Shoutlouder

What makes a great movie?

// November 18th, 2008 // No Comments » // Media, Top 10

I’ve just been involved in a great conversation on Facebook with my good friend Mr Hodges who started it off by posting a list of his top 10 movies as follows:

1 ) Lost In Translation – Sofia Coppola
2 ) One Hour Photo – Mark Romanek
3 ) The Thin Red Line – Terrence Malick
4 ) Magnolia – Paul Thomas Anderson
5 ) Road To Perdition – Sam Mendes
6 ) The Truman Show – Peter Weir
7 ) Brick – Rian Johnson
8 ) Cast Away – Robert Zemeckis
9 ) Unbreakable – M. Night Shyamalan
10 ) Meet Joe Black (such an under-rated classic) – Martin Brest

I decided to get in on the action with my ‘off the top of my head – in no particular order’ list of:

1. The Dark Knight
2. The Matrix
3. Castaway
4. The Truman Show
5. Lord of the Rings – Two Towers
6. Star Wars – Episode 4 (the original one)
7. Jurassic Park
8. Toy Story
9. Saving Private Ryan
10. the new Star Trek movie yet to be unveiled – cause you know it will turn the entire world into star trek lovers… (just seen a bootleg trailer and it looks amazing! will do for star trek what batman begins did for the batman franchise)

What’s interesting is what people think makes a good movie. Here’s an extract of our conversation so far:

Ben: these are good films but in a few years time will the dark knight really hold up?
It’s a classic fo-sho but without heath ledgers performance would there be as much too it? I dont think there would

Me: Eh? Isn’t that like saying – without Bil Murray’s performance there wouldn’t have been much to Lost in Translation… isn’t that why you think it’s such an amazing film…

Ben: A fair point to consider, there are possibly a bare handful of other actors who might have near-achieved what bill murray accomplished – and id argue that the movie is as much scarlet johansson’s as it is murrays – though lost in trans is a drama not an action movie, and so its focus is these two characters and their interaction – it lives and dies by how well these two characters interact – without any fights or car chases to support it, action movies however are about different things – if the acting is strong then thats a bonus but if the movies strength is based on the performance of one character then surely the movie as a whole isnt as strong? not to say I dont think The Dark Knight is an epic film!

Me: hmmm… I wonder if its as simple as that to seperate out the assesment of movies from different genres. I think strong acting HAS to be an essential ingredient of any great movie whether action / comedy / romance etc. To use these 2 films as illustration: Lost in Translation is actually a well crafted movie.. I just didn’t find it funny… just dark and strangely interesting… what made it watchable was the engaging characters. But the same could be said of the Dark Knight. What makes it watchable is the engaging characters of the Joker, Batman, and others. The action pretty much comes second to the quality of the actor. So surely whether you like Action, Comedy, etc. the thing that makes most films stands out is the quality of the acting.

I guess the real problem is that movie likes and dislikes is completely subjective to the viewer’s personality and their particular genre likes and dislikes. Which is why you’ll never find a chick flick in my top 10! Even if the lead role is worthy of an oscar!

I was sat watching The Matrix last night and realised how odd a movie it was to watch for the very first time. After the first 20mins we were sat there thinking “where on earth is this going?’ and yet by the end we were stunned and amazed at the brilliance of its entertainment wrapped up in a quasi-religious storyline that would supply conversation for months to follow for every Christian across the lunch table and over a coffee at church on a Sunday!

So what do you think? What makes a great movie for you? What are you looking for when you go to the cinema? What’s your top 10???

top 10 tv shows I like to watch and why!

// July 7th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // TV, Top 10

Here’s some fun posting for those who are nerdy enough to enjoy Top 10′s… post your own versions in the comments:

In no particular order:

1. Doctor Who: I’ve only watched the latest season having felt that I didn’t want to corrupt the memories of my youth after spending all those years watching Peter Davidson – Colin thingy – and Sylvester McCoy galavant around a wonky wall universe. But after catching the first couple of episodes I got hooked on the slightly camp antics of this not-quite-hollywood-special-effects bonanza… some how it all kind of works. It still amazes me that a bunch of squid like creatures in tin boxes with a toilet plunger can still be the greatest threat to the universe!

2. CSI Miami: Probably my favourite of all three CSI styles – mainly because of Horatio – or just H to his friends – who just seems to be the most incredible man in the world. He’s a hero – he’s tough – and he has compassion and care for every person in need – especially the good-looking-but-damsel-in-distress women he helps along the way. And don’t forget ‘the line’ – the one line intro that is spoken before every opening credits…. love it!

3. Heroes: Forget the camp, marvel style X-Men and bring on Heroes – real ordinary people with incredible extraordinary powers. Let me ask who has not laid awake at night wishing you were Peter Petrelli?? Such great character, action and bad guys – plus proper special effects… although I have to say the Green Screen in Series 2 was a little obvious and over used!

4. Battlestar Gallactica (the new series): Darn you Virgin and Sky for having a tiff right in the middle of a series of Battlestar Gallactica meaning my Virgin Cable would no longer receive such delights! I have to say this is NOTHING like the original series – nothing was sacred – even Starbuck turned up as a women! But – for reinventing this is awesome. It’s like a Black Hawk Down meets Star Trek.

5. Smallville: Man I love super hero stuff – and ‘Smallville: The early years of Superman’ has it all. It’s a proper American Teen series with plenty of sci-fi thrown in to make it interesting for a change. The most annoying thing that has happened to me is that I missed the 1st episode of Season 7 which means all the rest of the season is stacking up on my V+ recorder whilst I attempt to locate the missing episode..

6. 24: Just watched the end of season 6 the other week after being rudely interrupted half way through the season ages ago by the Virgin/Sky tiff. I love this show – for one it makes every day of my life seem so much calmer and easier to do – after all – who on earth would want to live a day like that! Always tempted to watch an entire season of 24 in real time – but my conviction to do something worthwhile with my life prevents it. I guess I’ll just have to wait until I’m laid out in bed for some reason for more than 24 hours and then order in the latest season to keep me amused!

7. Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares: As long as you can handle someone swearing every few seconds then this is great TV. I just love those moments as he lays into the incompetence of the kitchen staff who have all but poisoned him a few minutes earlier. You can feel yourself sinking into the sofa as you cringe at their reactions. Every leader should watch this as a good example of how not to speak to your staff – but at the same time as an example of how to turn things around when its needed!

8. The Apprentice: Surely there has to be a more intelligent bunch of people who could be on this show instead of the 12 or so dumwits they usually find. This is pure genius – and the perfect portrayal of the dog-eat-dog world of business. I always wonder how I would do in their place – what stuff would surface under the pressure and just how good a leader are you… great telly too!

9. Britain’s Got Talent: I know, how could I put this in my Top 10? Writing a Top 10 is not as easy as it looks. But you know this is morish TV – it’s just so cringingly-bad-I-can’t-watch-any-longer TV that you find yourself sitting down to lunch to catch up with the latest dodgy acts.

10. Harry Hill’s TV Burp: There is one comedy show I will not miss and this is it! Harry Hill is the funniest thing on TV. ‘You’ve been Framed’ was rubbish until Harry Hill started doing his voice overs – and I love his TV Burp. Whenever I think about it I can just picture Harry taking the mikey out of Freaky Eaters or sending up the latest antics of Bear Grylls. So funny!

There you go – my Top 10 – what’s yours?