What makes a good movie … uh, good?

I’ve been out of town for a while (and a bit preoccupied for longer than that, which explains why I haven’t been updating this blog). But I came into work this morning to find the following e-mail request:

Hello. I am a student at Wellpinit High School . I am working on a report about movie reviews and I was wondering if you could tell me your criteria for rating a movie a good one or a bad one. If you could help me that would be GREAT!

Thanks, Katy Scott

So I wrote the following:

Katy: I’ve attached a piece that I wrote for Gonzaga University students that might help. I would add the following:

1, A movie (like any work of art) should live up to its own expectations. Is the newest Indiana Jones , for example, better than the first installment ? Is it funnier, fresher, filled with better special effects, better acted, etc.? If you don’t think it is, then that says something.

2, Is the movie original or is it merely another example of art imitating art? How many Adam Sandler comedies are truly different, one from the other?

3, Is the acting effective in achieving the film’s aims? Does Nicole Kidman disappear into her character in “Australia,” or does she continue to remind you that she’s Just Nicole Kidman Acting?

4, Each film genre is relevant in its own right. Comedies, for example, are as legitimate as drama (Shakespeare certainly knew that). There is no hierarchy of art.

5, How do you feel a day later? If the film is still reverberating in your brain, even if you walked out hating it, that says something. If you can’t remember what the film was about, even if you remember laughing all through it, that says something, too.

Hope all this helps. Let me know if you need anything else.

– Dan Webster

Anyone have anything to add?