…What kind of films do I like? I replied, “Great nonfiction films or well-written dramas and big well produced action flicks or small indie films with a great directorial point of view. I also like heroic acting jobs by stars that play off character.”He then asked me what kinds of films I didn’t like and I told him I would get back to him. Here is what I wrote him. It is indeed a random list:

• I don’t like any film where amnesia plays a pivotal part of the plot.
• I don’t like any film where mistaken identity (or twins as part of the mistaken identity plot twist) lulls the hero into complacency.
• I don’t like any film where the director shows the passing of time by using newspaper headlines spinning across the screen.
• I don’t like any film that uses a character’s voiceover to move the plot along.
• I don’t like any film that shows rich, good-looking young people in California suffering angst with moody, undiscovered artist music in the background.
• I don’t like any film with a supermodel making her film debut as a leading lady.
• I don’t like any film where a director pays homage to another director who is a contemporary.
• I don’t like films based on TV shows.
• I don’t like any films with a member of the Friends TV show in it.
• I don’t like “dramadies.” You are either funny or you are serious. Make up your mind.
• I usually don’t like films starring Saturday Night Live comedians.
• I don’t like musicians who want to stretch and end up playing a role that they mime on stage in their musical act.
• I don’t like any film where the plot twist ends up using aliens or outer space creatures out of context.
• I don’t like any film where someone tries to be funny and mimics an Indian accent.
• I don’t like any film that I can’t remember or discuss one week later.
• I don’t like any film where the hero and heroine are lovers off-screen.
• I don’t like any film where the CGI is cheesy looking.
• I don’t like any films that are promoted as comeback films for a star who I didn’t even know had left.
• I don’t like films that are truly summed up by the trailer and all the best lines, jokes and scenes are in the trailer.
• I don’t like any film where the audience cheers and applauds as the opening credits roll.