There are a set of formulas drifting around Hollywood that make a screenwriter’s job easy. Just tack on a few stock characters and a new gimmick, and voila, a movie. Or a reasonable facsimile thereof.
But they keep making them, and the movies keep succeeding? Why? We keep watching them.
Now, I agree that an original screenplay, good acting, innovative presentation, and excellent production can produce amazing works of art. Movies that thrill me, excite me, baffle me, amaze me. Movies, in short, that I’m not ashamed to tell people I like.
But there’s this one formula that gets me every single time. I know what’s going to happen. I know the characters, I know the scanty plot, I know the precise times of the action beats and the plot points. But every time, I fall for it.
I’m a sucker for the “animal story”. You know the one. Kid finds creature in need of help. Kid helps creature. Animal helps kid. They both learn something. Kid must give up creature.
Black Beauty. E.T. The Iron Giant. And those are the good ones. The others are too… horrible to mention. But I watch 'em. And they get to me.
I am a complete sucker, and a sap.
Are there any others out there who’ll admit to it? Is there a formula that gets you every time, no matter how bad the actual movie?
gangster/ crime movies between the 30s and late 60s i.e jimmy cagney ed g robinson lesser known people which is basically the entire warner bros film library during the golden age of hollywood
any mafia movie… real film noir like la confidental and not soft core porn disguising as film noir
godzilla movies i even liked the newer one although i havent seen godzilla 2k yet
kung-fu theatre aka oriental westrens
westrens themselves traditional and other wise
war movies heh in harms way was just as long but better than pearl harbor
spy movies - james bond plots havent changed in 40 years really just the names and cuases
techno thrillers ie hackers swordfish face off
this is just some that im a sucker for
I’m a sucker for the big, romantic weepie. Titanic, The English Patient, Beauty and the Beast are among my favorite films and are movies I can watch over and over again. Interestingly enough, the first two are among the most hated ever.
I also like American films made in the 1970’s, from, say, the French Connection to Raging Bull.
I’m a big fan of horror movies, but I’m especially drawn to “creature” movies, where the thing to fear is either a “giant killer something” or a “swarm of killer somethings”. A good scary creature is an awesome thing to behold.
I’m a complete sucker for the romantic-comedy. In fact, one of my pet peeves is reading a review of a rom-com that says the movie is “formulaic and predictable.” Well, duh. It’s supposed to be formulaic and predictable.
I hate big budget science-fiction action movies, but I just love big budget science-fiction comedies–Mars Attacks, Men in Black. . . hell, I even saw Evolution.
I’m a sucker for midieval epics, myself, particularly when they involve swordplay, battle axes, and rebellion against an evil king. I got hooked on those films early, when I first saw Errol Flynn’s “Robin Hood” with my dad.
Toss in “Ivanhoe,” “Excalibur,” “Braveheart,” “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”(okay, bad example, but you get the idea).
In fact, it’s a tribute to “Excalibur” that I’d seen “Monty Python and the Holy GRail” several times before I saw it, and it STILL held up!
Mel Brooks spoofs - Men in Tights, Dead and Loving It, Spaceballs
Any well done spoof - Mars Attacks, Galaxy Quest
Arty spy or action movies - Mission Impossible, Matrix, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Sci-fi with a newish spin - Blade Runner (at the time was newish), Men in Black
Sandra Bullock we-already-know-what’s-going-to-happen romantic comedies - While you were sleeping, Miss Congeniality
Eye candy - The fifth element (Got me in there, but I didn’t like it) I almost even wanted to see The Cell until my SO mentioned how disturbing I’d find it. I liked the images in the commercials, though.
Stories I already know and love - Xmen and I already have a babysitter for when Lord of the Rings comes out. Do you think anyone is going to do The Watchmen? (Comic book.) I’d go to that too.
Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy sings song and gets girl back again. And any variations such as boy meets boy, or girl meets boy, or girl meets girl. And part three doesn’t even need to include singing… but that always helps.
As long as it’s well done I can watch that over and over and over again. (I can even watch bad romantic comedies at least once.)
Yep, romantic comedies. Boy meets girl, boy makes bad first impression, girl pays more attention to rival, boy does anything to win her back, girl realizes he’s the better man, boy wins girl, happy ending. Ahhhh. I think I just like any story where the boy really wants this girl; if he didn’t wind up with her, he’d be very unhappy for a long time. Unlike in real life, where men say, “No? Okay, your loss, babe,” and blithely go their merry way.
This is a genre, not a formula, but I too like anything with a swordfight in it, because it’s fighting that takes some skill, some artistry. And it’s beautiful, too.
Big giant sucker for “Beauty and the Beast” themes. Bad guy is in love with girl, and bad guy ends up being a good guy in the end. I love love love when the guy you think is the bad guy ends up being the hero. Kind of that Boo Radley feeling.
And any ‘stockholm syndrome’ themes where women fall in love with their captors (or at least spend a great deal of time with them) is good (The Collector, Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down, A Life Less Ordinary)
Average guy(s) meets strange dude (or not), goes on wacky adventure. Hilarity ensues. The adventure could be any sort. Usually this works for 80’s movies, and it should be weird and offbeat. Er…
[li]Ferris Buller’s Day Off[/li]
[li]Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure[/li]
[li]Clue[/li]
[li]Flashback[/li]
[li]Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey[/li]
[li]Pulp Fiction[/li]
Okay, that’s all I can think of, but I really love the random stuff happening type of movie.
Disaster movies. Preferably with lots of famous movie stars drowning/getting burnt/stung to death by bees/getting eaten/dying in plane crashes/getting hit by burning space-rocks of death. Even better if made with some stupid gimmick included.
Monster/Spam-in-a-cabin films. Especially if they involve Sam Raimi.
John Wayne westerns. This one is something I inherited from my father.
I’m a sucker for Frank Capra cliches: little guy chooses to do the right thing and ends up happier. Sometimes richer and publicly lauded but not always–but dependably better off in basic ways. (I adore You Can’t Take It With You.)
And sly, funny, subversive riffs like Mel Brooks at the top of his game, Men In Black, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, Harold And Maude, etc.
You Can’t Take It With You is a classic joy–I was going to say it is really too quirky to be a cliche, but it may be a cliche of the screwball genre rather than in the pure Capra tradition.
I like loner movies–the hardboiled professional comes to town, denies that it’s his problem, ends up facing the bad stuff, saves the day, and then rides off into the sunset. Also movies where the bad guys are really bad. So lone American versus Nazis always works for me (Casablanca, To Have and Have Not), as do Schindler’s List and Shane.
Zucker Abrahams Zucker comedies like Airplane. I used to be a sucker for sci-fi movies, but so much crap has come out of Hollywood with that label that I have been cured of my…errr…suckeritis.
I don’t know what exactly to call this subset of romantic comedy, but…let’s call it the “love of their life is under their noses” genre. 10 Things I Hate About You, Get Over It, Drive Me Crazy, If Lucy Fell, Some Kind of Wonderful, Addicted To Love, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, even Playing God follows the formula to some extent…Yeah, I know before watching them that the right guy ends up with the right girl, but, I can’t help watching them. Other than that I don’t like romantic movies (well, except Playing By Heart as a notable exception) go figure.
Also Ghost stories. They’re all the same old story but I love all of them. I’m hoping to see The Others soon, and Soul Surviors comes out in the fall, and I’m curious about 13 Ghosts…
Here’s another vote on the Romantic Comedies, with the stress on comedy. I think I’ve seen most of the ones around, particularly the local ones (ie Australian), which are great in terms of spotting local landmarks. I know that’s far below ‘cool’, but it’s still fun, particularly when the soon to be loving couple are walking down the street, turn a corner, and end up on the other side of town in a second.
I’m also a big fan of any movies that have music as the major theme, particuarly if the music is good (obviously IMHO). I enjoyed ‘Detroit Rock City’, which was virtually a remake of ‘Rock and Roll High School’, and if they made ten more movies with the same story, I’d still enjoy watching them.