More on Good and Bad Movies

The subject of my last blog was what I consider good and bad movies. Today I'll share more thoughts on what makes a movie good or bad, in my opinion. If you've been to the movies lately, or rented a DVD, I think you'll know what I mean by bad movies. There are so many new movies being released, but most of them are not worth watching. I would estimate that about one or two out of every ten new movies is worth watching. These bad movies I'm taking about either do not have an interesting story to tell, lack interesting characters, have mediocre to poor acting, or are based on tired and predictable formulas (Chick Flicks, most Action Movies, Horror Movies, you get the idea). Many of them are guilty on all counts, leaving me asking why they were even made in the first place.

My general rule of thumb about which movies I will take the time to watch or rent is based mostly on the starring actors: I will watch any movie with, in no particular order, Anthony Hopkins, Morgan Freeman, Al Pachino, Robert DeNiro, Clint Eastwood, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan (yes, Jackie Chan), Denzell Washington, Diane Keeton, Will Smith, George Clooney, Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, or Mel Gibson, to name a few. But this are no guarantees. I have seen each of these actors star in bad movies. Now for the truly bad actors/movies. I refuse to watch any movie starring Will Ferrell, Jennifer Anniston, Tom Cruise, Ben Stiller, or Johnny Depp, and others whose names I can't even remember, or never knew. Sometimes previously unknown actors come out in interesting movies, such as Twilight and Across the Universe. An example of a good actor in a bad movie would be Robert Downey, Jr. in Sherlock Holmes, which, in my opinion, is a truly bad movie, despite some good reviews it received. The Sherlock Holmes character that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created is an interesting character, but Downey's version bears almost no resemblance to the fictional Sherlock Holmes, and is more like a Jackie Chan version of Sherlock Holmes. Surely Doyle would roll over in his grave if he saw this movie. My wife and I watched Sherlock Holmes with another couple on New Years Eve, and I swear we would have walked out and found a better way to spend the last hours of 2009 if we hadn't already paid $20. I didn't like the fact that whoever made this movie took the license to turn Sherlock Holmes into just another wise-cracking, Kung Fu action figure. If Jackie Chan had played the lead role, it at least might have been amusing. A Chinese Sherlock Holmes. Why not? There are some movies that are so bad that they are almost funny to watch, but I'd rather watch a movie that is intentionally funny.

Tomorrow, I'll share a list of some of my favorite movies, and why I like them.