Asokan
09-10-2005, 06:52 AM
Uhm, I dunno if this shoulda been posted in the TV Forum, but since it also concerns movies I post it here.
Okay, here's my earth-shattering, convention-defying, balls-busting, nobody-really-cares point: :eek:
A good film (as always, subjectively speaking, i.e. to me), especially one I may want to watch again, is one that doesn't necessarily contain a great story, but has compelling, strong, compulsively watchable characters. If the characters don't work, the film doesn't work for me.
That's also, I think, why TV Shows have been increasingly hip among film fans over the last couple of years. With characters like Jack Bauer (24), Jack and Sidney Bristow and Arvin Sloane (ALIAS), and pretty much everyone on LOST, THE SOPRANOS and THE SHIELD, you never get tired of these shows, even if their plots start to derail. As long as the characters are fresh and exciting, I don't mind about the plots.
Film Example: TRAINING DAY. Not an original plot, an otherwise uninspired director and a rather disappointing resolution, but still I rewatch this one over and over, cause I love these (at times larger-than-life) characters, even the minor ones, and how they interact in some amazing and some hilarious conversations. That's also why most Tarantino flicks are enjoyable to rewatch, to observe these characters (but it can go wrong, case in point: KILL BILL, VOL.1 and TRUE ROMANCE, where the novelty factor is soon diminished and you see that there is no substance beneath them; KILL BILL, VOL. 2 though delivered the goods: didn't you just love melancholic Michael Madsen?).
Another Film Example: STUCK ON YOU. Most people hated this, dismissing it as yet another gross-out Farrelly flick, bit I for one consider it a masterpiece, because these two brothers (obviously modelled after the two directors) were so finely drawn and well-played.
TV Show Example: ALIAS. Everybody hit on the third season for not delivering story-wise, but I didn't give a f****, since the characters continued being highly intriguing and surprising. The fourth season failed miserably not because of the increasingly stupid stories, but mostly because these characters stopped evolving in interesting and challenging ways (especially Sidney was extremely boring).
Another TV Show Example: LOST. Without spoiling anything, I guess most people know by now that this is one show that gives you a constant erection without hardly ever jerking you off (what an analogy :rolleyes: ), i.e. you get lot of great character stuff, but the plot seems to be feeding you mysteries without resolving them for you. That's also why the finale was a disappointment to most people. But I, yeah, I loved it for all those small moments of human interaction.
So, who's with me on this and who says to my face that I'm just being reductive and not counting other pleasures a film may offer. And to spark the controversy: SIN CITY sucked precisely because none of the characters were compelling enough to sustain my interest in their stories, whereas the best compliment you could give the character-driven CRASH is that it may be the best TV pilot for a great series that never got picked up. Amen to that.:D
Okay, here's my earth-shattering, convention-defying, balls-busting, nobody-really-cares point: :eek:
A good film (as always, subjectively speaking, i.e. to me), especially one I may want to watch again, is one that doesn't necessarily contain a great story, but has compelling, strong, compulsively watchable characters. If the characters don't work, the film doesn't work for me.
That's also, I think, why TV Shows have been increasingly hip among film fans over the last couple of years. With characters like Jack Bauer (24), Jack and Sidney Bristow and Arvin Sloane (ALIAS), and pretty much everyone on LOST, THE SOPRANOS and THE SHIELD, you never get tired of these shows, even if their plots start to derail. As long as the characters are fresh and exciting, I don't mind about the plots.
Film Example: TRAINING DAY. Not an original plot, an otherwise uninspired director and a rather disappointing resolution, but still I rewatch this one over and over, cause I love these (at times larger-than-life) characters, even the minor ones, and how they interact in some amazing and some hilarious conversations. That's also why most Tarantino flicks are enjoyable to rewatch, to observe these characters (but it can go wrong, case in point: KILL BILL, VOL.1 and TRUE ROMANCE, where the novelty factor is soon diminished and you see that there is no substance beneath them; KILL BILL, VOL. 2 though delivered the goods: didn't you just love melancholic Michael Madsen?).
Another Film Example: STUCK ON YOU. Most people hated this, dismissing it as yet another gross-out Farrelly flick, bit I for one consider it a masterpiece, because these two brothers (obviously modelled after the two directors) were so finely drawn and well-played.
TV Show Example: ALIAS. Everybody hit on the third season for not delivering story-wise, but I didn't give a f****, since the characters continued being highly intriguing and surprising. The fourth season failed miserably not because of the increasingly stupid stories, but mostly because these characters stopped evolving in interesting and challenging ways (especially Sidney was extremely boring).
Another TV Show Example: LOST. Without spoiling anything, I guess most people know by now that this is one show that gives you a constant erection without hardly ever jerking you off (what an analogy :rolleyes: ), i.e. you get lot of great character stuff, but the plot seems to be feeding you mysteries without resolving them for you. That's also why the finale was a disappointment to most people. But I, yeah, I loved it for all those small moments of human interaction.
So, who's with me on this and who says to my face that I'm just being reductive and not counting other pleasures a film may offer. And to spark the controversy: SIN CITY sucked precisely because none of the characters were compelling enough to sustain my interest in their stories, whereas the best compliment you could give the character-driven CRASH is that it may be the best TV pilot for a great series that never got picked up. Amen to that.:D