What’s your ‘give it a go’ film?

I’ve said before how I really expected to dislike The Grand Budapest Hotel, but ended up enjoying it much more than I thought I would.

Of course, it’s fine to like what you like, and nobody should be forced to watch something they’re not interested in. I just don’t see any reason not to give something new a try every now and again, especially if by doing so you find yourself falling down a fascinating filmic rabbit hole to discover cinematic treasures you’d never heard of.

Pretty straightforward question for this Quick Read, then – if someone says to you they’re not a fan of your favourite genre but they’re willing to try something new, what do you recommend?

Comic book movies in particular are something people can get quite snobby about – “I’m just not interested in superheroes”, is the usual refrain.

Now obviously, that’s fair enough. Capes and tights aren’t everyone’s thing, but that’s not all there is to comic books, right?

Some people who say they’d never watch a comic book movie might’ve seen and enjoyed Road To Perdition, Ghost World or American Splendor and may not have realised they’re based on comics.

(Well, alright – not many people watched American Splendor without being aware of its origins, but you get my point)

I’ve spoken to people who say they hate Westerns. Again, fair enough, but it’s always worth asking what they’re basing that feeling on – if it’s dusty old B-movies they watched in a grandparent’s dusty old living room as children… well, that actually sounds kinda nice.

But for every forgettable, throwaway cowboy yarn there’s always something more recent that manages to be exciting and wears its influences on its sleeve – an Open Range, Unforgiven or The Quick And The Dead, for example – which might encourage viewers to look back at the heavyweights of the genre.

Obviously, if we all liked the same thing life would be very boring, so there’s nothing wrong with giving a genre a wide berth if you’ve experimented and decided it’s not for you – but it’s entirely possible you’re ruling out experiencing some great movies simply because you’ve seen a bad one in the past.

I dunno, but I reckon Sci-Fi, Horror and foreign-language films are probably among the genres most people assume might not be for them, but I’d love to hear your ‘give it a go’ films, whatever the genre. Get on Twitter, Facebook or take to the comments section and let me know!

UPDATE: As always, there’s been a really nice response to this Quick Read, and you can see readers’ suggestions here.