun. No matter what the crits say.
I don’t understand it. Am I so gullible and naïve that I enjoy most movies that Hollywood and co throw at me?
Normally, I’m a very sceptical person that analyse something and looks for the faults therein. (Hey, It’s my job – I have to do it – I get paid for it!). But when it comes to movies, I’m a much more accepting and forgiving person.
Take Ultraviolet for instance:
The story is nothing new.
The acting isn’t fantastic (Although I’ve always digged Milla!)
A lot of the stuff was clearly and obviously CGI.
It gets bad reviews left right and centre.
And about 80% of the people I know, will hate it.
But I enjoyed it. Why?
I could see that the creators of the film didn’t take themselves too seriously.
I believe they did the best they could do - and didn’t slack off or anything, but the way they did certain things just illustrated : “Hey this is a kick-ass entertaining movie. Don’t over-analyse. Don’t look for the purpose of life. Just sit back and enjoy!”
I just think I look at things different than most people.
I believe the rating system is stupid. Scoring all movies on the same scale of 1-5 stars just doesn’t make sense. There are SOOO many factors that contribute to someone enjoying a movie or not.
A great story.
Fantastic characters.
Entertainment factor.
Exciting way of telling the story – production
Your own state of mind and personal history.
Hype around the movie beforehand.
And even “Who you watch it with” – sometime you’ll enjoy a movie more watching it with person than another. I’m sure you all can think of even more things contributing to your enjoyment of a film.
Bottom line: 2 things.
1) If I say a movie is good – don’t take my word for it.
I say that for about 70% of movies I see.
2) Don’t just dismiss a movie as a bad flick, because the story sucked or the actors were bad. Yes sometimes these elements are so overpoweringly bad, that the entire movie suffers – but sometimes you fixate so much on the bad story, that you miss out on the fun the directors and actors are trying to have with you....
// posted by Swepsie @ 12:43 PM 
Comments:
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I have 2 scales when I rate a movie (for exactly those reasons you mentioned).
Scale 1: How "good" is the movie? This means techniquely, creatively, etc. Ie. What would a crit (myself) think of it.
Scale 2: How much "fun" is it? This is just how much do I feel my time was wasted or not wasted. Did I laugh at the lame jokes, or felt that this is insulting me.
Then I average the two to find my score of the movie.
Schindler's List is one of my favourite examples (but you can use Saving Private Ryan too). They'll score high on Scale 1 (10 most likely), but the movie was taxing, and "not fun". So a 3 there. Giving 13/20, or 6.5 out of 10.
Scale 1: How "good" is the movie? This means techniquely, creatively, etc. Ie. What would a crit (myself) think of it.
Scale 2: How much "fun" is it? This is just how much do I feel my time was wasted or not wasted. Did I laugh at the lame jokes, or felt that this is insulting me.
Then I average the two to find my score of the movie.
Schindler's List is one of my favourite examples (but you can use Saving Private Ryan too). They'll score high on Scale 1 (10 most likely), but the movie was taxing, and "not fun". So a 3 there. Giving 13/20, or 6.5 out of 10.
i agree with you that who you watch a movie with can have a huge impact on your enjoyment of the movie.....never watch something that you were on the hedge about with someone that doesn't like/care about that type of genre cos then you'll walk out feeling as if you wasted time
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