There are many different lists of movie genres. These lists range from the traditional two-pronged comedy or tragedy from Shakespeare's time, to lists that have literally dozens of categories. We have take an approach that has attempted to separate movies into only a handful of categories that is entirely based on the primary emotion that these fictional storylines attempt to elicit. Like most classification systems, ours is not perfect, but hopefully provides a system from which most movies can be compared and contrasted. The Cinephile Club Genre List is made up of the following four categories:
* Comedy - the goal of this genre is to provide humor, usually in the process of shedding insight on common human struggles. A defining feature of comedies is a happy ending.
* Action - the goal of this genre is to prompt the fight or flight mechanism. The focus is usually on the outward actions of a strong protagonist, who faces increasingly challenging risks before a final climax brings an against-the-odds victory.
* Fear - the goal of this genre is to prompt anxiety, suspense, and fear. This fear is usually related to the unknown. Two broad sub-categories are horror and thrillers. These films are usually plotted on a path of discovery regarding the "unknown," while at the same time raising the stakes for the protagonist in each subsequent story event leading up to the climax. The climax is usually a life-threatening event for the protagonist, which is inherently tied to some kind of resolution to better understand the "unknown."
* Drama - this category tends to be the catch-all for what does not fit in the first three categories. Whereas, the first three categories go after base/raw/primal/viceral emotion, the emphasis on drama is the more sublime emotion that makes us all human. Dramas can focus on any color in the full spectrum of human emotion, and often have some kind of message or insight to convey.
