Twister

“A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission and the babysitter were worth it.” – Alfred Hitchcock

So what makes a movie great?  Critical acclaim?  Box office success?  Oscars and Globes?  Great being an arbitrary term, a consensus definition cannot exist.  I’ve seen very few of what I would call great movies – Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, and Jaws among them (see a pattern?) – but I’ve enjoyed a lot of flicks.  Ironically, many of my favorite movies are, admittedly, not great movies.

Take my second all-time favorite, Twister.  Sub-par acting, plot holes, continuity errors littered throughout, yet I watch it at least once a year at the arrival of storm season.  I love it.  The aerial shots of the expansive plains, rumbles of thunder in the rear channels of the soundtrack, Mark Mancina’s brilliant score, and flying cows – does it get any better?

For many, yes, it gets much better.  I know I’m in the minority for regarding the movie as highly as I do.  But that’s what makes movies such an important part of our culture.  Just as everyone favors a particular brand of toothpaste or shoes or ice cream, we all have our unique tastes in movies.

Our goal in making movies should be to make the finished product as appealing to the masses as possible.  Filmmaking is a business, and Hollywood has enough renegades throwing money away in pursuit of near-sighted art.  I’ll settle for making commercially successful movies that allow me to bring home bread for my family.

Is this the way to go about making great movies?  It all depends on your personal definition of greatness.  2008’s Academy Award winning Best Picture, Slumdog Millionaire, ranked #16 in last year’s top grossing movies (according to Box Office Mojo).  Fellow nominee, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, ranked #20.  Next?  The Reader at #82.

Hollywood seemingly lives now by the dichotomy that prohibits a movie from being a financial success simultaneously while being an Academy success.  The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Titanic are certainly two significant exceptions of the past fifteen years, but more and more the list of Best Picture nominees is filled with lengthy yawners I watch out of obligation rather than desire.

Maybe that’s why I haven’t made it yet.  My preference for Twister over The English Patient could be my doom.  I hope not, because I think there’s room for both kinds of movies.  And sometimes, both movies come together into one.  Maybe one day I’ll be a part of a Titanic or Lord of the Rings.