What makes you want to see something the most?

1. Storyline

No matter who's the actors, what's the genre; if I like the storyline, I'll dive right in; as long as the subtitle is decent and the scriptwriters are not confused. And if it's an IP adaptation, I hope it retains the original storyline and characters. If it makes a brand new story from an IP, I won't watch.

2. Actor

I do like many actors and avoid (does not equal hate) much more actors; but since 1 actor should not make that much difference, I'll usually endure it if I really like the storyline esp. if its genre is romance or if it's only under 6 hours-watch (like with micro dramas). Likewise, if I love the actors so much but dislike the storyline or overall it looks awful, I'll skip it, no doubt. If I hate the actor, I probably won't watch it.

3. Genre

I do avoid a few genres. But I don't really mind watching any genre if I like the storyline and the actors or if it's being highly appraised and being recommended by a friend. No exception. It's like curiosity; I want to know how they'll cook such plot, what makes it popular, what makes my friend like it.

4. Special Effects

I hope it looks natural, but if it's not, well... I don't really mind it that much I guess. But I hope it don't look so much out of place. I hope they at least put some efforts.

5. Director

Not paying much attention. Only know a few names. Still, won't blindly watch their works.

 Over 9000:

Thanks for the insight.

I'm curious if Directors are the most over-hyped people working in the industry? 

I remember years ago, nobody cared who the Producers were, but then their names started appearing on posters, with the line, "From the Producer of (insert whatever semi-hit here)".

Whatever helps sell, I suppose...

It will be important if they're award winning director and producer. Well, actually it's really important for some people, just not me. And people like me was the reason why the title of their previous award winning (or highest grossing) works were included. I knew some big names like Steven Spielberg or James Cameron; Zhang Yi Mou, Tsui Hark, Stephen Chow and Chen Kai Ge; Yu Zheng, Guo Jing Ming and Aof. And many actors were also becoming director and producer, sometimes both directing or producing and starring or guest starring in the drama or movie; it helped them sell.

I'm currently waiting for new director Jia Ling (from YOLO)'s upcoming movie (not yet on mdl) starring villainess Yang Zi (she was the evil cousin in YOLO, but this time she will be a real criminal). Still it's Yang Zi (the actor) that makes me want to watch it the most.

Deciding on what to watch is mostly based on whether it catches my attention through title/poster/genre/tags. I watch BLs and GLs the most and then everything else is like a side dish.

I don't read synopsis on here, unless the tags don't convince me. It's rare when this happens.

My most favorite watches are quite popular, but indeed since I watch gay and lesbian romance the most, the Romance genre is #1 for me. But it's not het romance so there's that. I like anything, I go for unusual stuff sometimes, I'm interested in art-house and things like that, once in a while.

Watching dramas and movies from all MDL countries. One day I hope to watch movies from all world's countries. So far I've been hyper-focusing only on a few countries though.

I also have a Letterboxd account I barely use.

For those who want director or an actor: is it because one or more previous films were good, or a case of, Damn, s/he's hot!  I'll watch whatever this one's in?

Gotcha.  So liking an actor can be for any reason, but being a professional and not a public spectacle, adds to that appeal.

I can definitely get behind that.

It's always a combination of things for me, without any clear hierarchy so all of these are pieces of a puzzle.

Directors - unless they're work for hire or being curtailed by demands from the corporate suits, they set the tone, maintain the vision for the piece, and make the editing choices which shape how a story is told. And that's what I care most about - the quality of the story-craft.

If it's a two hour Thai movie, I'm interested. And I'll give two hours to pretty much anything Thai with a ghost or mor lam.

Actresses - I haven't worked out why, but which women are in a title is a more reliable indicator of how well I'll get on with something than which men. Quality of acting and skill in conveying emotions matter far more to me than appearance.

Story - but not in terms of synopsis or plot or the events which happen. What I'm hoping for is that the emotions are explored well and given room to breathe and develop. Again, it's all about the quality of the story-craft - which brings us back to the people creating it.

Story in that sense is VERY important to me, but it's hard to glean from a plot outline so I look to who tells stories well or try to get a sense of it from other information.

Genre sort of maybe kind of but more of what's most likely to suit me now and absolutely not the overly limiting western marketing boxes approach to genre. Mix it up - what does this story need in this moment to develop the emotions?

SFX - if they're done well, that's a bonus. If they become a focal point in and of themselves, I'll recognise the skill and move on.