by Patrick Tay

Created on: August 13, 2009

When it comes to assessing if a movie is a good watch, it seems that there's not much legwork for us to do since publicity covers almost everything. From entrancing movie posters to exciting movie trailers to movie reviews, it seems that we have everything we need to assess a movie even before the film reaches the theatre. However, if we were to look closely at what movies that we really want to watch, we can really see that each of us have differences preferences for the film playing on the big screen and all these publicities do not really work.

To assess if a movie is a good watch for us, we really have to look inwards rather than outwards. A great tool to use is a set of questions that each of us should ask ourselves before heading for the theatres, and they are as follows:

What type of films do I prefer? : For most of us, there are some movies that we will probably like to catch on the big screen while saving the rest to watch out for on cable and television in the near future. Our preferences in this area vary though. For instance, John might like to watch movie blockbusters for its special effects but would rather watch romantic comedies on cable. Janet, on the other hand, may have a penchant for comedies on the big screen (it's kind of fun laughing with others in the theatre) but will probably steer clear of science-fiction movies as she's not really into the galaxies and astronomical phenomenon. So, our interest in the genre of the film does play a determining role in our assessment of a good movie and this is one question that we ourselves can ask.

Who is the cast for the movie: It's undeniable that there are some prominent actors and actresses who are known for their roles in certain movies. What's marketable about this fact is that audiences have a tendency to watch movies based on the cast rather than the thematic elements of the film. Thus, the cast of the movies plays an equally important if not more important role as compared with the storyline of the movie. For instance, some might love Al Pacino in film such as The Godfather and Scar Face while others might love to see Jim Carey in comedies such as The Mask and Dumb and Dumber. Thus, one way to assess if a movie has potential for high viewership will be to have a look at your favourite actors and actresses.

Will my usual movie-outing peers be interested in this movie: While movie publicities help in promoting a film, they are mostly positive. There are

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