Q: How does Mr. Movie Picker choose films "worth watching"?
A: Mr. MP finds films worth watching by searching through databases of movie reviews posted by professional critics AND film goers; Internet surveys and theatre exit polls are also included. After collecting a minimum of 500 individual opinions, Mr. MP calculates an average rating for each film. Every film listed on this site has received a total average of 7 out of 10 (or equivalent: 3½ stars out of 5, or 2¾ stars out of 4, etc).
Q: Why Mr. Movie Picker?
A: This all started because my wife and I wanted to see any and all movies worth watching. I devised a system for discovering those films and the list on this site is the published result of that ongoing effort. So, if you want to see movies worth watching but haven't got the time or inclination to research overwhelming and ever-increasing bodies of information to find them, then bookmark this site and allow Mr. Movie Picker to cull through the massive database for you. Additionally, out frustration that "drama" has become a meaningless catch-all description for numerous films, Mr. MP has created his own genre definitions to help guide the viewer toward a more satisfying entertainment experience. Find more about Mr. MP's "descriptive" genres below.
Q: Are you saying the films on this site are the only ones "worth watching" in the entire history of film?
A: Of course not. The main idea behind this site is to provide a list of the newest films recommended by critics and viewers. The "Timeless" section fulfills a secondary goal by allowing the site to include a number of great older films you might have missed. However, none of the "Timeless" genre lists are meant to be definitive. In fact, in recognition of this dilemma, Mr. MP has included a page with over 60 of his favorite films which--for one reason or another--did not make it onto any of the genre lists. See them here.
Q: Presumably, "Timeless" films are older than "Recent" ones. But why are many of the films in the "Timeless" sections so new?
A: Mr. MP tries to ensure that all titles under the Recent Video heading are films that have had their first video release during the last two years.
While some of the films listed in the Timeless pages are from the 1940’s or before, the vast majority were released between two and twenty years ago. This happens because Mr. MP’s research has found that most people want to see newer films. Also, older titles are often difficult to find and there is little point in recommending an obscurity. Therefore, newer titles are generally given a higher rank than older ones. That said, Mr. MP makes every effort to include available older titles which feel as if they could have been made today (see Metropolis [1926], Gone With the Wind, and Mister Smith Goes to Washington as examples).
The ranking bias in favor of new films is most evident in the Documentary genre where the production of excellent documentaries has mushroomed over the past several years. Thus, virtually all of the documentaries recommended by Mr. MP have been released in the past decade.
Q: What’s with the new "descriptive" genres?
A: While some of the genres (Documentary, Family Friendly, Romance, Horror, Sci-fi, and Comedy) are fairly well accepted and self-explanatory, there are a few genres (Drama, Thriller, and Action) which overlap one another enough to be confusing. Mr. MP has worked to resolve this issue by inventing more specific category names:
Human Experience: Films in this genre strive for intense realism above all else. A typical Human Experience film attempts to illuminate some aspect of the human condition by examining individual behaviors during a specific period in history. That dogma disqualifies and excludes the superhuman and supernatural elements which may appear in any of the other genres.
For example: Saving Private Ryan, while more graphic than many actions or thrillers and more terrifying than many of the films in the horror genre, is above all a Human Experience story for its realistic portrayal of human reactions to WWII. Likewise, Boys Don’t Cry--though by turns funny, sexy, and horrifically scary--first and foremost attempts to very accurately depict the true-life experience of one cross-dressing teenager in Middle America.
Popcorn Rollercoaster: This one better defines "action". A Popcorn Rollercoaster is a film in which you can unplug your brain and take a fun ride. While these films may in fact contain great insight into the human condition, they promise not to make too many overt demands on their audience; that means: if you don't care to glean deep human truths from your entertainment experience, then the light touch of these films will stress you just enough to get your blood pumping and give you a good time.
Thriller: The thriller combo of drama and action makes these films more likely to induce audience queasiness and may require thought on the part of their audiences. While some overlap between this genre and others is unavoidable, the films in Mr. MP’s Thriller category are usually sharper-edged and more mysterious than Popcorn Rollercoasters, but invoke less realism than their Human Experience counterparts. Thriller audiences are invited to puzzle out the mystery presented by their complex characters and plot.
Cinematic Comfort Food: The foremost goals of the films in this category are audience pleasure and edification. These films either keep the stakes low or inject otherwise solemn subjects with a measure of entertaining wit and charm (examples: The Pursuit of Happyness and Freedom Writers). Additionally, these films promise to be free of rape, murder, torture and gratuitous violence. This is not to say that Cinematic Comfort Foods are completely angst-free (it's difficult to tell a compelling story without some conflict), but the tone applied to these films is much lighter than the heavy realism which marks many of the other genres. While many critics complain that the melodramatic nature of these films makes them sappy, there are evenings when my wife comes home from work and this is the only type of film she wants to watch. Cinematic Comfort Food is an attempt to balance these sometimes opposing views.
To go straight to a page on this site, visit Mr. Movie Picker's Site Map or use the search tool below to find a title.
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