What Is Your Movie Likeability Threshold?

[Scott]

First I would like to ask what type of movie viewer are you? What point of view do you see a film from?

A. Average Movie Goer Point of View
B. B-movie fan only Point of View
C. Filmmaker Point of View
D. A One Genre Movie Goer Point of View
E. Multiple Genre Fan Point of View

Second,  based on the chosen type of viewer you are what would be your chances of liking a film or finding value in a film after seeing it?

For Example:

I like to watch a film from a filmmakers point of view and as a multi-genre fan point of view. So on average I would like or find value in 85% of the films I watch.



Post Edited (05-26-04 21:27)

[Mr. Hockstatter]

It really depends on the film.  Many movies are so poorly done that I can see what they were trying to do, and it's obvious how they failed in their attempt.  I guess that's the moviemaker's point of view.  Other movies that are really good make all that stuff transparent, so I feel like an average movie fan.  If a movie is in a certain genre, I watch it as a fan of that genre - if it betrays the rules of the genre, I tend not to like it.  If a movie is obviously low budget, but does a great job with what it's got, then I'm perfectly happy as a B movie fan.

[MeAndMyMeatCleaver]

I ilke everything and will view anything as long as it looks intersting.

Obviously, from the site we're at and the other boards I frequent, www.fangoria.com and www.matineesofmadness.com; I love horror and bad cinema, especially the two together.

I'd say my likablility threashold is higher than the average watcher.   If the love for the film is felt in even the worst outcomes, it really helps.  If a good effort is appparentt, i can enjoy it.

[Brother Ragnarok]

I'm mainly a multi-genre kinda guy, with a little bit of filmmaker thrown in.  The filmmaker part actually detracts from the movie sometimes.  With that extra bit of smarminess, I'm more likely to think "Sweet disco dancin' Jesus, I could have done that better were I suffering from brain damage."

Brother R

[Dutchman]

C & E for me, too. I find entertainment in alot of movies my friends consider complete garbage.

[Chopper]

For myself, pretty much a combination and/or any one of these categories. It just depend on what mood i'm in. The other night a friend and I watched Beyond Re-animator, we were in the mood for a fun mindless movie, and we loved it! We couldn't stop laughing our asses off. Then last night I watched a real serious indie film, Dopamine, and I loved it for it's fine artisitc points, great acting, screenplay, philosophy, it had everything that makes a real indie film going for it. So it just depends on what mood I'm in at the moment.

[The Burgomaster]

I'm not sure which category I fit into.  However, I will say that I watch all movies with an open mind, and I never walk out of a movie in the theater or turn off a DVD before the movie is over no matter how bad it is.

I do watch all movies as a filmmaker (which probably takes some of the fun out of it).  I am constantly aware that I am watching actors, and that there is a film crew standing a few feet away, and I keep an eye on lighting, editing, camera movements, etc.  So I never really get "lost" in the story because I'm always trying to figure out how and why the filmmmakers did certain things.  Because of this, I find value in most films.  I even find value in crappy movies because I learn lessons about how NOT to shoot a scene, how NOT to write dialogue, etc.

[trekgeezer]

B, C, and E.  I like plot more than effects most of the time, and if I don't give a damn about the characters you 've lost me.  I do like to watch things in frame of mind  "How'd they do that?".

[Scott]

Your post above show signs that we are all people who appreciate film. Good to hear responces that I also agree with.

One of the things I like when watching a film is saying during a film "what was that?" after some bizarre scene or dialogue on the screen. That would be the fan in me.

On the other side of the film coin I once took a video production class at a community college and we went through all aspects of basic film production as well as critiquing other film like Casablanca, The Graduate, Manhatten, and The Third Man as they were on the big screen. I became interested in B-Movies after seeing the film ED WOOD and reading a Roger Corman Biography about filmmaking shortly afterwards.

[dean]

I can watch any type of movie, from Romantic Comedy to the worst trash imaginable [but then again the line from Romantic Comedy to worst trash ever isn't that long!]

I might find a movie stupid, but I'll enjoy it nonetheless; there's always a redeeming feature, no matter how bad.

Yes I also study the cinema, and enjoy filmmaking [though i don't do enough] and it does comes out  often when watching a movie.

[jmc]

Probably B, D, and E, depending on the film.  I think I can usually enjoy a film on its own level based on how well it succeeds at what it's trying to do, which is where the one-genre/B-move fan thing comes in---for example, I'm not going to jump all over SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE for historical inaccuracy because the movie is basically a whimsical fantasy--it would be like attacking LORD OF THE RINGS because it has a bunch of beings in it that don't really exist.  I don't worry too much about scientific inaccuracy in science fiction, depending on the tone of the movie and on how things are done--if something is so implausible that it takes me out of the movie while I'm watching it, that's a problem.  

There are some genres I don't like at all, and can't appreciate them on any level, and can't really judge them objectively because I have no interest in anything that's happening.  Merchant-Ivory films, romantic comedies, etc...

Bottom line is basically, if the movie entertains me on any level at all, I can enjoy it.
Sadly, it seems like fewer and fewer of today's movies can do this.