What Makes a Good Movie?

I love movies. While books can provide a deeper mental exercise, movies provide a powerful web of sight and sound and unwind at a faster pace. So, did I say that I like movies? However, at the end of each year, when the critics release their lists of the best movies of the year, I am always surprised at how few I have even heard of.

This year's critics' picks fall into three categories for me: those I have seen, those that I would like to see and those you couldn't pay to watch. The movies that I had the chance to watch were Let the Right One In (a Danish vampire movie) and Batman: The Dark Knight. There were also two more movies that I would like to see when I get the chance: Slumdog Millionaire and Wall-E. What do these films have in common? You have a brooding movie about a bullied boy who is befriended by a female vampire, a brooding movie about a vigilante crimefighter and a brooding movie about a robot left behind on a polluted planet. Of these movies, only Slumdog Millionaire remotely qualifies as a feel-good movie (although it has some violent scenes in it).

The movies that I didn't see also seem to be full of gloom and depression. There is Synecdoche, New York, a movie about a troubled theater director and the women in his life. Then there's Doubt, another movie about Catholic priest abuse, except that there is doubt about whether he really did it. Just in time for the Christmas season, there is A Christmas Tale, a movie about mental illness and estrangement at the holidays. Although it didn't show up on many lists, there is also Rachel Getting Married, which is about an estranged daughter who shows up for her sister's wedding. There is also In Bruges about some conflicted hitmen hanging out in a Belgian town. For those who like action, The Wrestler is the story of an aging, washed up wrestler and his agonies.

In looking at these movies, it seems like there are a lot of depressed, unhappy people making movies that appeal to a lot of depressed, unhappy critics. I don't mind a deep movie, but I wonder whether it is necessary for a good movie to have that ripping the scab off of a recent wound quality.

Here are some categories of movies which I enjoy, but which were in short supply (at least on the critics' lists) this year:

An Inspirational True Story (Schindler's List, the Sound of Music, Gandhi)

An Intelligent Zany Comedy (Bringing Up Baby, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming)

A Warped Comedy (Juno, Little Miss Sunshine, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure)

A Silly Lowbrow Comedy That Is Not Stupid (Animal House, Caddyshack, the Blues Brothers)(the not stupid qualifier eliminates most of this year's comedies)

An Epic Saga (Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Chronicles of Narnia)

A Good Thriller (The Hunt for Red October, Predator, the Fugitive)

A Really Scary Movie (The Shining,the Lost Boys, Poltergeist)

A Cool Sci-Fi Movie (The Running Man, Alien, Star Wars, the Blade Runner, the Terminator, 2001: A Space Odyssey)

A Clever Adaptation of Shakespeare (Romeo & Juliet with Leonardo DeCaprio and Claire Danes, the 2000 version of Hamlet set in New York, Kenneth Branagh's Henry V)

A Great Sports Movie (Bend It Like Beckham, Chariots of Fire)

A Good Family Movie (Bridge to Terabithia, Aquamarine, Spy Kids, Back to the Future)

A Good Chick Flick (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Tortilla Soup)

A Good Ethnic Movie (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Bend It Like Beckham, Tortilla Soup)

A Musical/Movie About Music (Amadeus, La Bamba, Tommy, Godspell)

A Gritty War Movie (Saving Private Ryan, Apocalypse Now)

So do I know what makes a good movie? Maybe not, but I know it when I see it. I don't mind dark movies or movies with a bit of doom and gloom. Some of them can be disturbing in a good way. However, there are so many other types of movies worth watching.