Help with Least Preferred Genre.

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So mine are:

War movies. I don't know what is with war movies especially from 70's and 80's that made them remarkable. I wanted to watch the 70's but lists from blogs, forums, websites, youtube videos keep suggesting these war movies. Maybe its just me, but based on trailers and random clips, all I see is excessive explosion, dead friends, and jungle if not desert. Its like, there is so little allocation for the story. I tried, and I liked Saving Private Ryan, Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker.

Crime. Not all subgenre of crime though. Gangster movies. This is the reason why I haven't watch Godfather yet. This is how I see most of crime movies; Gun fires/knife stabs in every 2 minutes. Police chasing/car chasing - Bumping everywhere. Little cam shake to put a little tension. Shootouts - 20 shots to kill the protagonist, 1 barely-hit shot to kill extras, main antagonist has the resurrection stone. Protagonist and main antagonist are both criminals. Money. Police. Police accomplice. Crime story is good to watch. Its just dull when overdone, and most of what I remember are dull.

Sports. Particularly boxing, wrestling, ball games. No interest at all. To limited story. Always the same goal.

Western thingy movies. I have only seen one movie of this genre (that I'm aware of). And that single movie happened to be a joke - The Lone Ranger. Dust, guns, indians, trains, and saloon. Oh wait, the movie where Will Smith is riding a spider robot, is it western? That's two.

And Romance. Hire a sexy lady and a hunk actor. Put the word 'love'. Add a third party. Add a classic song. Voila! You have a movie. The laziest way a director can make a movie. (The reason I swore I will never, under any circumstances, watch any movies released/made from my country - Philippines, doing it for 5 years now)

I really want to overcome this barrier. Please give me some insights of how should I see each genre. (except for the last , actually it is not 'least preferred' anymore but already hatred.)



War: Most war movies are usually a reflection of certain directors politics, which is generally anti-war. Apocalypse Now does have many anti-war feelings to it via Coppola, but it also was written by a hawk named John Milius. So there are many scenes that have a more glorification of war feel to it. But Apocalypse Now is ultimately a film on the slow decent into madness. War is just the setting. Think Heart of Darkness in Vietnam. Blackhawk Down is much less political and more trying to show why soldiers fight. F*** politics, it is all about the guy next to you. Wanting to keep him alive, even if you have to die to do it. American Sniper is similar in that regards, but focused on a single soldier instead of a group of them. War was also Kubrick's favorite subject, and he visited war several times in his films. From his most blatant of anti-war political statements in Paths of Glory, his stark reality of war with Full Metal Jacket (letting the audience make the decision), to that nuclear war could actually be funny and ridiculous with Dr Strangelove.

Recommend: Apocalypse Now, American Sniper, Blackhawk Down. Platoon, Dr Strangelove (though it is more of a dark comedy). Also Paths of Glory maybe.

Gangster: The best of these films are told by those who are familiar with the culture in some way. The Godfather was described by Coppola as an immigrant story. Coppola an Italian American, knew of this experience from his own family. he incorporated this with the impotence of family. You do not go against the family etc. But it is also a tale of loosing one's humanity. Michael is not involved in "family business." He is the legit member of the family. But as the movie progresses he too slides more and more into the family trade. Eventually slipping away into evil. Goodfellas is kinda like The Godfather, but without the moralizing. Goodfellas is the rise and fall of an gangster in the New York mob. Scorsese from these streets has told many a tale of these types, because he knew these kinds of people growing up. This is shown in Mean Streets (but with much more moral conflicts) and in Goodfellas which is more a tale of hubris, betrayal, and greed.

Recommend: Goodfellas and The Godfather. Also Mean Streets.

Love/Romance: I got nothing here. Lots of crap in this genre, but some true gems stand out. Here are a few movies that are not typical romance movies. In other words far from the likes of The Notebook.

Recommend: Chasing Amy, Princess Bride, Casablanca, Don Jon

Sports: IDK, just watch Raging Bull.



So mine are:

War movies. I don't know what is with war movies especially from 70's and 80's that made them remarkable. I wanted to watch the 70's but lists from blogs, forums, websites, youtube videos keep suggesting these war movies. Maybe its just me, but based on trailers and random clips, all I see is excessive explosion, dead friends, and jungle if not desert. Its like, there is so little allocation for the story. I tried, and I liked Saving Private Ryan, Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker.

Crime. Not all subgenre of crime though. Gangster movies. This is the reason why I haven't watch Godfather yet. This is how I see most of crime movies; Gun fires/knife stabs in every 2 minutes. Police chasing/car chasing - Bumping everywhere. Little cam shake to put a little tension. Shootouts - 20 shots to kill the protagonist, 1 barely-hit shot to kill extras, main antagonist has the resurrection stone. Protagonist and main antagonist are both criminals. Money. Police. Police accomplice. Crime story is good to watch. Its just dull when overdone, and most of what I remember are dull.

Sports. Particularly boxing, wrestling, ball games. No interest at all. To limited story. Always the same goal.

And Romance. Hire a sexy lady and a hunk actor. Put the word 'love'. Add a third party. Add a classic song. Voila! You have a movie. The laziest way a director can make a movie. (The reason I swore I will never, under any circumstances, watch any movies released/made from my country - Philippines, doing it for 5 years now)

I really want to overcome this barrier. Please give me some insights of how should I see each genre. (except for the last one, actually it is not 'least preferred' anymore but already hatred.
War. The Killing Fields is good. It tells a story of a friendship between an American reporter and a Vietnamese (I think) during the Vietnam war. It shows how even in the hardest conditions friendship and love conquer all. They play Imagine in the end. I cried. I think there's much more than just killing, Deer Hunter etc.

Crime- there's some deep philosophical stuff there, even in Goodfellas. I'd even call it a Christian film. It says the more evil you are, the greater punishment you're gonna get.

Romance - it captures me emotionally when they first fall in love, then things go ugly, and you're desparate to see them back together, and when eventualy they do, there's no feeling like it.



I hated Don Jon
Action movies: I am sick of them. Too much crap. Mostly poorly done or boring +too much CGI nowadays.
Western: I don't watch this genre at all
Sports: Not a fan of sports. I have seen some great movies, but genre isn't made for me.
Comedies: They suck almost always. If it's something like Pieces of April or Sidewalls or Ghost World then recommend it for me (I don't need comedies to be really funny. I like when comedies have depth, meaning, great story or whatever). My sister likes to call most comedies "too American" (Americanish... something like that) and it means that they suck. By the way I hate that crap which Hollywood really enjoys.

I would add horror, but I can easily avoid bad movies from that genre.
Yeah western, the rarest movie I have seen. Maybe because its more for americans than for those from different culture. I just forgot to include it.

Yup. I am starting to dislike comedy movies.



War: Most war movies are usually a reflection of certain directors politics, which is generally anti-war. Apocalypse Now does have many anti-war feelings to it via Coppola, but it also was written by a hawk named John Milius. So there are many scenes that have a more glorification of war feel to it. But Apocalypse Now is ultimately a film on the slow decent into madness. War is just the setting. Think Heart of Darkness in Vietnam. Blackhawk Down is much less political and more trying to show why soldiers fight. F*** politics, it is all about the guy next to you. Wanting to keep him alive, even if you have to die to do it. American Sniper is similar in that regards, but focused on a single soldier instead of a group of them. War was also Kubrick's favorite subject, and he visited war several times in his films. From his most blatant of anti-war political statements in Paths of Glory, his stark reality of war with Full Metal Jacket (letting the audience make the decision), to that nuclear war could actually be funny and ridiculous with Dr Strangelove.

Recommend: Apocalypse Now, American Sniper, Blackhawk Down. Platoon, Dr Strangelove (though it is more of a dark comedy). Also Paths of Glory maybe.

Gangster: The best of these films are told by those who are familiar with the culture in some way. The Godfather was described by Coppola as an immigrant story. Coppola an Italian American, knew of this experience from his own family. he incorporated this with the impotence of family. You do not go against the family etc. But it is also a tale of loosing one's humanity. Michael is not involved in "family business." He is the legit member of the family. But as the movie progresses he too slides more and more into the family trade. Eventually slipping away into evil. Goodfellas is kinda like The Godfather, but without the moralizing. Goodfellas is the rise and fall of an gangster in the New York mob. Scorsese from these streets has told many a tale of these types, because he knew these kinds of people growing up. This is shown in Mean Streets (but with much more moral conflicts) and in Goodfellas which is more a tale of hubris, betrayal, and greed.

Recommend: Goodfellas and The Godfather. Also Mean Streets.

Love/Romance: I got nothing here. Lots of crap in this genre, but some true gems stand out. Here are a few movies that are not typical romance movies. In other words far from the likes of The Notebook.

Recommend: Chasing Amy, Princess Bride, Casablanca, Don Jon

Sports: IDK, just watch Raging Bull.
I'll try your recommedations. Apocalypse Now first, since I'm starting to believe that I might have the wrong impression to the movie.



Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, & King Hereafter
With war movies, you've already seen the best: Saving Private Ryan. I don't know what to recommend you here, so...I guess try Patton and MASH. Patton's dramatic while MASH is funny.

With crime movies, go with The Godfather trilogy and any crime movies made by Scorsese. Those are your best bets.

With sports...that one really is tough. I can't really get into these, either, unless there's a good bit of 'not sports' scenes.

With westerns, turn to Clint Eastwood, especially for The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. A more modern western that doesn't have Eastwood that is really good is No Country for Old Men.

With romance...this might sound weird, but turn to Disney classics.



I think you should try comedies set in these genres. They usually play with the formula and entertain you regardless of the story. MASH for war movies, Major League for sports movies, Princess Bride for romances, etc.



War...The Thin Red Line...trust me on that.

Westerns...what Miss Vicky and BrowningIdentity suggested.

Romance... Titanic (1997), Juno & HottieBoombaLottie...are three to try.

Crime...watch some old 1940s-50s black & white film noirs.



I'm not old, you're just 12.
War...The Thin Red Line...trust me on that.
..but the Thin Red Line is so BORING...so very very boring.
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I would parody Malick-style dialogue right now, but I'm not contemplative enough.