a movie is like a dish of food, and filmmaking is like being a cook. there are certain things that seem to make stuff taste better, and there are lots of ingredients that can make something taste different, and so there are tons of possible combinations of the basic ingredients.

for example, salt, fat, and sugar are three basic things that can make a dish of food taste better. the movie-equivalents are probably sex, violence, and comedy. adding a dash of sex and violence may spice up a movie, but add too much and it just becomes ridiculous. the best dishes seem to be the ones that can move you smoothly between different interesting, pleasurable, and new taste experiences, and the best movies seem to be the ones that can take you smoothly between different interesting, new, and emotional experiences.

Star Wars

• My thoughts:
  • the violence in the Mos Eisley bar scene comes out of nowhere; seems more realistic and very different from what most movies do
  • it takes you to a completely different universe; a big part of movies is escapism, and star wars escapes from our everyday lives more than other movies
• Alec Guiness:
  • YouTube - rare 1st interview with Sir Alec Guinness on the release of Star Wars
    • Interviewer: What's the fascination of it to you, do you think?
      
      AG: I think a marvelous healthy innocence. Great pace, wonderful to look at. Full of guts. Nothing unpleasant–I mean, people go 'bang bang' and people fall over and are dead, but, you know, no horrors, no sleazy sex (in fact, actually, no sex at all, if it comes to that). And a sort of wonderful freshness about it, like a wonderful fresh air. When I came out of the cinema I thought, "Oh lord, London's awfully sort of gritty and dirty and full of rubbish, isn't it?" Because this had all been so invigorating.
      
      Interviewer: Absolutely right, actually. One of the few movies I've come out of recently where I really felt happy and uplifted when I came out–I'd enjoyed myself, actually.
      
      AG: That's all. I mean, people are going to read too much into it, it's the simple stuff for all ages. 

One of the major restrictions on a film is the speed of human dialogue; that limits how much can happen in a film.

How does it leave you feeling after you watch it?
You could think of this as being analogous to two things with food:
1. The aftertaste (eg smoked salmon leaves a gross smoke aftertaste if I eat too much of it)
2. How the food affects you later on (eg ice cream makes me feel sad the next day)

Example: After watching The Blair Witch Project I was terrified
Example: After watching Amelie I was love-sick for a week
Example: After watching Kill Bill I couldn't remember anything that had happened and felt like I'd just eaten junk food

Lindybeige - How to tell if a film is ART

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCmrcym9Hro

Summary: if you were a film critic interviewing the director, and you asked "What is this film about?", and the only sensible answer is a summary of the plot, then that film is not art.