misterd
Frightful Fiend
Posts: 1,220
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Post by misterd on Jul 23, 2010 0:47:56 GMT -5
Pretty much what it says.
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Post by Stuart on Jul 23, 2010 2:45:19 GMT -5
Over 90% of the films I own or want to own are horror so I guess I’m not deeply into any other genre but if pushed I’d have to say war movies. I’ve been a major military nerd since childhood (Action Man and Airfix have a lot to answer for) and as a subject/hobby it sits alongside horror on equal footing. Thing is, there are few truly good war movies. It’s a difficult genre to nail. Too much gung-ho action can make a film as empty as too little and an awful lot of war flicks – particularly from days gone by – lack any attempt at realism.
At the top of my list would have to be Full Metal Jacket, SPR and Stalingrad. I’m currently ploughing my way through the blu ray boxed set of Band of Brothers. Can’t wait to get my paws on The Pacific. As a patriotic Englishman, though, I’d really love to see someone do a similar treatment for our contribution to WW2. Contrary to what our twat of a Prime Minister thinks, we did do a little fighting back there.
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Post by Scary Gary on Jul 23, 2010 6:41:41 GMT -5
Fantasy and Sci Fi for me. Sometimes it is hard to differentiate between the two, but I do have a slight lean toward the fantasy at the moment.
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Post by deckard on Jul 23, 2010 8:15:13 GMT -5
Film Noir, which can, at times, delve into areas of great horror. M by Fritz Lang is one such great example.
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Post by saltychuck on Jul 23, 2010 11:39:43 GMT -5
Action, which presumably also covers Martial Art films, is my pick here.
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Post by Captain Midnight on Jul 23, 2010 13:05:01 GMT -5
Comedy. I also like horror mixed with comedy.
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Post by jmodlinc on Jul 24, 2010 6:44:54 GMT -5
Fantasy and Sci Fi for me. Sometimes it is hard to differentiate between the two, but I do have a slight lean toward the fantasy at the moment. To me, sci-fi often explores or centers around the seemingly-improbable while fantasy almost always explores the seemingly-impossible. Side Note: You forgot to add 'Thriller' to the list of genre choices, mistered.  |
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misterd
Frightful Fiend
Posts: 1,220
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Post by misterd on Jul 25, 2010 22:48:32 GMT -5
Fantasy and Sci Fi for me. Sometimes it is hard to differentiate between the two, but I do have a slight lean toward the fantasy at the moment. To me, sci-fi often explores or centers around the seemingly-improbable while fantasy almost always explores the seemingly-impossible. Side Note: You forgot to add 'Thriller' to the list of genre choices, mistered. Personal preference. I find the line between Thriller, Suspense and Horror very thin, and the tag often used on horror films that don't want to be tossed in the ghetto (though there are exceptions). I figured "Other Drama" would cover it. And did I really type "Jorror"? And no one's mocked me for it yet? |
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misterd
Frightful Fiend
Posts: 1,220
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Post by misterd on Jul 25, 2010 22:51:49 GMT -5
Action, which presumably also covers Martial Art films, is my pick here. Yeah, I didn't want to delve too much into sub-genres. I would certainly say MA counts as action (subgenre). Similarly, I find most Film Noir fits as a subgenre of the crime drama, but if one is a fan of, say, Double Indemnity but not The French Connection, and wants that difference noted, that's why "other" is there. So if you wanted to speak out for MA flicks without giving support to the Van Damme ouvre, "other" could be an option as well. Which brings up another point - I also don't consider "foreign" or "animated" genres. "Foreign" is a language issue that can apply to every genre (and changes depending on which country you're in), and "animated" is a style choice. Most animated films in the US are "family" films, but there is no shortage of exception, especially internationally. |
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misterd
Frightful Fiend
Posts: 1,220
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Post by misterd on Jul 25, 2010 22:57:38 GMT -5
Fantasy and Sci Fi for me. Sometimes it is hard to differentiate between the two, but I do have a slight lean toward the fantasy at the moment. It's a fine line that Hollywood steps on often. Star Wars, for example, is consider SF, but that's really the setting. In tone and story, its a fantasy tale set in space. For the second time tonight, I'll evoke Clarke's Law: Any sufficiently advanced technology can be mistake for magic. That allows SF and fantasy to trod the same ground in different ways. But in the end, if the "magic" happens because of Clarke's Law, its SF. If it's because it's magic, it's fantasy. |
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maarow
Ghost in the Graveyard
Posts: 509
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Post by maarow on Jul 26, 2010 0:33:03 GMT -5
Fantasy and Sci Fi for me. Sometimes it is hard to differentiate between the two, but I do have a slight lean toward the fantasy at the moment. It's a fine line that Hollywood steps on often. Star Wars, for example, is consider SF, but that's really the setting. In tone and story, its a fantasy tale set in space. For the second time tonight, I'll evoke Clarke's Law: Any sufficiently advanced technology can be mistake for magic. That allows SF and fantasy to trod the same ground in different ways. But in the end, if the "magic" happens because of Clarke's Law, its SF. If it's because it's magic, it's fantasy. I tend to think of the difference between science fiction ( sci-fi is a bastardized term that most writers hate, which is why the label "speculative fiction" was created) and fantasy as mainly a thematic one. Star Wars vs. Star Trek is a classic example; Star Wars has all the window dressing of science fiction but ultimately the technology is only a stand-in for classic fantasy tropes. A lightsaber, however neat, is really just a sword. Yoda is an alien Buddha. Star Trek, on the other hand, notwithstanding Harlan Ellison's flippant dismissal of it as a "Western in space," used science fiction elements ("alien civilization as parable" being a major one) to explore well-worn themes of spirituality, personal interrelationships, individual worth, global (or galaxial) communities, and how all these things fit together in a universe of rapidly advancing technology. Star Trek was often about man's struggle to remain relevant in the face of a merciless and perpetually evolving machinery that threatened to make mankind rather beside the point. Star Wars, in other words, could have had the exact same story with all the technology stripped away; ancient civilizations would have understood the gist of it even without perhaps comprehending the details. Star Trek, playing as it does on relatively new fears brought about by the looming obsoleteness of the human spirit in an age when God's binary code is fast being deciphered, may not have translated as well. Then again, that's just my distinction. I've been told that within the community of science fiction buffs, the thematic importance of technology is what distinguishes "hard" from "soft" sci-fi. So it's all very confusing when nerds get involved. And did I really type "Jorror"? And no one's mocked me for it yet? For a moment I thought you were trying to coin a new term for "J-Horror." |
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maarow
Ghost in the Graveyard
Posts: 509
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Post by maarow on Jul 26, 2010 0:50:47 GMT -5
Regarding the question at hand, I'd like to think that if I actually set down to knock out a Top 10 list (which I lack both the energy and inclination to do) it would actually be pretty well-rounded--comedies, fantasies, action films, dramas, Westerns, family films, horror, and the odd "undefinable". A good story is a good story regardless of genre, and even a well-done romance isn't beneath me.
That said, I do have a penchant for musicals. Yeah, I know about Judy Garland and Fire Island and all that, but I like to think I'm taking the musical back for the heterosexual male (not that there are any particular indications that they want it back). The allowance for unapologetic stylization rivals German Expressionism in terms of sheer exuberant excess (which is not to say that Expressionism was all that exuberant) and practically defines Hollywood extravagance. Anyway, Cyd Charisse had amazing legs and see Singin' in the Rain if you don't believe me on that point.
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misterd
Frightful Fiend
Posts: 1,220
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Post by misterd on Jul 26, 2010 20:41:59 GMT -5
Regarding the question at hand, I'd like to think that if I actually set down to knock out a Top 10 list (which I lack both the energy and inclination to do) it would actually be pretty well-rounded--comedies, fantasies, action films, dramas, Westerns, family films, horror, and the odd "undefinable". A good story is a good story regardless of genre, and even a well-done romance isn't beneath me. That said, I do have a penchant for musicals. Yeah, I know about Judy Garland and Fire Island and all that, but I like to think I'm taking the musical back for the heterosexual male (not that there are any particular indications that they want it back). The allowance for unapologetic stylization rivals German Expressionism in terms of sheer exuberant excess (which is not to say that Expressionism was all that exuberant) and practically defines Hollywood extravagance. Anyway, Cyd Charisse had amazing legs and see Singin' in the Rain if you don't believe me on that point.  |
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