A Good Movie
It makes me tired to listen to movie reviewers on TV. I hate shows like Sneak Previews because those guys have totally different ideas of what a good movie is than I do. They make the job more difficult than it is. My idea of a good movie is simple and clear.
First, in order for a movie to be good, it must have good looking people in it--especially men. If I’m going to pay money to look at a screen for two hours, I want to see something worth looking at. I can see run of the mill guys every day at work and at school, but I don’t see people like Tom Cruise, Tom Selleck, or Michael Douglas every day. If I’m paying money, I want to see guys who look better than the guys at school or at work. Several years ago, I saw The Elephant Man. All the critics raved about it. I hated it. It was about a horribly deformed guy who wanted people to see beneath his disfigurements. Don’t get me wrong, I feel sorry for such people, but I don’t want to pay money to look at them and see them suffer.
Second, I want to see a relationship that turns out right. I want to see couples kiss and hug and have some chance of a happy life at the end. God knows my relationships never turn out right, so I at least want them to in the movies. That’s why I don’t think Gone With the Wind is a good movie. I sit for four hours and watch Clark Gable chase Vivien Leigh. She won’t have him. Then, after four hours, she says she wants him and he says, "I don’t give a damn." Give me a break.
Third, I like movies where none of the main characters die. I know that sounds stupid. But in life, people die and I have to worry about it. If I go to the movies, I want people to live and be healthy. It makes me feel better, and that’s what a good movie should do. To me, Shindler’s List was one of the all time worst movies ever made. People die terrible deaths, relationships never work out, and everybody is ugly. You can’t make a worse movie than that.
Finally, good movies should have good music in them. Disney movies are good on this point. My two year old loves to watch tapes of Cinderella, and I do too, because it has so many nice songs. But background music is just as good. The Star Wars trilogy is good because the background music during those space battles makes the scene more exciting.
So what do I think are the all time best movies? The Sound of Music is my all time favorite. The adults and children are pretty, the relationships work out, nobody dies, and the music is great. I also liked E.T. The music was all in the background, but I liked it. E.T. was ugly, but he wasn’t a person, so that doesn’t count.
An expository definition is personal by nature. When defining a good movie, there is no such thing as a right or wrong definition. The important thing is to have a clear and consistent definition.Return to gallery of sample student papers