Tuesday, January 11, 2011

.....And Stick the Landing

Note 1: This is just a thought I had that I jotted down. It's just an opinion, but this is something I noticed about things that keep me interested.

Note 2: I recently saw "The King's Speech", it is an absolutely wonderful movie, and if you haven't seen it, I reccomend it wholeheartedly. It's on my list of best movies right now.


Oftentimes, I see something that has a wonderful premise, but the execution is horrible. Other times, on the opposite side of things, I see a bad or mediocre premise and it has wonderful execution. The question is, which is more important? What happens when we (the audience) see something great fizzle or something weird... somehow blossom. However, to me, the execution can make evern the strangest thing great.
Consider a scary movie, about a clown that hunts down children, and even then strikes again when those same children were all grown up. Well, that sounds scary, but a savvy critic might know that this is the premise for the movie "It". That film is notoriously bad. The concept is great, but there are so many problems, the film just comes across as a really bad drive-in flick. Considering this movie, a good concept with bad execution can ruin a film experience. The opposite, however, is often interesting.
There are some people who take advantage of this. These men have become legends in their own right. David Lynch took odd movies, and executed them so ridiculously, he created a genre around it. There is even a page on TVtropes that is called Crazy Awesome, which is exactly what it sounds like.
Now, consider a premise of a man who goes out to kill predators and murderers as a vigilante. That happens to be the premise of two different things: Death Wish and Dexter. Death wish and its sequels both have mediocre execution, and I bet there are few people who do remember this film. On the other hand, Dexter, with the same premise has superb execution. The characters seem relatively realistic, as does most of the science. The mystery of the villain pervades the story, and the horror is honestly scary. Not only that, the show actually pulled off a twist I didn't see coming. (As a side note, I myself don't really enjoy the subject matter of the show. I find it overly graphic and the the way the show deals with intimacy creeps me out.) I watch the show, and I find myself interested. I want to know what happens next. I want to see the cops get the bad guy. Considering it's a crime show, I personally am astonished I am interested in this genre. No offense to crime shows, but they all seem the same to me.
Execution is key to any sort of project, and I applaud any sort of ability to maintain interest. One day I want to see many more things with great executions. Perhaps the next time, something can have a wonderful premise and great execution.