What things do you look for/appreciate in a movie?

As an aspiring filmmaker (well, technically I've made two films already, but they're only 20 minute shorts--festival pieces really, and the first one was a piece of shit), I see movies in a different way than most "laymen" do and when I write now, I tend to write what I want to see in a movie which is usually very different than what the average movie watcher wants to see, so I thought it would be refreshing to ask your opinion on it (I also want to point out that I don't mean "average movie watcher" condescendingly at all, as many people on this forum are fantastically knowledgeable about movies, what I really meant was people who aren't involved with making movies, as one's perspective truly and irreversibly changes once they've learned and practiced the process of actually making a movie--which is very disadvantageous to the filmmaker as you can't go back to what it was like to just "watch" and enjoy a movie, now I study it as I watch it, and pick it apart scene by scene--it's impossible for me to get lost in the story! BAAAAH!)

So now that you know where I'm coming from, I'll explain the question further: it could be anything that draws you into a movie and makes it enjoyable to you. It could be a particular setting, a particular camera style, a particular genre, ANYTHING really as long as you find it favorable in a movie, and would choose a movie containing that characteristic over one that lacks it.

I'll start it off: First and foremost, I look for movies that showcase relationships between people and don't contain a "main character" but a cast of main characters whose lives interweave. Good examples of movies that contain this characteristic are Nashville, Magnolia, MASH, and The Royal Tenenbaums just to name a select few.

Another characteristic that I look for, and this is probably spawned mainly from academic study of film, is a Jean Renoir/François Truffaut-esque constantly moving camera. Probably the perfect example of this is Casino, followed in a close second by Boogie Nights.

Then there are the movies that I don't even really know why I like, despite countless hours of thinkin' on the subject. For instance, Igby Goes Down is one of my favorite films of all time, and doesn't really contain any of the things I usually look for in movies. It's full of frequent cuts, and contains a definite main character. I dunno, maybe it's just that it's a damn good movie despite lacking certain things that I like.

I really like films that focus on the characters and their interactions with the plot being a little bit more in the background. The Big Lebowski is a good example of this as are a lot of the Coen Brother's films.

Well, I'll give any movie a chance, but things that are visually interesting really get me. I think that movies that have really hyper colors. . or muted colors, can definately set a mood. . I don't know, I'm sort of babbling. .

Honesty: No matter how fantastic or unrealistic, the laws that are set up when creating the universe of the story need to be strictly adhered to, otherwise the audience may feel cheated.

I like to see something that I haven't seen before. As in, by the climax I want to be genuinely surprised by what happens, but not necessarily in the M. Night Shyamalan "gimmick twist" sense. Sort of like when you're watching a movie and you're expecting one thing to happen, but then something totally different happens which makes you go "yeah, that's way better than what I was thinking would happen". Example being Se7en where (spoiler alert) you kinda get in the groove of what's going on, and then the killer turns himself in. From that point the movie has totally gone off the beaten track and is no longer your standard "catch the bad guy" flick.

Probably explained badly, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that originality and unpredictability is the key for me.

There's pretty much only one thing i look for in movies: good dialog. I love movies have interesting and memorable lines, as i like to quote movies fairly often.

Other than that i think a movie can be made into a good movie by any means. Nothing is required for me to enjoy a movie, not even good dialog. As long as i like the movie, i like it. I don't specifically look for anything.