What Do You Mean When You Say that A Movie is "Great"?
A lot of people had been frustrated when they heard or read from someone that this so and so movie was great only to find it full of rubbish. Some people compared one movie with another and said that the first was better than the second. And many people came into disagreement on which movie merited the term "great" as compared to only "good" precisely because paramaters or criteria of "greatness" and "goodness" had not been earlier on established.
How do I evaluate movies? What do I exactly mean when I say that a movie is "great" and "worth-watching"? For starters, I categorize films that I watch. Obviously you can't compare a Sci-Fi movie with a European drama. You can't make comparisons between a comedy and a horror flick. It's a no-no too to compare Asian epic movies with Hollywood westerns. But you can compare an original film and a re-make. You can compare a prequel to its sequel. You can say that this director is better than this in his execution of stunts or the build-up of plot and suspense. But you should never ever compare King Kong with Brokeback Mountain!
Aside from this, it helps me judge a film of its merits or lack of when I have clearly in mind what I am judging a film for. In George Lucas films, I look for techniques and special effects, not for acting. In the movies directed by Francois Ozon, I look for the psychological and existential drama behind the ordinariness of the story. Alfred Hitchcock is known for suspense but probably not for cinematography or editing (He did not even look at his cameras while filming or joined his film editor in the editing room!). Comedies are best judged by the number of times you knocked your socks off or you had stomach cramps but probably not for insight.
Now, films that manage to surpass your expectations--comedy that makes you cry, Fantasy Adventure that makes you really think hard about the meaning of life, horror that asks deep moral questions, action that reshapes your understanding of violence--chances are, these movies are great.
How do I evaluate movies? What do I exactly mean when I say that a movie is "great" and "worth-watching"? For starters, I categorize films that I watch. Obviously you can't compare a Sci-Fi movie with a European drama. You can't make comparisons between a comedy and a horror flick. It's a no-no too to compare Asian epic movies with Hollywood westerns. But you can compare an original film and a re-make. You can compare a prequel to its sequel. You can say that this director is better than this in his execution of stunts or the build-up of plot and suspense. But you should never ever compare King Kong with Brokeback Mountain!
Aside from this, it helps me judge a film of its merits or lack of when I have clearly in mind what I am judging a film for. In George Lucas films, I look for techniques and special effects, not for acting. In the movies directed by Francois Ozon, I look for the psychological and existential drama behind the ordinariness of the story. Alfred Hitchcock is known for suspense but probably not for cinematography or editing (He did not even look at his cameras while filming or joined his film editor in the editing room!). Comedies are best judged by the number of times you knocked your socks off or you had stomach cramps but probably not for insight.
Now, films that manage to surpass your expectations--comedy that makes you cry, Fantasy Adventure that makes you really think hard about the meaning of life, horror that asks deep moral questions, action that reshapes your understanding of violence--chances are, these movies are great.
posted by sonoftheprodigal at 9:20 PM
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2 Comments:
I agree wholeheartedly that there are some movies that you simply cannot compare. It would be like comparing the taste of meat to the sound of rock music. They are two, entirely different categories! Thanks for giving the readers of The Movie Fanatic a birds-eye view of how you differentiate between movies! It helps us to better understand how you critique (and enjoy) movies.
thanks for the wonderful comment passionate eater.
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