What makes a movie?

[buckaroo]

Today is my son-in-laws 40th birthday and as such, we took him and his lovely wife, our daughter out to lunch at a great little Irish pub. (both he and I are Irish so it fit) Ian is very cerebral and often its hard to keep up with his thoughts, but I do try. Today we talked about movies, what makes a movie good and the methods that actors and directors use. Ian is an unemployed writer and this subject was right up his alley. Anyway, one of the things that we hit on was how writers, actors and directors, and producers as well, all have an interest in what the direction the movie takes. The subject was brought about because I mentioned a couple of movies that I had watched which were said to be based on fact. However, upon further review, those movies were about as factual as Attack From Mars. I argued with him that the marquee shouldn't have said "based on actual facts" but instead should have said "inspired by actual facts". Ian said that using the former was a way of attracting a bigger audience. I'm not sure that was the reason. I rather think that they use that line to try and influence the audience in an agenda. We agreed that a director can take any movie and steer the base idea in any direction from sympathy for the players to a deep hatred of them, while sticking with the same script.

So what makes a movie...a great movie? Of course you have to have great actors, but they don't necessarily have to be big name actors. Next you have to have a compelling story line and then you have to have a great director who can move the story in a way that will be not only interesting, but very likable.

BTW, Ian and I chatted about everything from the movies, to astrophysics to include Stephen Hawking, religion comparing Episcopalians to Catholics, we are both confirmed Episcopalians. I told him that I could never get into Shakespeare but could read and enjoy something like the Last of the Mohicans. Ian told me that he couldn't get Shakespeare either until his third year of college and then he finally was able to understand it because the language was more like German than English. Now this completely lost me and I moved on from there. Finally we ended up where we usually do and that is chatting about philosophy, his mine and everyone elses. When we dropped them off at their home and headed for our home, my mind felt like it was upside down, inside out. The girls hate it when Ian and I get into a deep conversation. I act like I know about everything and then I learn from him. It works for him and I enjoy it too. If you ever wonder why I post such long threads now and then, just think if it was Ian, he would have you sleeping long before he was finished.

So what was I talking about...oh yeah, what do you think it takes to make a movie? Be as long or short as you want. Or if you like, talk about astrophysics and what dark matter is. Will a black hole ever draw us over the Event Horizon? How long would we last, not only life on the Earth, but the Earth itself along with the Milkyway if the two nearest galaxies collidge? What was here before the Big Bang. What was around before time itself? Can you see how deep our converations go? There's no "will Junior win a race this year" or how will the Panther do with their draft choices. Yep, no talk of who won the NCAA basketball tourney. As I said, I pretend that I know it all and it works for me.

But what makes a movie?

 

[Benevolent One]

I think a good movie has to have a good story line. An original idea is always great, but it doesn't have to be all that original. The old standards are standards for a reason, because they work. As long as there are unforseen twists and surprises, it works out fine.

It also has to have good acting, although I agree that it certainly doesn't have to include big name actors.

Other things are more or less important based on the type of movie it is, or it's "genre" if you prefer.

The thing that is most important to me in virtually any movie is dialogue. Of course, that is most important in a great drama, but is still important in movies like Zombieland. Zombieland certainly wasn't a cinematic masterpiece, but there were certainly lines in there that really made the movie much better; such as "time to nut up or shut up".

My favorite movies of all time are the Silence Of The Lambs and Falling Down, both mostly for their deep probing into the minds of different people. The interaction between Hannibal Lector and Clarice Starling was absolutely amazing. Their characters were well conceived and well developed but the chemistry between Hopkins and Foster was electric. Of course, it didn't hurt that I found Foster incredibly hot in that movie. She struck a great balance between vulnerability and strength in that role.

As far as the "based on a true story" type of thing, I think it can certainly add a level of interest to any movie. One of the best examples of that, to me, was the Executioner's Song staring Tommy Lee Jones as Gary Gilmore. Another example that worked for me was Dog Day Afternoon. As different events unfolded, you really felt what it had to be like for the actual people who really went through it. Of course, Tommy Lee Jones and Al Pacino (my favorite actor) are tremendous actors and that helped a lot. On the flip side, The Blind Side was interesting in that it was based, very loosely, on a true story. When Sandra Bullock stormed onto the field to give Michael Oher instruction on how to block for the quarterback by pretending that the QB was one of their family members. That was incredibly stupid and seemed like an insult to his inteligence and mine as a viewer. You just knew that things like that were just thrown into the movie to make it more interesting, or funny, or whatever they were going for. The result was that I liked the movie, but I didn't care for her character much at all.

Other movies like Donnie Brasco were simply great because of the intensity of the story and acting. Johnny Depp and Al Pacino took that movie from good to great with their performances. That was also "based on a true story" and that added a lot to the movie as well. The Godfather and Goodfellas were, of course, great mob movies as well for mostly the same reasons.

On the other end of the spectrum you have some great comedies like Animal House, Caddyshack, Blues Brothers etc. Lines like "Was it over when the German's bombed Pearl Harbor? NO!", "Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son", virtually anything Bill Murray or Rodney Dangerfield said in Caddyshack or "We're on a mission from God" and "Oh we get both kinds of music in here, country and western" make a movie just awesome. Again, it goes back to dialogue for me.

 

[buckaroo]

Interesting opinion. Dialog isn't what is important to me though. I've seen foreign movies in which I couldn't understand a word, yet I got the complete picture. Also, there have been many movies made in which there was no dialog at all and some are widely acclaimed. Great movies to me have to keep me interested.

 

[Benevolent One]

Interesting opinion. Dialog isn't what is important to me though. I've seen foreign movies in which I couldn't understand a word, yet I got the complete picture. Also, there have been many movies made in which there was no dialog at all and some are widely acclaimed. Great movies to me have to keep me interested.

I think I understand that. But, to me words are most important in virtually anything. Music, which is one of my biggest passions in life, to me is mostly about words. Of course the music itself is important also, but the words are what keep me listening. I don't find myself humming a tune in the shower, I sing the words that accompany the music. Of course, I read an awful lot of books, newspaper and on-line articles as well.

I know everybody is different, but you asked me what I thought is important in a movie and dialogue is definitely it for me.

 

[Tennessee Racing]

Have you ever seen those movies where they go on and on about something that has nothing what so ever to do with the plot of the movie? That's one of the worst things you can do. For me to enjoy a film it must have decent actors at least. I don't have to have Denzel Washington type acting but Paris Hilton level acting isn't gonna cut it.