Everybody’s take on what makes for a good movie is going to be different, but I do feel like there is some universal elements to a good movie. In an effort to hash out some of those elements I have put together a list.
- DO NOT follow a Hollywood formula. Hollywood formulas suck and are only designed to put money in the pockets of those with too much money to begin with. Take Alien vs. Predator. If you removed the formulaic BS from this movie and made more of a story about it, this movie could have been really good. I could have written a better script on this one. If any of you listen to Ben Folds he has a song he sings where he just sits right down and shits one out. This of course is referring to the pressure placed on musicians by record companies to keep putting out music. His thoughts are it can’t be forced, but I can sit down and just shit one out using a formula. That’s what 75% of the movies we see today are. Something that has been shat out.
- Go with a solid story. Then if action fits into the story great, but don’t ever make it the centerpiece. Draw me into the movie with my mind, not my eyes. For that matter keep me in the movie with my mind and not my eyes, too.
- Solid stories are often made through strong character development. This is not accomplished through a cheap romance. Use struggles, happiness, laughter, crying, etc. to help us see what makes up a character.
- Have people respond like they do in real life to stuff.
- Go for witty dialogue that makes the movie quotable.
I am sure I could keep going on and on, but the truth of this post comes down to the fact that I just watched Serenity for the second time tonight, and I freakin’ love that movie. I don’t know how many of the 5 above really apply but I think that Serenity hits all five items and does it well.
It doesn’t follow THE formula. It might follow a formula, but not the one most often shat out. Sure it has action, but it is not crammed into the story. Sure there is a love interest, but it is role reversed and humorous. Sure it has a happy ending, but cool people die.
The story is solid, and I feel like you get to know the characters. The pilot claims he is “like a feather on the wind, see how I soar.” Then his ship gets knocked around some and when asked what the hell his statement means, and you can tell he looks a little shaken instead of cocksure about his flying. I like that. It seems more realistic to me. Plus that makes for a great quote. I also like, “She is damaging my calm.”
Well Hollywood, quit damaging my calm with crappy movies. More like Serenity please.
[After many failed attempts to attach a picture to this post, I have decided to just post without one. Have any of you experienced this problem in the past? This is the second time that this has happened to me, and the only thing I can figure is that I cut and pasted from Word.]
6 comments:
Can't say I've seen Serenity yet, but I agree with your abbreviated list for a good movie. It's the difference between say, Batman and Robin vs. Batman Begins, Mission Impossible: 2 vs. Mission Impossible: 3, or Kingdom of Heaven vs. Blackhawk Down. All of these films were visually stunning, but a good story as a centerpiece really made the difference between a forgettable movie and a timeless one.
Anywho, I'll have to put Serenity on the Netflix queue. If only I could convince the wife to watch it with me--it falls in that sci-fi category she tends not to like. :-(
I totally agree with your list, however you forgot "Needs lots of titties."
I'm reading the book on screenplay writing right now, and it articulates what you're getting at brilliantly. In fact, I'd say that the first half of the book is applicable to story in any medium. It's only the later half that deals sepcifically with scene setups and such.
Oh, and in case anyone wanted to check it out, it's simply called Screenplay, by Syd Feld.
I think. I'll have to double check when I get home.
Your all wrong! The best movies have the following elements.
1. Deadly disease
Your main character must have a terrible disease for which there is no cure. You can write it so she was already diagnosed, or maybe receives the diagnosis during the second act, preferably after falling deeply in love with the Perfect Man. Feel free to branch out. Complications related to the protagonist's pregnancy are also acceptable, and you get bonus points if she dies within a minute of safely delivering the baby and holding it in her arms. A word of warning though: steer away from ebola, leprosy, or anything else that will require bringing Rick Baker on to do makeup effects.
2. Flawed boyfriend
The object of your main character's desire shouldn't be perfect in every way. It is every woman's dream to meet a man, fall in love, and then change him. Of course, outside of the solitary flaw, for which the protagonist is the perfect counter, the romantic interest must be perfect, thus making your main character "complete" him.
3. 60's soul sing-along
At some point late in the first act or early in the second, the main character and the people she cares most about (friends or children) must hear a soulful 1960's song either on the radio or a jukebox, and sing it together—ideally into combs, and while dancing about in a way that is carefully choreographed to look completely random and spontaneous.
Explore the discographies of Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke. Nothing helps three-dimensionalize a white, twenty-something, upper middle class woman like having her a) know all the lyrics to and b) be driven to uncontrollable dance by Motown.
4. Strained mother-daughter relationship
The roots of this are probably Jungian. Jung proposed an Electra Complex as counterpart to Freud's Oedipal Complex, explaining hostility by daughters toward mothers. Whatever the reasoning, the ultimate chick flick must have an underlying theme of Matronly Disapproval of the Protagonist and/or Her Life Choices.
The underlying hostility culminates in at least one openly confrontational scene between the main character and her mother, ultimately resolving itself on the main character's deathbed when she and her mother realize they fight to no end because there is No End to Their Love.
5. Matthew McConaughey or Richard Gere
In fact, for the ultimate movie you probably need both. One should play the guy who broke the main character's heart and the other should be the rebound who turns out to be Mr. Right. I'll leave it to you to decide which is which.
6. Someone else's wedding
At some point, your female lead has to go to a wedding for a friend or family member and reflect on their love and the love or lack thereof in her own life. Every guy knows a few drinks and a wedding reception is a recipe for panty peeler. Romanticize that idea, make her date more interested in talking about her feelings than getting her ankles on his shoulders, and you've got it.
7. Room full of flowers (balloons optional)
For some reason, nothing says I Love You Until the End of Time more than the fact you are impulsive and irresponsible enough with money to buy an entire florist's inventory and have it secretly delivered to her house. Just make sure this scene comes well before the revelation of the deadly disease or things could get awkward.
8. Scheming
Prior to meeting the perfect (though, remember, Flawed in One Way) man, your protagonist must take part is some ridiculously idiotic scheme.
While entangled in this web of deceit, she learns that she truly loves the guy, but can't let him know without Revealing All Her Lies. A few suggestions might be making your protagonist be very rich but posing as a bag lady, or a childless woman joining the PTA. Try your own!
9. Damaging "guy" property
To know love is to know heartbreak. Your protagonist must have had her heart broken at some point by a man she thought was The Right Guy, but who wound up cheating on her or putting his career first or in some other way putting his desires before her needs, which is, of course, Just Wrong. The best revenge against such an affront is to destroy some of his typically masculine property, such as a sports car, old Playboy collection, big screen TV or Johnny Unitas autographed football.
You may also opt to have her trash his wardrobe, which honestly wouldn't have as much impact on most guys as seeing those other things destroyed, but certainly hits closer to home with the women in the crowd.
10. No fart jokes
Damn.
above partly taken from CRACKED - Jake Bell
It is every woman's dream to meet a man, fall in love, and then change him.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Not only do chick flicks need fart jokes, they need potty humor approaching the level of explosive diarrhea.
I think that the list also needs an 11. It must have Julia Roberts in it.
But Julia Roberts never shows her titties.
Man, this topic generated a lot of comments. I'm almost tempted to make up a new rotating list on the sidebar, but instead of Random Chuck Norris Facts, we'll have Random Elements That Make A Movie Bad.
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