New movie rule: The Rule of Three

I think I must have some unacknowledged rules about the kinds of movies I see or don't see, and the kinds of movies I like or don't like. I've been trying to make these more explicit. For example, in the past year I've enacted a Rule Against Movies in which Dogs Die--I just won't see them, no matter the artistic merit of the movie.

I've decided I'm going to try out a new rule that I will call the Rule of Three, in which I can officially declare my love for a director if I love three of his or her movies (this new rule may apply to actors too, I haven't come to that yet). Anyway, this new rule is on occasion of my viewing of Children of Men last night, which was incredible and, along with Y tu mamá también and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, allows me to say that I love Alfonso Cuarón as a director. I remember reading reviews of Azkaban and coming across the description of the magical world in it as "organic," in the sense that magical London and Hogwarts weren't treated as fantastical amusement parks but as part of an actual, functioning (if alternate and magic-using) world. I would describe the London in Children of Men as organic in that same way, which I would not have expected from a movie that takes place in a dystopian version of the future. There were also a lot of little details in this world that I appreciated, in the same way as Azkaban, though I'll probably have to watch it again just to catch them all. There were also a lot of moments that reminded me of Y tu mamá though--I'm sure there's a technical term for what I'm thinking of, but I'm not a big movie buff, so I'll just call it the movie's perspective. The camera would linger moments which would be on the periphery of what the main actor in the scene was doing, but give a better sense of what was happening in the broader sense (probably contributing to the organic feel of the movie's world). Also, there were scenes which I could easily see another director shooting in a more straight-forward way, but in this movie, they might be seen from a distance or the beat might be different; it made me really appreciate what a good director brings to a movie. Also, I don't really keep track of the innovations of directors, but even I could appreciate the incredible single-shot sequences in this movie. Anyway, I may have to watch it again.

I'm trying to think of other directors who meet my Rule of Three, but the only one I can come up with Ang Lee (Eat, Drink, Man, Woman; Sense and Sensibility; Brokeback Mountain). Sometimes I can come up with two movies I really liked, or one movie I really loved, but coming up with three is hard, so I guess this is a good rule.