Of Movies ^_^

Yes. I am a fan. Of the movies. Of all sorts of genre. Of all the good and beautiful ones. Of the not-so-good ones. Of the okay ones. I simply love movies. I take movies as works of arts depicting the instances and realities of life and whatever lies beyond the grasp of human reason.

I watch all sorts of genre: romantic comedy, action, drama, thriller, horror, fantasy, sci-fi, 'groundbreaking independent films'. I watch films from all over the world (yes, subtitles are useful, without them, I would have missed a lot of good ones).

Escapism. This is something that a movie, whether good or bad, can always offer. But there is something about escaping reality that makes you think, and really think hard about reality. It helps you to ponder on things that you haven't even remotely considered before. When you can identify with the theme of the movie, or with its characters, it helps you realize that whatever opinions, emotions, and experiences you have, is shared with you by the whole world. When you think you have wasted your time sitting through a really crappy movie, it makes you shrug the annoyance off and proudly say, that oh well, you've been tough enough to go through a bad movie, nothing can go wrong with your day.

I classify movies into three major categories:

1. Now-that's-entertainment movies --> those movies that are just plain fun and simple (although some would have elaborate plots and twists), but these movies won't really leave an impact, you watch the whole thing, you laugh, you cry, you get angry, you scream, you shout, you feel all sorts of emotions... but at the end of it, tadaa! it's just another movie. Someone calls you right after the movie, and you forget everything about the movie: plot, characters, music, etc. Never to be remembered again until the day that you have had the chance to watch it again.

2. Life-changing-decision-altering movies --> these may be any kind of movie, it may be different from one person to another, but these movies generally are the ones that can really make you look at life from a fresh perspective, consider your thoughts, provoke debates among peers; these movies are the ones who will stay with you for a long-time, will give you inspiration in life; these are the type of films that makes you look at yourself in the mirror, and ask yourself, well... how have you been so far and how is the world right now?

3. I've-wasted-my-time movies --> after watching these type of films, you end up feeling disappointed, you feel that you could have used your time to deal with more relative matters in your life but you also end up feeling proud because, you have endured the movie and sat through the whole thing (constantly rolling your eyes and being critical of every single frame)

I would consider a movie to be really good based on (not in order):

1. Cinematography - lighting, camera movement, colors, depth of field and focus, are all very important to me. I can watch a movie just for its cinematography alone.

2. Acting - but of course! actors give life to a story, so without good ones, no good story will come out

3. Writing - oh the script! I love a good dialogue. I find philosophy in words.

4. Directing - the director is the story teller, he envisions the story, and gives life to it; a good vision and a lot of skills.

5. Originality - there are millions of movies out there, and being original in every sense of the word won't hurt a bit

6. Music/Soundtrack - hmmmm... sets the mood, gives stories a groove

7. Believability - I would have to believe and be immersed in what I am watching, whether the movie is fictional, whether the story took place in the past, present, or future, or in some other dimension, the movie should be able to convince me that the events in the movie are all happening and true in every sense of the story.

A combination of all these will be a perfect form of escapism which will lead you back to reality on stronger grounds.

Next: My all-time favorite movies ^_^