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BaftaBaby
"Always entranced by cinema."

Posted - 01/20/2007 : 18:12:15

Star?
Director?
Word of Mouth?
Genre?
Other?

I'm always curious about what makes people get out of their nice comfy homes to pay to see a film. Alternatively, what makes them hire a vid/DVD of a film. Are the criteria the same?

Can you reveal what are the top 1,2, and/or 3 criteria which make you see a film? Interesting to know, too, whether you have a different list if you're watching at home.

benj clews
"...."

Posted - 01/20/2007 : 18:34:13

For cinema...

3. Director
2. Empire Magazine/ Mark Kermode recommendation

...and no. 1 is undoubtedly...

1. Because my better half says I can go see it

For renting, the stringent criteria tends to disappear and I'll go for anything that isn't a chick flick.

randall
"I like to watch."

Posted - 01/20/2007 : 19:15:52

Festivals aside, we attend three kinds of movies in the theater:

1) Small movies with huge buzz which constantly-talking, candy-unwrapping dolts don't care for [e.g., BROKEBACK, LOST IN TRANSLATION];

2) Big ones which we just HAVE TO SEE which are too loud for such dolts to bother us [KING KONG, LORD OF THE RINGS, DREAMGIRLS]. Attend the first performance in the morning for the most minor doltage; and

3) Generally well-received movies for which we've determined there's a twist which the months-long wait for home video seems unlikely to preserve [CRYING GAME, SIXTH SENSE, MILLION DOLLAR BABY, PRESTIGE].

We probably average about 10-15 fully paid visits to the cinema each year; it's expensive enough that we really have to have a compelling reason. Since we screen one rented DVD at home each Saturday and Sunday when we're in town, that makes another 80-90 or so. Then another 30-35 at the two festivals we attend plus FSLC advance screenings; each year, as the flicks gradually go through their release cycles, those festival screenings obviate at least four or five cinema trips that we would probably have made otherwise [THE QUEEN, LITTLE CHILDREN, WHALE RIDER].

Renting? Now we can take more chances. Our Netflix queue is full of stuff that we can't explain: one of us saw or heard a nice review, or a director or actor really impressed us. After keeping up with newer releases, the languishing pile can lose its meaning. Finally, as I mentioned in a long-ago thread, I've even rented movies on the strength of fwfr reviews [BATTLE ROYALE and GINGER SNAPS, neither of which I'd ever heard of before]. We have never walked out of a movie, but we've hit EJECT more than once way before the end credits...

Edited by - randall on 01/20/2007 19:23:15

w22dheartlivie
"Kitty Lover"

Posted - 01/20/2007 : 19:17:16

Geez, it's been so long since I've been to a theatre it's hard to remember. The last two I saw at the theatre would make you think it was the director, but that's really a coincidence. The second to the last was Signs and the last film I saw at the theatre was The Village. Shyamalan was a coincidence, really. Soon after that, I began having the vision problems and that blew going to the movies.

Before that...it was never that basic.

First was probably the genre, coupled with the storyline attached to it.
Second would have probably been the star. But again, tempered by the storyline attached and the genre.
Third I guess is word of mouth, though I've never let it stop me from seeing something I wanted to see anyway.

As for DVDs, I'm really easy. Anything that catches my eye, but I think it's more based on the star and the genre.

But in any case, I wouldn't see a Texas Chainsaw Massacre film even if it starred Edward Norton and he was hacking up Kevin Costner only for the gratuitous violence of it. And I like Edward Norton...

Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."

Posted - 01/20/2007 : 21:02:28

For all movies:-

1) IMDb score - I've found this extremely reliable.

2) Director or director/genre association - E.g., I'll see anything Hitchcock, Kurosawa or Ghibli, or any Miike horror unless score is too low.
3) Being non-Hollywood - If I can't decide, a non-Anglo-Western source would help.

Really 2) and 3) are just there for completion, IMDb score is 98% of the criteria I use. The only qualification is that I avoid genres that I don't enjoy (e.g. 1950s musicals, Hollywood teen dramas etc) irrespective of score.

My netflix queue is composed largely of movies selected from IMDb score, by selecting the top movies by genre, top movies by country, top movies by year etc. I'm never disappointed. And it makes it unlikely I'll miss anything.

Although I'm worried that the day will come when I run out of movies to watch.

For the cinema - I wait for the DVD unless it's something that I believe will really benefit from a big screen (King Kong, SW4 etc), or it's a festival movie that I can't assume will become available on DVD.

I'll just re-post my IMDb categories from the "Big Films" thread:-

1-5 - forget it, it's garbage
5-6 - better than staring at the wall... or perhaps not
6-7 - should be decent enough, perhaps very good
7-8 - should be very good, perhaps excellent
8-9+ - should be excellent.

silly
"That rabbit's DYNAMITE."

Posted - 01/20/2007 : 21:20:30

There are a couple categories for me:

1) crap my kids drag me to see (anything Pixar, teen comedies, etc)
2) crap I know my wife would never want to see (I go alone): the descent, etc.
3) movies I've heard are awesome (Little Miss Sunshine)
4) some combination of the above (King Kong, Harry Potter)

Same for rentals, but my netflix queue (350 items at the moment) is full of a very wide range of things, many of which I'll watch alone as nobody else cares to see them at my house. Sometimes I'll rent because of the cast, or reviews, or just because I've always wanted to see it.

In other words, I don't have a particular reason

Airbolt
"teil mann, teil maschine"

Posted - 01/20/2007 : 22:43:25

I prefer to watch films on DVD or the local Art-House Cinema ( audiences here are marginally less orally fixated ).

What attracts me is a combination of things
* Word of Mouth - Has a Buzz been created . That's how I found out about Nine Queens, Dark City.....
* Reviews in Publications I respect - You soon get to realise which reviewers share your world view
* Subject/ Genre - - I know that if it's a noir, time-travel or anime , it's probably up my street ( having said that I still end up watching stinkers like Mulholland Falls )
* Director - We all know that with certain directors you are going to get a certain film - so if it's Michael Bay you know EXACTLY what to expect. Of course , I still end up watching stinkers like " Jersey Girl " from Kevin Smith
* Trailer- I saw a trailer for "Taxi" on aJapanese Hotel TV, then spent about 2 years trying to find out the name of the film ( I'm really glad I did )

I'm not usually too influenced by who is in it tho

Edited by - Airbolt on 01/20/2007 22:47:11

mampers11
"Lazy Lebowski Loses Rug"

Posted - 01/20/2007 : 22:43:43

Well I chose the movies that I watch for several reasons

1. Empire magazine usually has an influence in what I should watch. Sounds pretty naff, but it is good to hear what some critic says.
2. Kermode has to have a mention in this. His views does mirror my own views on movies, though his loving of the Exorcist is something I disagree on
3. Certain Directors. Coen Brothers, Tarantino, Nolan, Spike Lee, Scorsese, Kevin Smith. These are my favorite directors around, and I try to watch as much as I can from them.
4. Word of Mouth by friends/family/people I dont even know.
5. Avoiding the hype when possible, especially in blockbuster summer season. Most of the time you get disappointed.

Mampers.

demonic
"Cinemaniac"

Posted - 01/21/2007 : 01:28:11

I don't need any excuse to go to the cinema. I try and go once or a couple of times a week if there's something on I want to see.

So, what makes want to see what I want to see? Hmmm.

Well, I'm one of those dreadful thesp types so there are certain actors I'm always interested to see, unless I've heard dreadful things beforehand. People that spring to mind are Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cate Blanchett, Nicholson, Ed Harris, Gene Hackman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche, actually Tom Cruise (which might turn a few stomachs) I'm an advocate of, Ian Holm, Ralph Fiennes, Toni Colette, Daniel Auteuil, increasingly Naomi Watts, also Jennifer Connelly (but if I'm honest less for her acting). The jury is currently out on Pacino and De Niro.

Also a director will lead me to the cinema - Scorcese, The Coens, David Lynch, Wes Anderson, Michael Mann, Cronenberg, Del Toro, Park Chan-Wook (he of the Vengeance Trilogy), latterly Terry Gilliam, often Spielberg, sometimes Ridley Scott, James Cameron when he still made films.

And sometimes a writer - Charlie Kaufman is usually a must.

Genre - I love dramas, thrillers, fantasy/sci-fi/horror, animated films. On the whole I try most things apart from rom-coms, blockbusters with no particular intelligence behind them (perhaps an oxymoron, but I happily took in the X-Men films but avoided Snakes on a Plane).

I just know when it's something that I'm interested in - subject matter, something about the story, good forward word of mouth all help. I'm a member at two London cinemas and generally see most of the big independent, foreign and quirky movies that the great unwashed wouldn't bother with, and then do occassional cheap early afternoons in the high street hell hole avoiding the charming local teenagers for the blockbusters.

Free screenings help too.

w22dheartlivie
"Kitty Lover"

Posted - 01/21/2007 : 06:16:00

quote:
Originally posted by wildhartlivie

Geez, it's been so long since I've been to a theatre it's hard to remember. The last two I saw at the theatre would make you think it was the director, but that's really a coincidence. The second to the last was Signs and the last film I saw at the theatre was The Village. Shyamalan was a coincidence, really. Soon after that, I began having the vision problems and that blew going to the movies.

Before that...it was never that basic.

First was probably the genre, coupled with the storyline attached to it.
Second would have probably been the star. But again, tempered by the storyline attached and the genre.
Third I guess is word of mouth, though I've never let it stop me from seeing something I wanted to see anyway.

As for DVDs, I'm really easy. Anything that catches my eye, but I think it's more based on the star and the genre.

But in any case, I wouldn't see a Texas Chainsaw Massacre film even if it starred Edward Norton and he was hacking up Kevin Costner only for the gratuitous violence of it. And I like Edward Norton...

I think I'll expand on this, having read the other comments.

Theater:
1. Genre: These have changed over the years. When I was 16, there was still that fascinating dinosaur called the drive-in movie. You got what you got. However, it's the place I first saw Jaws, Halloween, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

In the last few years, when I went, I usually chose dramas, thrillers, and the occasionally well received horror film. I am guilty of choosing the vapid blockbuster if it had a star I like or a storyline that attracted me. My movie-going buddy loves a certain type of alien films, which explains Signs, The X-Files, and Contact. My personal favorites are usually crime mysteries such as Copycat, and I admit to a guilty pleasure of Grisham and Jeffery Deaver novel based films such as The Rainmaker, The Chamber, The Bone Collector and those Morgan Freeman/Alex Cross films. The biggest disappointment I had along those lines was Murder By Numbers, which had such a terrific base to be a great film, but fell flat on its face, despite the presence of promising Michael Pitt and Ryan Gosling. I'm sure those preferences tie into a side interest of mine related to psychology, which is criminology, specifically serial killers.

2. Star: I'm Junket Whore catch of sorts. I have my favorites and will see anything they do. Yes, demonic, Tom Cruise turns my stomach, but at least I can say honestly it predates couch-jumping, Katie Holmes and Scientology. I always found him shallow and never could shake the tickle at the back of my mind that says "Nah, that's Tom Cruise, playing Tom Cruise, actor." I will see most anything with Johnny Depp, John Malkovich, Edward Norton, Steve Buscemi, Jodie Foster, Kevin Bacon, Brad Pitt, and Kevin Spacey. I find Matthew McConaughey, Matt Damon, Gabriel Byrne, Cate Blanchett, Stephen Rea, John Cusack and Denzel Washington to be interesting and worthy of further viewing.

3. Word of mouth: There are certain critics whose pans I will want to see immediately. I often form interests based on the publicity efforts of the people involved, i.e., TV appearances, magazine interviews and the weather.

I belong to Netflix and usually get anything that flickers a spark of curiosity. That's how I ran across Mysterious Skin. If I like it well enough when I Netflix it, then chances are good that I'll buy the DVD. I'll watch a favorite film over and over and over.

Edited by - w22dheartlivie on 01/21/2007 06:45:41

ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"

Posted - 01/21/2007 : 07:28:49

For me, I think its a combination of genre and actors, not necessarily in that order. When the subject matter interests me, I'll then look to see who is in it. If I see an actor I like is in something, I'll decide to go see it if the genre is something I'd enjoy. I think this goes for both going out to the cinema as well as renting DVDs.

At home, I probably go first for genre. I like to check out the old film channels (TCM and MGM) first, then I'll go see what they've got on Hallmark, and if there's nothing of interest on any of those, I'll check out the movie channels I get with my SAT.

As for buying DVDs its got to be a movie I know and love and could watch over and over again. It could be an old classic or a new movie - it just has to be one I connect with, emotionally. I also have quite a few animated films on DVD (and video) mostly because of my kids (and well, I guess I'm a kid at heart myself).

Paddy C
"Does not compute! Lame!"

Posted - 01/21/2007 : 12:39:15

1. Recommendations, either from people whose movie tastes I 'get', or reviewers i agree with (though there's not many of them! Philip French, Mark Kermode, or rottentomatoes.com for the mob mentality....)
2. Writers - good script does it for me
3. Director - always an indication of what to expect

MguyXXV
"X marks the spot"

Posted - 01/22/2007 : 03:54:29

1. My daughter, which ensures my well-rounded knowledge of kid flicks.

2. Adaptation of a book I really enjoyed.

3. Interesting plots that suggest the director has not put all of the good action in the previews.

4. Recommendations.