I enjoy most of the films I watch because usually they are films I have been tracking and doing research about for a while
so that I have a pretty good idea what Im getting into before sitting down to watch. When i had cable (a long time ago) and used to watch films without any prior knowledge of them I would say it was about a 50/50 thing.
ex-Sirk 100%
97%
Nerd alert: Of the 1374 films I have ranked, 567 of them scored a 4/10 or lower, so the maths say I believe that is somewhere close to 60/40… however that is 60/40 of the films that I personally ran through a screen (a gauntlet of cross-referencing involving various critical sources), which is different than just watching everything, or arbitrary viewing.
I don’t know how to answer that without going back and looking at my notes from four different film festivals from the past 11 years. And I don’t have those notes, thanks to a hard drive crash.
But I do know that most of what I have seen of the indie / film fest realm is, at best, a 50/50 proposition.
In fact, this relatively new type of motion picture that we call “the festival film” is something I go in fear of now.
That may be because the highest tier festival (so to speak) I attended was SXSW.
Can’t speak for Toronto or that other thing out west.
I see most foreign language pictures via netflix, as opposed to a large screen, so perhaps I am not giving them their due.
But this thread did remind me of an epiphany I had two weeks ago, after seeing CASABLANCA in a theatre, and after watching SECONDS and MICHAEL CLAYTON at home. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the latter two again, and the CASABLANCA evening was a religious experience.
I concluded that I do not enjoy much more than half of new pictures these days. That ratio would probably take a dive if I watched rom coms or action pictures, or anything vampire/Potter/ Lords of rings related.
I also wonder why I bother suffering through these little film festivals.
I have seen 81 movies so far this year. Looking over my list I find that 14 of 81 titles revealed very little for me to appreciate. So I’d probably end up with an average of 80% likability. This percentage is probably skewed, though because I’ve been recently exposed to way more computer animated movies than normal.
Most.
—DiB
i’ve found that i love about 1/3rd of all movies i see and at least like a good amount of the rest.
Probably 70-80%. I have good filters, and even average films are enjoyable on some level.
Yeah, I filter a lot too. If I even remotely think it’ll be bad, then there better be a damn good reason for me to see it.
I’d say about 55%. I write reviews, so I’m a bit more picky than most people. I like to balance out the films I watch though. I like to watch films that I know I’ll enjoy, some I’m not too sure on, and others, like “Just Friends” and “Thomas and The Magic Railroad,” that I know I’ll hate. Why do I torture myself? That question will never be answered or even justified.
probably around 90%.
When I am filtering films to watch based on what I think I’ll like I usually have a pretty good success rate. Probably 80 – 90% of the films I watch I can at least say I enjoyed more than I didn’t. When I’m watching films through the Directors Cups or World Cup which some of you may have noticed I did pretty intensely for a while, I’d say the number went down. I probably enjoyed between 60 – 80% when someone else was picking the movies I’d watch even when those people were often experienced cinephiles. But I still appreciated the cups because when I did discover films I liked it seemed like more of a revelation. And also I’d at least have other people to talk about the films with.
lol @ Steve Pulaski… totally know what you mean… you gotta Tier it up, you watch a low tier, a mid tier, and a high tier… rinse repeat =D
I must be the picky one here. I do a lot of research and I also watch a lot—-about 50 movies a month pretty steadily for the past 4 years. I track everything I watch so I have some pretty good data to pull from…
If I watch 50 movies in a month, usually around 4-5 of them become favorites (so, 10%). And maybe another 10-15 at most I would say I like. The rest (60-70%) are usually pretty forgettable for me. That doesn’t mean I dislike them though… just that I’m not really moved in any way.
Take last month as a sample using a 10 point rating scale:
10/10 – 1
9/10 – 2
8/10 – 6
7/10 – 8
6/10 4
5/10 – 3
4/10 – 2
3/10 – 1
As I consider a film I give a 7 or higher to be a film I enjoy, That gives me 17/27 satisfaction record. Each month varies a little, but this seems typical.
I didn’t run the stats last year but in past years, if I see a hundred new films in theaters, I would rate 60-70 of them 3 stars or above. I think I see a lot of different kinds of films and sometimes I go into a film knowing it probably won’t be very good (but these are films I usually have to see at work. haha). But these instances are only a small minority and typically I go into a film hoping/thinking I’ll like it. And usually I do because I try to only see films in the theater that appeal to me.
I think this is an interesting thread, but it’s a bit depressing for me. I’m not sure what are the percentages of films that I enjoy, but I’m not noticing that the number of films that really excite me are getting smaller and smaller (although there are a lot of films from the “big game” directors that I haven’t seen, so that gives me hope). I see films that I mildly enjoy, but those films matter less and less to me. It’s like an addict that’s building up a tolerance for good movies. Again, this is depressing. :(
^at least you’ll always have jazz music?
Yeah. Let’s hope my enjoyment of jazz and other music doesn’t decline.
Ive also found that I almost have a collectors mentality with films. Where ill like enough from one director that even if I see one from them that I wouldn’t rate as highly, I might still rate it up there just to keep the record pure. Its a bad habit but I’m not a critic so it makes no difference. Its also very hard for me to know exactly what I would rate something until up to a month after having seen it. See how much of it ive still retained and kept with me.
And speaking filter wise I think I have a pretty good one. Though sometimes ill watch a movie that I know will be bad just for some sick low in entertainment value. Like for example when I rented jack and Jill.
I tend to dislike most of the movies I watch.
@Jazz – judging by your posts/topics/ratings that I’ve noticed – I would agree with your self-diagnosis. I don’t think I’ve ever read on these boards that you loved a film, haha.
I love everything
@Taka
Yeah, unfortunately, that’s true. On the other hand, I did really enjoy 13 Assassins and Of Gods and Men (talk about two diametrically opposed films).
If I make it through the entire movie, I probably enjoy it in at least one aspect! So, a majority.
i have an obsession with watching films that have really low ratings, so while i do spend a great deal of time watching things i do really end up liking (the “highly reccomended” stuff), i am also super interested in trash, too, so depending on my mood it can go either way
I enjoy probably a 20% of what i see, the problem is, the films that i enjoy, i really enjoy and i go obsessed with them for days, weeks, months, and sometimes, years.
why would i watch films i don’t enjoy?
life is too short. i enjoy some trashy films but i don’t force myself to watch anything. i try to give it a fair chance but if i’m bored my attention just wanders to all the good films i could be watching. so probably at least 95%
Scampi
Once again another thread made me think of this (the reasons to watch a film you think is bad), and I think the responses could be very interesting. It goes without saying that pretty much everyone here is passionate about films, but we all go about our film watching business in different ways. Speaking for myself I’ve spent the last couple of years catching up on a lot of big game – Bergman, Antonioni, Bunuel and the like. I think it’s helpful to see these films in order to be able to understand better a lot of the interesting conversations that happen here; to be able to put things in some larger framework or context. It so happens many of these big game directors’ films have become some of my favourites of all time. Of these I’d say the ratio has been in the region of 85/15. In addition I’ve been tracking down many more obscure films from every corner of the globe that I’ve heard good things about – much of that information comes from mubi, and the more knowledgable people on these boards. Looking back I’d say the ratio of these films I enjoyed to ones I didn’t care for has been about 60/40. I haven’t tried to analyse in depth why this is but the fact remains I’ve sat through hundreds of hours of film I didn’t like, and continue to do so! Maybe it’s the law of diminishing returns. Anyway, I’d be interested in hearing how your film viewing pans out, how it evolves or changes over time (mine has changed considerably over the last few years), and how what you’ve watched in the past influences what you intend to watch in the future.