Movies like the free movie zumvo are one of the great joys in life. They take us on adventures, they show us worlds we can only imagine. The experience of sitting down to watch a movie is comforting and familiar, but it can be hard to know what to expect when that title card pops up. With the rise of streaming services, and the prevalence of knock-offs and sequels, it is difficult to know which movies are worth your time and money.
If you’re a longtime movie fan, you might find yourself using the same handful of websites or magazines as your only guide. And if you’re new to the scene, well I suppose you’re stuck with me. Here are 10 things to know about movies so that you can avoid sitting through another Transformers film:
The sequel is rarely as good as the original: Just because a movie had two parts doesn’t mean it was meant for more than one film. Hollywood loves seeing franchises made into trilogies, but very few series’ deserve that honor.
10 things to know about movies are:
1. The original is always better:
It’s hard to find an exception to this rule, but try. The original is often the best of its kind. This doesn’t mean that newer entries are necessarily bad – just that they don’t necessarily continue the story. Ender’s Game , for example, was a great novel (and likely good film) but came with some unnecessary baggage due to rights issues and needing to straddle two separate book series.
2. Movie history is a moving target:
Movies are constantly being released in theaters, re-released on DVD, or shown on TV or streaming services year after year after year. The history of a movie is not limited to the theatrical release. If there is a particular scene that you just have to see, or a part of the plot you want to know more about, it’s often available on home video or streaming.
3. The critics aren’t always right:
Critical response doesn’t equal quality. Some movies are highly praised by critics and still suck. Others are terrible according to critics but enjoyable for many fans. If a movie has a good score, check out other reviews – especially from fans in the same community as you (movie forums are great for this) – before taking the score at face value.
4. You can avoid sequels:
Films are often made with a smaller budget than blockbusters, which can make it difficult for the studio to recoup their investment. If a sequel is made, the studio will often release it first as a ‘cash grab’ film to justify their decision. The most popular movie franchises of today, Marvel and Star Wars , are sequels and many of their movies do pretty well. Even Star Trek has seen some success in transporting audiences back into the 1960s again, 30 years after its last series finale. To some degree this is because there were stories meant for other series that were left on the cutting room floor (and we’ll get to that in a second), but you don’t need to fear them.
5. Writers can rework old ideas:
If a movie is based on a book, and the book was based on another idea, there is a good chance the original idea came from elsewhere as well. We don’t know if JK Rowling stole the name ‘Hogwarts’ from Harry Harrison’s Westmar series (it seems likely), but we do know that The Wizard of Oz was mostly similar to The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum, who also wrote books for the Oz series (the first six again). Keep in mind that these similarities aren’t necessarily an issue of plagiarism. Authors borrow inspiration all the time and sometimes it gets noticed. Still, it’s something to be aware of.
6. The ‘best’ movie ever:
I doubt anyone has the definitive answer to this question, but there are definitely some films that are regarded by fans as the greatest of all time. They firmly cement a brand or genre and ensure their place in history. For example, many films are not taken seriously by critics while they are still considered classics by fans. Some examples:
-The Shawshank Redemption (1994 film) -Trekkies consider (Star Trek) The Wrath of Khan to be the best Star Trek movie and it’s also highly regarded among Trekkies (as good as it gets).
– The Lord of the Rings series (The Hobbit, The Two Towers and Return of the King) -It appears critics are likely to agree that this is a trilogy of uneven quality. And yet it’s still regarded as the best fantasy film ever.
– The Back to the Future trilogy – This is a mystery to many as it’s known for its dated special effects, but it also holds up pretty well today. It has become a beloved part of pop culture in its own right.
7. Sequels shouldn’t be avoided, just be careful:
Some movie sequels are absolute disasters, but there are plenty that are great fun and don’t require much thought from you at all. I’m a big fan of the Toy Story series, and it’s probably the type of thing most parents could enjoy with their kiddos. The first three are great, I thought the fourth was a bit darker but still good. And then there’s Cars 2 .
8. TV shows aren’t always smaller than movies:
If you’re looking for a movie to watch that is more in depth and not an action-fest, TV shows are often just as good as movies. In fact, many movies are made from popular TV shows! Such series as The Sopranos , Breaking Bad and House of Cards , which I watched last year (and will likely watch again) were all excellent in my opinion. There are plenty of other movie series which originated as, or continued as, TV shows.
9. The world is more accessible than you could imagine:
A lot of movies are made overseas and it’s more common than you might think. The Wachowski brothers actually went to China to shoot parts of the Matrix movies. Other movies were made in India, Germany and even Mexico. If that doesn’t make sense to you, consider that the setting may not always be representative of the culture (for example a film set in Russia but filmed in Romania). You can find a place for anything if you look hard enough – just be prepared for your imagination to be challenged.
10. You won’t always like every character:
Movies are made to be enjoyed by everyone. This isn’t always successful, but it does mean that there are times when the bad guy may not be as ‘bad’ as he seems (and often for a reason), or when characters you don’t relate to seem to get more screen time than others. I was never a fan of Spock in Star Trek , for example.
Conclusion:
It’s not hard to find a movie that is bad, just as it’s not hard to find one that is good. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch the rubbish, it just means you’re less likely to be taken in by it. If a movie isn’t bad, don’t make the same mistake I did and assume that because everyone else liked it then so would you. There are plenty of people who hate The Avengers , but I expected they’d all love the awesomeness of Iron Man 3. Instead, people are grumpy about lack of character development and plot holes…
Next time: An overview of TV shows! Or something. You know what, I’ll do another post about this one instead.
