What makes a good movie (or TV show) for you?

[Trollheart]

Obviously, every movie or TV show is the sum of its parts: the writing, the acting, the locations, the direction, the music maybe. But what is it you look for in either? And what makes you sink back at the end and think to yourself either "Man that was shit!" or "Man that was amazing!"? I think I like to often be surprised by how good a movie/show is/was: something I've not been expecting much from turns out to be incredible. I of course love good writing and even if something is great in all other departments and the writing sucks, well, I find it hard to praise the movie/show then. Case in point: I watched a Danish series called The Sommerdahl Murders last night and the ending was so terrible that it ruined it for me: the writing sucked, in the end, so I won't watch any more. I already wrote about how I was less than impressed with Watership Down sorry Blackhawk Down, and as you can see in the movies thread below I was knocked out by Free Guy, just watched.

I think also, for me, there needs to be some sort of emotional connection, good or bad, usually to the characters but at least to the premise. I watched a series called Honour a few years back which really hit me hard, and I never stop going on, I know, about how amazing the Belgian series Public Enemy is. But it's also characters, for me. If I can't engage with them (or, I should say I guess, they can't engage with me) then I give up. There is no point, to my mind, in watching anything in which I could not care less about the characters. Music can have an effect on me too in a movie or show, but I wouldn't call it essential, and I've watched movies with no music, or very little (2001 is a good example), so I don't find that so important, though it can add to (or, in limited cases, detract from) the experience. Direction doesn't matter too much to me. I know many of you love this director or that one, but while I acknowledge the talents of these people and their undeniable contribution to their media, I would not watch/refuse to watch a movie just because such a director is involved.

In the end, for me at any rate, I think I want to be left with a feeling of not having wasted my time, or of finally seeing something I've been missing out on for so long, and a desire possibly to see more. I like to be able to recommend a movie, and I like to think it managed to speak to me, in one way or another.

How about yourselves?