Criteria for Juding Movies in the 21st Century

Almost everyone is familiar with the age old saying "Don't judge a book by its cover." But how do you judge it then? Solely on your enjoyment of it? Or a measure of the life value between its covers?

The same issue adheres to judging movies. How does one determine if a movie is a masterpiece or a flop? Simply based on how many people see it in theaters or review it good? Some movies that get excellent reviews are dropped later as something that is not worth re-watching, and others that were greeted at first with indifference has stood the test of time. In my opinion a movie is not good simply if someone sees a movie and enjoys it, but if they would be willing to see it again.

What makes a person want to see a movie more than once? Is it cool action films? Although most guys will agree, action films are awesome in their effects using today's technology, some of the best films of all time are not known for their looks alone. Yes, society likes action and a film that does not appeal to a audience as moving in some way progressively forward is lost, but action without a plot is not a story. So a movie that is good must have a strong story.

But what is a story? Is it a pointless plot simply made to tie together our scenes? A story should not simply be a basic plot, but as any story should, it should have a point, a reason, a moral, a lesson, or even a bit for thought. A good movie should allow one to sit back afterward and think. What would they have done in the situation? Is the movie making a comment or statement on society in general. I would like to point out that this does not necessarily mean that the viewer must agree with the point to enjoy the movie, but it must be there all the same. A perfect example could be Avatar, where there was clear commentary on a military industrial complex. Although one may disagree with the commentary on our loosing touch with nature, it does not mean that the movie is lost on that portion of the audience. Therefore the movie should have a further meaning or something to make one think.

More basically in nature, a movie cannot be one of the best movies of the 21st century if no one knows about it. So the final criteria is taken in part from IMDB, a minimum number of votes which I will set at 3000 as they do.

Oh, and finally, I must have seen it. After all, you can't judge a book from its cover.