How Do You Vote For Your Film?

[Mister Pink]

Just curious to see how people are actually voting for films here.

 

It seem's to me there is a divide: Those who base their vote on an emotional level;

 

- It was apart of my generation growing up

- It has a happy ending

- Feel good film

- It made me feel like this or that...

 

You get the idea.

 

On the other hand I there are those who seem to judge a film on technical issues or such as impact or influence the film has had on cinema;

 

- Trend-setting films

- Creativeness (direction/script/breaking Hollywood rules)

- Originality (unusual timline in story, breaking rules in cinema etc)

- Underlying themes (comparisions and metaphores ie. War of the Worlds/September 11 and anxiety of Americans under possibly terror attacks)

 

You get the idea.

 

I noticed I've been trying to vote thinking with the latter. I may enjoyed one film more than the other (comedy is a good feeling) but I can see that the other film is technically better (Great film the the guy dies in the end/tragic).

 

"Such and such is a better film because it provoked debate on yada yada yada, broke the Hollywood mould and had influenced this that and the other."

 

Rather than...

 

"this film made me laugh, he blew up that, the actors were great and the script was cool and the guy masacered so many people and won the girl in the end.

 

I know it's all opinion and films are always judged about how they made you feel. Different strokes for different folks etc.

 

I noticed how some people mentioned that certain nominated films were 'boring.' Well some films do appear to be boring until you understand them. for example, when you are young you may see a film and not get all the jokes and metaphors or intertexuality or pardoy in them. When you become more mature a see the film again you realise it's power.

 

Just thought I'd get your thoughts on the matter??

Edited June 30, 2009 by ThePinkFloydSound

[darthYENIK]

I usually split the difference between emotional, and technical merit/cultural impact. Every once in a while I'll pull the nostalgia card.

 

Also I consider a lot of emotion you get from the movie to be a technical merit, since a lot of times the film makers are able to dictate the emotion through lighting, sound, acting, and editing. There is a popular saying in film schools that goes, "Don't just make motion pictures, make EMOTION pictures."

[Mister Pink]

Also I consider a lot of emotion you get from the movie to be a technical merit, since a lot of times the film makers are able to dictate the emotion through lighting, sound, acting, and editing.

That's a good point.

 

I try to make a balance myself and not let (I can think of the word, damn) my decision be affected on my memory painting romantic nostalgia. I'd really only vote if I have seen the film recently.

 

I used to love Fear and Loathing (and I suppose I still do) but I watched it recently and it I thought it wasn't half as good as I'd first thought. Then again I was 16 and clueless and now I've some film experience I suppose I look at films more critically.

[Hart]

 

- It made me feel like this or that...

- Creativeness (direction/script/breaking Hollywood rules)

- Originality (unusual timline in story, breaking rules in cinema etc)

- Underlying themes (comparisions and metaphores ie. War of the Worlds/September 11 and anxiety of Americans under possibly terror attacks)

 

All of those. I see a lot of people voting for certain films solely because it changed cinema. I usually just vote for the film which I personally enjoy more. Can't explain any better really.

 

I guess you're talking about me here:

 

 

Well some films do appear to be boring until you understand them.

 

 

When you become more mature a see the film again you realise it's power.

 

I only saw Goodfellas in the past year, so I'm pretty sure I was mature enough - I just found the second half to be lacklustre.

 

Interesting thread.

[Tony Mozzarelli 80]

I try to take both in to account. But i will always gravitate towards something i enjoyed as opposed to a film which i recognise to have been genré defining, or brilliantly acted.

 

But the technically adept film, rich narrative, brilliant acting, etc, will sway it for me if i enjoyed both films on a personal level

[Exkabewbikadid]

I tried to vote as objectively as possible throughout the contest and not let my nostalgia allow me to perceive films with a false sense of greatness. Honestly I could probably make two top 100 lists of films, one based on films that I like the most and another based on which films I think are the most significant and the two lists would probably only share about 60% of the same films. For example, one of the hardest decisions I made was the round between Pulp Fiction and Apocalypse Now. Even though I like Pulp Fiction more, I went with AN because I honestly think it's a more significant acheivement in film on several different levels (none of which are influenced by Widow's incessant praise ).

 

Ideally, I think everyone should havwe tried to be as objective as possible, otherwise it's just a popularity contest and trends come and go too often for popularity to hold much merit. But it is what it is, so the important thing is that a lot of good discussions took place throughout the contest.

[Otter]

I've always taken it as the "GTAF top 100 favorite films" rather than the "GTAF top 100 best films" - for a few reasons. First and foremost, there are hundreds of "best films" lists that already exist out there on the internet. Secondly, I wouldn't trust half of you guys to tell me what the f*ck a good movie is.

 

Finally, films have so much more significance than their quality. Many films are the voice of a moment in history, or a celebration of a cultural epoch. They all touch us in different way and for many different reasons. There's no pointin trying to remain objective when it comes to the arts. It's an utterly trivial pursuit.

 

Vote for the films you like, not what you think you should like.

[darthYENIK]

That's really what it's all about, Otter. Personally I enjoy a movie that's well produced, technically sound, and is able to bring up emotions that I don't usually feel in everyday life, because I have a first hand appreciation for the great many details that it takes to make a beautifully shot, well acted, and well written movie. But that's just me. Someone else might watch a movie and enjoy it because their friends do, and they want to make conversation, or because it's got violence, bad words, and depressing endings (all three of those things I can appreciate as well, but never are they a focal point).

[papanesta]

Nice topic.

 

I'd always vote for the film I enjoyed more, rather than going by technical aspect. If we all voted for which film was technically better, a lot of the polls wouldn't have been as close as they were, I think.

[Exkabewbikadid]

If we all voted for which film was technically better, a lot of the polls wouldn't have been as close as they were, I think.

I don't know about that. When I say I try to vote objectively, I mean that I try to be objective with myself. It's impossible to be truly objective with respect to what anyone else thinks, otherwise it's just a matter of stating facts and not opinions and things would go nowhere.

 

Let me put it into better perspective. I've seen Happy Gilmore more times than I've seen The Deer Hunter, and if I were to watch one of those right now, I'd probably watch Happy Gilmore yet again. But does that imply that I should rank it above The Deer Hunter? If I did that, I would be voting with the most passive and sedated part of my mind that likes to be pacified rather than engaged and that's just f*cking stupid. I know that The Deer Hunter is technically the better film even if it's something I can't bear to watch too often.

 

That's why I am a little baffled to see something like Toy Story climb so high, a film that invovles zero acting (what's that... there's voice acting? BFD) CG animation and an ok story. It's a clear cut case of voting for the film you're more fond of. But whatever, it's acclaim directly reflects the GTAF age 14 to 24 demographic, so no surprises there.

 

 

[Andyzoot]

I've voted for my films for different reasons each time. There are some where I've voted for them simply because they are a thrill ride and a joy to watch (think Dazed and Confused or Aliens) but there are times where I've looked at the script or the cinematography and found it much more important than what film I enjoyed more. Sometimes I can get torn between the two. For example in today's poll we have A Clockwork Orange going up against Apocalypse Now. I'm a big fan of A Clockwork Orange, even more so than DeeperRed probably and I love Malcolm McDowell in it. But then you have Apocalypse Now which is such a huge technical achievement that I find myself compelled to vote for Apocalypse Now.

[DeeperRed]

I'm a big fan of A Clockwork Orange, even more so than DeeperRed probably

 

*Slaps Panda with a glove*

 

I challenge you to a duel...

 

ontopic -

 

Like Panda it depends what two films they are. Most of the time I will put enjoyment at my formost but when something like Oldboy or Clockwork Orange comes up then it is the factor of what left the biggest hold on me. Like Clockwork stayed on my head for days and I found my self linking situations infront of me to the film quite alot. Oldboy just left me shocked for many days . The Enjoyment factor comes more into play when its like Back to the future which is one of the very few films I can watched over and over again (Pulp fiction, Oldboy, ACO being examples of others). I watch BTTF about once every two weeks as its just such an enjoyable film. I also watch it whenever I feel down to brng me back up again

[asimov]

Aside from a couple of matchups the choices have been no-brainers for me. I might like both films but usuaully one stands out clearly as the superior. The fact I didn't like a good chunk of the "Top 100" helps too.