# Favorite movie genre



## TudorMihai (Feb 20, 2013)

Which one is your favorite movie genre? If you have more than one, you can name your favorite movie for each genre.

Edit: I forgot to add Science-Fiction. Consider it to be "Other".


----------



## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

A little over the transom, as they say, but were it not for the Emperor from Star Wars, the whole Sci-Fi genre _qua_ movie genre would be dead to me.


----------



## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Another category - propaganda. Especially those Soviet ones where the likes of Shostakovich put both body and soul into the soundtrack(!). There are 'official' statements saying that certain Stalin-era films are now irretrievably lost, but they would, wouldn't they? Post-modern irony is no sin, so I'd like to see some of those Mos/Lenfilm movies from c. 1930-50, just to get another angle on prevailing regime-sanctioned Soviet culture.


----------



## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

TudorMihai said:


> Which one is your favorite movie genre? If you have more than one, you can name your favorite movie for each genre.
> 
> Edit: I forgot to add Science-Fiction. Consider it to be "Other".


You also forgot westerns.


----------



## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Another category - Westerns.

Add: Moody beat me to it.


----------



## Cheyenne (Aug 6, 2012)

And indeed I'd have chosen Westerns, in doing so avoiding genres of such breadth that their true boundaries become ambiguous. It is the story of westerns themselves that keeps me engaged: the story of a genre spawning only puerile historical dramas based on false premises transcending its labored beginnings: from _The Iron Horse _to T_he Man Who Shot Liberty Valance_: from _High Noon_ to _Pale rider_. It is a perfect way to examine _der Mensch mit sich allein_, the eventual bonding and building that involve the creation of societies, and those that cannot fit into them. There is room for beautiful shots of nature, and of men, and that majestic creature the horse: there too is room for stellar performances: lastly there is room for tension build on cinematic language, not on violence or prolonged action. And the list of great people that worked in the genre! - Anthony Mann, Howard Hawks, John Ford, Clint Eastwood, Sergio Leone, Sam Peckinpah.. It was never perfect, and it never has been, but there is in them a peculiar charm and intrigue to me: the intrigue of the American credo and the Western myth - of, I suppose, myths of men and nature and the bounds of morality. A genre so close and dear and yet perpetually so detached from Hollywood.. It is my favorite, if I had to choose.. Though many of the best films are free from such constraining terms.


----------



## TudorMihai (Feb 20, 2013)

Cheyenne said:


> And indeed I'd have chosen Westerns, in doing so avoiding genres of such breadth that their true boundaries become ambiguous. It is the story of westerns themselves that keeps me engaged: the story of a genre spawning only puerile historical dramas based on false premises transcending its labored beginnings: from _The Iron Horse _to T_he Man Who Shot Liberty Valance_: from _High Noon_ to _Pale rider_. It is a perfect way to examine _der Mensch mit sich allein_, the eventual bonding and building that involve the creation of societies, and those that cannot fit into them. There is room for beautiful shots of nature, and of men, and that majestic creature the horse: there too is room for stellar performances: lastly there is room for tension build on cinematic language, not on violence or prolonged action. And the list of great people that worked in the genre! - Anthony Mann, Howard Hawks, John Ford, Clint Eastwood, Sergio Leone, Sam Peckinpah.. It was never perfect, and it never has been, but there is in them a peculiar charm and intrigue to me: the intrigue of the American credo and the Western myth - of, I suppose, myths of men and nature and the bounds of morality. A genre so close and dear and yet perpetually so detached from Hollywood.. It is my favorite, if I had to choose.. Though many of the best films are free from such constraining terms.


It's interesting. I too like Westerns but I never believed it was a popular genre because I've never yet met in person someone who likes the genre. They consider it to be "non-commercial" and "old-fashioned" (the dollar-driven movie generation...). I've always liked Westerns, especially those made by Sergio Leone; Once Upon a Time in the West and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly are true masterpieces not only of the Western genre, but of film history in general. So I added the genres in the list based on experience. When I tell people that I like Westerns they consider me a freak


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Definitely documentary, but I have to say I also like biographical films....


----------



## Cheyenne (Aug 6, 2012)

TudorMihai said:


> It's interesting. I too like Westerns but I never believed it was a popular genre because I've never yet met in person someone who likes the genre. They consider it to be "non-commercial" and "old-fashioned" (the dollar-driven movie generation...). I've always liked Westerns, especially those made by Sergio Leone; Once Upon a Time in the West and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly are true masterpieces not only of the Western genre, but of film history in general. So I added the genres in the list based on experience. When I tell people that I like Westerns they consider me a freak


I too have never met anyone that shares my rare passion, so nice to make your acquaintance :lol: The problem is that it is too 'old' and 'slow' and 'ponderous' to remain mainstream, yet often too close to Hollywood - too detached from auteurist cinema - to garner lasting fans in the departments of cinephiles. John Ford and Howard Hawks are the only directors that regularly made westerns universally recognized as great, yet the former is one of the least studied and appreciated of the pantheon directors, and the latter rarely made truly serious westerns. Both made too traditional films for modern audiences to appreciate, anyhow. Sergio Leone has a pretty large audience though, luckily  His overstylized cinematic language is a common trope now, and Clint Eastwood as actor is still popular. I hope the western doesn't die - the 2000s saw quite a few, far more of quality than the 80s and 90s anyhow. There is hope!


----------



## TrevBus (Jun 6, 2013)

Even though I voted, in truth, really don't have one. I like really good or really entertaining films, regardless of the genre.


----------



## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

I love documentaries, especially historical and religious ones. But I also love psychological thrillers and other "cerebral" movies. Movies like "Memento" and "Mulholland Dr." are good examples of those.


----------



## Borodin (Apr 8, 2013)

All the movies I like seem to rely on one key element: Atmosphere
Spirited Away
Silence of the Lambs
The Matrix
City of Lost Children
Ponyo
A number of styles, ratings and moods that have this one thing in common

Best genre, probably Adventure + mystery. A good adventure movie has several memorable places the character visits and creates a feeling of wonder or nostalgia. Fantasy is essential, but I don't list it as a genre because I'm not speaking of the "dragons and witches" sense. What I do mean is when considering uniqueness of backdrops, an intriguing or foreign taste in atmosphere, culture and artstyle the film may portray. Something as simple as Schindler's List has fantasy in it, just look at the music and places. Then mystery adds a lot to a movie: wonder, suspense, warm feelings of delving deep into a character, his motivations and lifestyle, first-person thought processes, pretty self-explanatory psychology.

One video game I liked that had all these features was Heavy Rain. Exploring mysterious scenes, atmospheric, unknowing, characters you want to delve deeper in, things you want to reach out and see but don't quite know why, little glimpses a bit at a time, etc. Creates a warm feeling inside of me. I enjoy good fantasy "adventure" genres, The Longest Journey, Dark Souls, pre-Gamecube Zelda, Silent Hill. What I don't really like is typical fantasy fluff stuff they mass produce these days.


----------



## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

I like Fantasy, Westerns, sci-fi and also Action I suppose.


----------



## Fermat (Jul 26, 2013)

Thriller and animation


----------



## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Cheyenne said:


> And indeed I'd have chosen Westerns, in doing so avoiding genres of such breadth that their true boundaries become ambiguous. It is the story of westerns themselves that keeps me engaged: the story of a genre spawning only puerile historical dramas based on false premises transcending its labored beginnings: from _The Iron Horse _to T_he Man Who Shot Liberty Valance_: from _High Noon_ to _Pale rider_. It is a perfect way to examine _der Mensch mit sich allein_, the eventual bonding and building that involve the creation of societies, and those that cannot fit into them. There is room for beautiful shots of nature, and of men, and that majestic creature the horse: there too is room for stellar performances: lastly there is room for tension build on cinematic language, not on violence or prolonged action. And the list of great people that worked in the genre! - Anthony Mann, Howard Hawks, John Ford, Clint Eastwood, Sergio Leone, Sam Peckinpah.. It was never perfect, and it never has been, but there is in them a peculiar charm and intrigue to me: the intrigue of the American credo and the Western myth - of, I suppose, myths of men and nature and the bounds of morality. A genre so close and dear and yet perpetually so detached from Hollywood.. It is my favorite, if I had to choose.. Though many of the best films are free from such constraining terms.


I take it that you quite like westerns then!!


----------



## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

TudorMihai said:


> It's interesting. I too like Westerns but I never believed it was a popular genre because I've never yet met in person someone who likes the genre. They consider it to be "non-commercial" and "old-fashioned" (the dollar-driven movie generation...). I've always liked Westerns, especially those made by Sergio Leone; Once Upon a Time in the West and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly are true masterpieces not only of the Western genre, but of film history in general. So I added the genres in the list based on experience. When I tell people that I like Westerns they consider me a freak


That's because of the modern namby-pamby political correct nonsense. They don't dare say they like them because it would be frowned upon. Children mustn't have toy guns you know and Tom and Jerry was deemed too violent, Ha! I laugh .


----------



## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

I don't really have a favorite genre. I guess I like "the best" of each genre, or what I consider the best anyway. In general I prefer movies from the 1930's-1970's era, but there are more contemporary movies that I like as well. So many movies today seem to be aimed at a demographic of 13 year olds though.


----------



## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Sci-fi, Fantasy
Western, for Sergio Leone & Morricone
Documentary


----------



## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

elgars ghost said:


> Another category - propaganda. Especially those Soviet ones where the likes of Shostakovich put both body and soul into the soundtrack(!). There are 'official' statements saying that certain Stalin-era films are now irretrievably lost, but they would, wouldn't they? Post-modern irony is no sin, so I'd like to see some of those Mos/Lenfilm movies from c. 1930-50, just to get another angle on prevailing regime-sanctioned Soviet culture.


do you know Michail Kalatozov and his I am Cuba? One of the most visually stunning movies ever.


----------



## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

I love ALL kinds of movies from all times and try to keep them coming each week.


----------



## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Some genres I would certainly add are Sci-fi, Noir, Road movies and maybe sport movies too.



Cheyenne said:


> John Ford and Howard Hawks are the only directors that regularly made westerns universally recognized as great


I would definitely add at least Peckinpah and Leone.


----------



## Cheyenne (Aug 6, 2012)

norman bates said:


> I would definitely add at least Peckinpah and Leone.


I love them, but I doubt most critics would add them to their pantheon. They would be in the second rank, with many great directors, but not all the way up; and both still have detractors. Ford and Hawks, on the other hand, are always recognized as first-rate directors, and have been in that position for a long time. It is a merely a statement on the current critical status, not of actual quality -- I myself like Leone's westerns more than Hawks'.


----------



## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)

Old martial arts movies because:
* of their portrayal of esoteric forms, albeit twice filtered through peking opera tradition and movie-fu
* they're cheesy and charming and instantly nostalgic
* action is treated like non-verbal dialogue
* the English dubs can make them double as great comedies
* they're full of anti-modern values and reverence for nature

Runner-up genre not found on the list: exploitation.


----------



## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Comedy and Drama for me. I like some of the classic horror movies with Comedy in it. Nightmare on Elm Street being one of my favorites. Teen 80's Movies are always great. Love the Breakfast Club. Movies from the 70's-90's tend to be my favorites.


----------



## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Documentaries are getting better and better, engaging some of the greatest directors and writers who've been dismissed from the mainstream of stupidity. Glad to see that some TCers agree with me.

Movies of comedy or drama today are usually not well-written. And *New Hollywood* has the audacity to think they can remake some of the classics. It's lazy and uninspired thinking.

Elementary, high school, college English Departments, take note.


----------



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

the old classics for me.....................


----------



## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

Mindless action movies!
+ Sci-Fi
+ Historical
+ Crime


----------



## OboeKnight (Jan 25, 2013)

I loooove horror movies. Ghost stories are my favorites, and I also really enjoy possession movies. Can't stand zombie flicks though. The sad thing is, I very rarely get frightened by scary movies and I usually leave the theater disappointed because of it. Something about them makes me love them anyway haha. I also love musicals that are made into movies, and a good comedy is always nice.


----------



## ZetaSin (Dec 2, 2013)

I would say my favorite is a variation of action, mystery and thriller. Although, some good Horror movies are also good.


----------



## Pip (Aug 16, 2013)

for me, along with westerns, I love most the movies that came from Ealing studios in the 40s and 50s, and not just the comedies.
all of them.


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Not a movie buff by any standard, but my favourites are all over the board (to name a few: A fish called Wanda, Alien(s), Back to the future 1-3, Dodgeball, Indiana Jones 1+3, Silence of the lambs, Star Wars 4-6, The lord of the rings 1-3, The matrix 1).


----------



## OldFashionedGirl (Jul 21, 2013)

Movies with meaning. Movies about the human nature, philosophical and metaphysical issues, criticism about society, and that represent our reality. I don't like watching a movie just for entertaiment, the movie has to transmit me something and put me to think.


----------

