What Motivates You to See A Particular Film?

[Admiral_Young]

This question stemmed from a conversation Gaith and I were having in the "Black Swan" thread. What motivates you to see a particular film? Is it because it touches on a social commentary or other issue? Is the actors involved? Maybe a director or composer you're a fan of? What gets you pumped to see something? Mods feel free to move this thread to Misc if that is warranted...I wasn't sure where to put it.

 

[Eckauskas]

Nothing anymore.

I got super pumped up for the 1st Transformers movie, as I loved the cartoon when I was younger. Then I got my fingers burnt when I realised that Michael Bay was just an idiot with a huge budget and a fetish for the U.S Army.

You could say, however, I avoid movies done by Michael Bay, as I think his work is bollocks.

Now I'd go see a movie if I saw an ad for it and thought it looked good.

 

[barnaclelapse]

I'll go for the cast or director. Sometimes it can just be picking up a sense of really impressive energy, however that energy is spent, from the trailer.

 

[EnderAKH]

This question stemmed from a conversation Gaith and I were having in the "Black Swan" thread. What motivates you to see a particular film? Is it because it touches on a social commentary or other issue? Is the actors involved? Maybe a director or composer you're a fan of? What gets you pumped to see something? Mods feel free to move this thread to Misc if that is warranted...I wasn't sure where to put it.

Any of these. There's a group of actors, writers, and directors that can get me to see a film (Joss Whedon, JJ Abrams, Robert Downey Jr., Johnny Depp, etc). Sometimes it's a plot (Dark Knight). Sometimes it's the strength of the trailer. I don't think there is only one thing that gets someone pumped to see a movie.

 

[Pingfah]

Usually the director, I wouldn't go and see a film on the strength of one or two actors I like. A large ensemble cast packed with people I like might sway me.

Also trailers and word of mouth.

 

[Satyrquaze]

To echo Eckauskas' sentiments, Michael Bay raped my childhood as well. He took something that I have fond memories of when I was a kid and took a big steamy dump on it, and then cast Shia Labeouf and Megan Fox to "act" in it.
/rant

On the subject question: Generally, I prefer movies with a more substance than whatever 3-D crapfest has come out that week. I still have made no effort to see a film in 3-D. I only saw Avatar two weeks ago because my friend swears it was one of the best things he's ever seen. Though, I do plan to see Tron: Legacy as soon as possible. 9 out of 10 times, though a movie being in 3-D is a strike against it for me.

If there's more explosions than dialogue in the trailer, thats a strike against it.

There's a few actors and directors that I'll go out of my way to see their work. But the opposite is also true. Theres actors and directors that I'll actively avoid.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Pure entertainment value. I couldn't care less who the actors or director are. I simply go by how entertaining the story seems to be. And it has a LOT to do with the mood I am currently in. But generally I enjoy "epic" stories that span several movies, and mysteries/psychological thrillers are almost always enjoyable to me.

I guess it really boils down to mysteries. If the movie has a great mystery at its core and hopefully a twist ending, I am sure to love it. Hence why I'm the only person in the world to enjoy The Village.

Something that doesn't have as much of an impact on my decision but can convince me to see a movie if I am on the fence, is the score. If the music in the trailer is really good, I am more likely to see the movie.

 

[auntiehill]

The cast, the director, how the reviews are--and more importantly, is it a story that intrigues me? I really want something intelligent, creative, suspenseful or at least has a great tone or atmosphere. I have seen A LOT of movies---and I mean A LOT--so I really want something that's not just more of the same old drivel.

 

[captcalhoun]

typically, because it's a film i want to see like Thor, Iron Man, Transformers, GI Joe, based on another property, because it's got an intriguing premise or sounds interesting and entertaining like Shoot 'em Up, Green Zone or Gladiator or sometimes because of word-of-mouth.

 

[Captain Craig]

I see different films, especially theatrically, for different reasons.
Most often its either for the actor(s) or its the subject matter(comic book/action/adventure) that I want to support. Most often these movies tend to have a scope that is so big as far as cinematography or explosions that the big screen is warranted.

I see only about 3-4 comedies theatrically anymore because those are missing the aforementioned moments of action and majesty.

I rarely care about going cause it supports a political/religious cause. I think the ONLY movie I did that with was Passion of the Christ.

I'm more likely to not go cause of an actors politics though. Richard Gere and Sean Penn are dead to me, can't recall the last movie of theirs I paid money to see theatrically. Those two really are irritating above all others imo.

 

[Starbreaker]

I only watch films based on their Rotten Tomato scores now. I try not to buy into early hype.

 

[PsychoPere]

In somewhat this order: director; cast; writer(s); trailer. Writer(s) and cast can change positions easily when it's a well-known writer, or when it's an actor/actress I feel tends to pick projects that I would find interesting. Trailers tend to enter the picture for films that I know nothing about even when I have an opinion on the cast, as in the case of Buried, which was a fantastic film.

 

[ManOnTheWave]

Various. I might see The Black Swan because of the buzz about the director. I just saw The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest because it was the last in a series I had already viewed (viewed because of the buzz about the original book's author). I saw The Warrior's Way because the trailer made it look more interesting than it was and it had Geoffry Rush. I watched Ninja Assassin on DVD because it had a script revision by JMS of B5 fame. I saw Red and The Expendables for the casts alone. Doesn't take too much to lure me to the theatre.

 

[Harvey]

Genre doesn't get me see a particular film, but it puts it on my radar. MOON, DISTRICT 9, and SKYLINE were all films that I started to pay attention to because they were SF. But I didn't see the last one on the list, because...

Reviews are a pretty strong motivator, especially of reviewers that I like (I pay attention to Roger Ebert, Dana Stevens, David Edelstein, and the staff at the AV Club, as well a the CHUD website). The reviews for SKYLINE were terrible, so that nixed it.

As for the rest, I keep an eye out for various cast and crew that I enjoy. A writer like Aaron Sorkin will get me to see almost anything. A director like Duncan Jones (though, I admit, he has only directed one movie) will get me to see almost anything (I'm lukewarm when it comes to the trailers of SOURCE CODE, but I'll go because I like Jones and want him to be able to make MUTE). And certain actors appeal to me, like David Duchovny (for some odd reason) that cause me to seek out their films, even when the reviews are awful.

So, I guess it's a mix. But reviews are big, unless certain people are involved.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I'll see any movie that sounds halfway watchable on DVD. To motivate my butt into a movie theater, the visuals need to be an unusually high % of the appeal - Avatar, Toy Story 3, Inception.