The first time I re-discovered the joy of watching an action movie was when I saw 'Die Hard.' It was a completely simple plot - a guy goes to meet his wife, and the building gets taken over by terrorists - but I was completely blown away. Great characters, and it moved along really fast.
Good characters the reader cares about combined with an intriguing plot. Do those two and you've got it made.
The script was just the best I'd read in a long time and I love the humor, which I wasn't expecting, and I like the fact that my six year old daughter can see the show without being, you know, protected from it.
I like movies that are scary, but I don't want them to be dirt dumb. I want a movie that gets my blood racing, makes me laugh, but also gives me something to think about, with maybe a little sexy thrown in. Hollywood doesn't make movies like that.
A performance can have amazing visuals and special effects, but it has to tell a good story, even if that story isn't original.
I don't have much of an attention span for TV - I nod off during the basketball playoffs - but when I watch 'Game of Thrones' on On Demand, I'm glued to the set. It's mystical and addictive. Tyrion Lannister, that's my man.
'Deadwood' was an incredible experience.
I care about Roger Sterling, one of the most subtle and amazing characters in dramatic history ["Mad Men"]. This guys who knows precisely who he is, yet leaves us time after time hoping desperately for him to finally grab control of his life and some responsibility for those around him.
I'm looking for a charismatic character - somebody who you just want to look at and listen to and whom the camera likes. I'm also looking for a narrative arc: Something is going to happen, and there will be a question that will make you wonder what happens at the end.
What makes us love a character is a character that tries.
There's not one part of dialogue left behind on 'Riverdale.' You have to really be on your toes when you watch it.
We want these movies to be timeless, and we want people to really engage with the characters and find something that they can really relate to and emotionally connect with.
If the characters are compelling, readers will follow anywhere.
I took the original stuff that I read as standalone [in The Flash]. I didn't have anything to refer to, so to me it was all new. It's delightfully simple, the show, but it has many moving parts. It certainly makes you pay attention.
With 'Lucha Underground,' it's really tight, and you don't need to fast-forward. Everything you're watching is important and entertaining.
I watched 'Downton Abbey' twice, and I'm thinking of watching it for a third time. It is so good!
'The Interceptor' has an excitement and grittiness to it, but it's also very entertaining. It lives in this sphere of a slightly heightened reality where, although you completely identify and recognise all the characters in it, they're fun and exciting to watch.
I like a show to unfold and keep presenting itself, surprising you.
When I do actual sequential work, I really want a story I can get a behind: a story that really holds my attention for, like, the length of what I'll be working on.
Tokyo Heist is a fast-paced, exotic reading adventure, a story where The da Vinci Code meets the wildly popular manga genre! Author Diana Renn infuses protagonist Violet with plenty of chikara (power) and Renn's fresh, spot-on author's voice is irresistible. I couldn't put it down!
Would I have watched another season of 'Breaking Bad'? Of course. Would I have watched another two seasons of 'Breaking Bad'? Of course. The fact that I would easily have watched much, much more than I got made the ending so much more poignant and stronger and better for me.
'The L-Word' was such a great show because of the amazing writing and characters, but maybe because it was such a new concept, people couldn't pick up on it, but I think it was down to the dynamic characters and how well done it was.
'Broadchurch' is very different, but it's equally as good as 'The Killing' - if not better.
I think a lot of us responded intensely to 'True Detective' because it was so incredibly earnest. That's what made it heartbreaking and involving.
Those elements that make 'Catfish' so interesting to watch, elements of deception and mystery, make any movie or any piece of content exciting to watch. It makes characters complex and interesting.
