How do you tell the difference between an extremely complicated movie and a...

[Gunblade]

...poorly-written one? I understand that both types of movies tend to be difficult to understand, yet people (particularly those who happen to be the deep type) are somehow able to tell the difference. In my case, for example, I find both Millennium Actress (a movie people consider to be good) and Lady in the Water (which has had mostly negative reviews) to be nearly incomprehensible in terms of what is going on and why. What has me confused is that while people look down upon Lady in the Water for its poorly-explained story, these same individuals don't have any problem with the fact that characters in Millennium Actress get physically transported from the present to the past without any explanation of how they got there.

 

[Aaron]

The main difference between a complicated and poor movie is its story line, plot, script, and well rounded characters with specific characteristics. If you can distinguish the story then it may be good but that's not necessarily true. It depends on the quality of the story. For example, if the movie is all about sex and drugs like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Pineapple Express, then I would say it is a poorly written one. If the movie has a good quality story other than that crap like Transformers, then I would call it a good quality movie. Also it depends on the Cinematography, Visual FX, sound quality, and the lighting composition.