This week, I actually watched a few movies. Mary and I haven't had the chance to do that in quite a while (like, two years), thanks to the combination of Baby Girl and the loft-like, no-bedroom layout of my Fortress of Solitude (now under contract, thank you). I also met up with my buddies Joe and Javier, to discuss a joint project. There were several good ideas floated, but I only wanted to commit to making something that was going to be really good, which begs the question: what makes a good movie?
The variety of stuff we saw ranged from edgy drama to farce, black comedy to uh, regular comedy, short videos to children's movies. The things that did not make a movie good included:
- big name actors
- big name directors
- big name writers
- big budget
- explosions and car crashes
- potty humor
- gratuitous sex and violence.
Some of the things I enjoyed most about the good movies included:
- big name actors
- big name directors
- big name writers
- big name editors (oxymoron?)
- big budget
- explosions and car crashes
- potty humor
- gratuitous sex and violence.
Hmm. Seems like William Goldman was right: nobody knows anything. But is that really all we can say about what makes a movie good?
When I watch a film, I watch it as an audience member, but also as an actor/writer/director/editor. I tend to study the movie, as well as let it wash over me. Sometimes I need to watch a movie more than once, just to be able to fully enjoy it without being too analytical.
With my auteur hat on, I realize that what I love most about good movies is how the entire package fits together. A great story premise without great dialog writing will fall flat. A great script without clear, visionary direction will fall flat. A great vision without great acting will fall flat. Same is true for audio, editing, lighting, cinematography, and many other of the dozens of aspects of filmmaking. Filmmaking is collaborative storytelling. It is all too easy to forget the collaborative aspect of the process, and only focus on one area. [Even marketing is a collaborative aspect of the film's success, but it is not, strictly speaking, what makes a good movie.]
Big name actors often, but certainly not always, bring good acting. Big name writers and directors often, but not always, bring good writing and directing. Not all of these elements need to be great in order for a film to shine, but most of them need to be great. It's like a balance scale: if enough of the components are good, it tips the scales in favor of "good movie". If all of them are good, the scale thumps to one side, like weighing a feather versus a boulder: Oscar-caliber good. Vice-versa, and you've got a universal stinker.
In most of the bad or mediorce films I saw, not enough of the elements were good to make the film a "good movie." The only one I saw that was a slam-dunk was Notes on a Scandal, with Dame Judi Dench, among several other excellent actors.
What do you think makes a good movie?
