Faust

Data
Title: Faust - Eine deutsche Volkssage
Year: 1926
Length: 116 minutes
Director: F.W. Murnau
Writers: Gerhart Hauptmann & Hans Kyser (titles), based on a play by Johann Wolfgang Goethe
Starring: Gösta Ekman, Emil Jannings
With: Camilla Horn, Frida Richard, William Dieterle, Yvette Guilbert, Eric Barclay, Hanna Ralph, Werner Fuetterer
Music: ? (no credit)
Cinematography: Carl Hoffmann
I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Synopsis: a summoned demon tries to destroy a man's goodness

My reaction
Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent). Usually amusing, rarely good.
Music: 3/4 (Good). It bothers me to not know what it was -weather it's the original score or not. Netflix claims to have the Kino version of this movie, but instead we were sent some bargain bin edition - which by sheer luck happened to be uncut and have a good, synchronized score.
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). It's very cool in the beginning. After the point where Faust turns young (and the demon inexplicably turns into a fop), I got bored.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.7/4 (Good)

All the President's Men

Data
Title: All the President's Men
Year: 1976
Length: 138 minutes
Director: Alan J. Pakula
Writer: William Goldman, based on a book by Carl Bernstein & Bob Woodward
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford
With: Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, Hal Holbrook, Jason Robards, Jane Alexander
Music: David Shire
Cinematography: Gordon Willis
Editing: Robert L. Wolfe
Oscars: won for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Robards), Best Art Direction/Set Decoration and Best Sound; nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Alexander) and Best Editing
I saw it: on video, yesterday (have on DVD)
Synopsis: journalists investigate the Watergate break-in

My reaction
Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 3/4 (Good). Would have been great, but it's missing the last act; it suddenly stops right when it's just getting particularly intense, with a headline montage as the only resolution to the story.
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Apart from the problem I had with the story, everything is flawless. Nothing ever manages to jump out and make me love it, but it's flawless.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.0/4 (Good)

Doctor Who #133: Frontios

Data
Title: Doctor Who: "Frontios"
Year: 1984
Network: BBC
Episodes: 4, at 25 minutes each; the third story (of seven) from season twenty-one
Creators: Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber, Donald Wilson
Director: Ron Jones
Writer: Christopher H. Bidmead
Starring: Peter Davison
With: Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson, Peter Gilmore, Lesley Dunlop, William Lucas, Jeff Rawle, Maurice O'Connell, John Gillett
Music: Ron Grainer (theme); Paddy Kingsland
I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), a couple days ago
Synopsis: a space colony is harassed by underground creatures

My reaction
Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 1/4 (Bad)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). For most of the story, it's just run-of-the-mill, unoriginal mediocrity. Then somewhere in the last episode, it turns to nonsense.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.5/4 (Eh)

Attack the Block

Data
Title: Attack the Block
Year: 2011
Length: 88 minutes
Director: Joe Cornish
Writer: Joe Cornish
Starring: John Boyega
With: Jodie Whittaker, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Leeon Jones, Simon Howard, Luke Treadaway, Jumayn Hunter, Nick Frost, Danielle Vitalis, Paige Meade, Michael Ajao, Sammy Williams
Music: Steven Price
Cinematography: Thomas Townend
Editing: Jonathan Amos
I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Synopsis: London teenagers pick a fight with space monsters

My reaction
Concept: 4/4 (Great). Yes, yes, yes!
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). Non-stop fun. Also hip, and nice to look at. And so much fun.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.1/4 (Very good)

A Hard Day's Night

from my 1st Ebert’s Great Movies Marathon, part 4 of 13



Data
Title: A Hard Day's Night
Year: 1964
Length: 87 minutes
Director: Richard Lester
Writer: Alun Owen
Starring: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr
With: Wilfrid Brambell, Norman Rossington, John Junkin, Victor Spinetti
Music: John Lennon & Paul McCartney (songs); George Martin (musical director)
Cinematography: Gilbert Taylor
Editing: John Jympson
Oscars: nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Score
I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), a few days ago
Synopsis: a day in the life of the Beatles

My reaction
Concept: 1/4 (Bad). Never has my love for a band made me think, "Gee, this music's fine, but why aren't they starring in their own movies?"
Story: 1/4 (Bad). No story. It would have been difficult to come up with a story that works at all, though, so it's probably best that there's no story.
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great). There's a remarkable amount of texture in the photography. Thanks to that and the faux-documentary style, no matter how dumb the movie gets, there's always something interesting to look at.
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great). It's very easy to overlook this aspect, having grown up long after this movie's time. Everything is so damn iconic that I couldn't help taking it all for granted while I was watching it.
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). A Marx Brothers movie, minus the wit (not that there's no wit - just relative to a Marx Brothers movie), crossed with a concert film, shot like an art film. I was only vaguely entertained while watching it, but after some reflection, there really is a lot to appreciate about it.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.7/4 (Good)

The Dark Crystal

Data
Title: The Dark Crystal
Year: 1982
Length: 93 minutes
Directors: Jim Henson & Frank Oz
Writer: David Odell; story by Jim Henson
Starring: Jim Henson (performer); Stephen Garlick (voice)
With: Kathryn Mullen, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz (performers); Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, Barry Dennen (voices)
Music: Trevor Jones
Cinematography: Oswald Morris
Editing: Ralph Kemplen
I saw it: on video many times, most recently yesterday (have on DVD)
Synopsis: an orphan is sent on a quest to save the world from creepy-ass bird monsters

My reaction
Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent). "And now I will explain to you what is going on in this scene, because people clearly do not get this stuff."
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great). Um... yeah.
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 10/10 (Favorite of my favorites, 4/4 5/4). How did this ever get made? Here's a tip: when releasing a groud-breaking film with the potential to transform cinema, don't open it opposite fucking E.T.. Just sayin', might make you look bad.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.3/4 3.4/4 (Very good)

Star Trek: "Once Upon a Planet"

Data
Title: Star Trek [The Animated Series]: "Once Upon a Planet"
Year: 1973
Network: NBC
Episode: the ninth (of sixteen) from season one; 24 minutes
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Director: Hal Sutherland
Writers: Chuck Menville & Len Janson
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley
With: James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Majel Barrett
Music: Alexander Courage (theme); Ray Ellis, Norm Prescott
I saw it: on video a couple times, most recently yesterday (have on DVD)
Synopsis: a computer has taken over the "Shore Leave" planet

My reaction
Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 0/4 (Terrible). "I will destroy you all." "We'd rather you didn't." "Oh, okay, that sounds good, too."
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 1/4 (Bad)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). I didn't care for the original, but at least the original was... original. This story is such crap. The writers don't even seem to be trying.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.8/4 (Eh)

Star Trek: "The Magicks of Megas-Tu"

Data
Title: Star Trek [The Animated Series]: "The Magicks of Megas-Tu"
Year: 1973
Network: NBC
Episode: the eighth (of sixteen) from season one; 24 minutes
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Director: Hal Sutherland
Writer: Larry Brody
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley
With: George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan, Ed Bishop
Music: Alexander Courage (theme); Ray Ellis, Norm Prescott
I saw it: on video a couple times, most recently yesterday (have on DVD)
Synopsis: at the center of the galaxy, magic is real

My reaction
Concept: 0/4 (Terrible). Now everybody has god-like powers!
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). And this is the crap you get when you hand Star Trek over to a "television writer." I had thought that the A-list sci-fi writers that kicked off this series meant they'd learned their lesson. Guess not.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.8/4 (Eh)

The Emperor's New Groove

Data
Title: The Emperor's New Groove
Year: 2000
Length: 78 minutes
Director: Mark Dindal
Writer: David Reynolds; story by Chris Williams, Mark Dindal, Roger Allers & Matthew Jacobs, with Stephen J. Anderson, Don Hall & John Norton
Starring: David Spade, John Goodman
With: Eartha Kitt, Patrick Warburton, Wendie Malick, Kellyann Kelso, Stephen J. Anderson, Eli Russell Linnetz
Music: John Debney (score); Sting & David Hartley (songs)
Cinematography: Thomas Baker
Editing: Tom Finan, Pam Ziegenhagen
Oscars: nominated for Best Song ("My Funny Friend and Me")
I saw it: in the theater, 2000; on video many times, most recently a couple days ago (have on DVD)
Synopsis: a selfish emperor is turned into a llama

My reaction
Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Not exactly deep, but it's hilarious. Every time I watch it I'm surprised to find it doesn't get old.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.9/4 (Good)

Star Trek: "The Infinite Vulcan"

Data
Title: Star Trek [The Animated Series]: "The Infinite Vulcan"
Year: 1973
Network: NBC
Episode: the seventh (of sixteen) from season one; 24 minutes
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Director: Hal Sutherland
Writer: Walter Koenig
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley
With: George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan
Music: Alexander Courage (theme); Ray Ellis, Norm Prescott
I saw it: on video a couple times, most recently a couple days ago (have on DVD)
Synopsis: plant people kidnap Spock

My reaction
Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 0/4 (Terrible)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). It's almost as if they took a cast member with zero writing experience or ability and let him write an episode... Oh, wait, that's exactly what it is. It would be terrible, but it's nice to look at and too fast too get boring.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.0/4 (Indifferent)

Moneyball

Data
Title: Moneyball
Year: 2011
Length: 133 minutes
Director: Bennett Miller
Writers: Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin, story by Stan Chervin, based on a book by Michael Lewis
Starring: Brad Pitt
With: Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt, Stephen Bishop, Brent Jennings, Ken Medlock, Kerris Dorsey
Music: Mychael Danna
Cinematography: Wally Pfister
Editing: Christopher Tellefsen
I saw it: in the theater, a couple days ago
Synopsis: a pro baseball team is put together using statistics

My reaction
Concept: 1/4 (Bad). Even if I liked baseball, I couldn't imagine caring at all about this stuff.
Story: 1/4 (Bad). If you've ever seen any movie that's based on a true story, you already know this movie's entire plot.
Characters: 1/4 (Bad). Cliches - and boring cliches. The only entertaining character mysteriously disappears early in the movie.
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good). I guess it's flawless, but there's no room in the script for anything impressive. The characters just aren't real enough for it.
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). Perfectly harmless. Never unpleasant. Pointless.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.1/4 (Okay)

Two for the Road

Audrey Hepburn Marathon, part 10 of 13

Data
Title: Two for the Road
Year: 1967
Length: 111 minutes
Director: Stanley Donen
Writer: Frederic Raphael
Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Albert Finney
With: Eleanor Bron, William Daniels, Gabrielle Middleton, Claude Dauphin, Nadia Gray, Georges Descrières, Jacqueline Bisset, Judy Cornwell, Irène Hilda, Dominique Joos
Music: Henry Mancini
Cinematography: Christopher Challis
Editing: Madeleine Gug, Richard Marden
Oscars: nominated for Best Original Screenplay
I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), a few days ago
Synopsis: Albert Finney slowly crushes the joy from Audrey Hepburn

My reaction
Concept: 0/4 (Terrible). The concept is basically, "someone who can't direct tries to make a Fellini film." No thanks.
Story: 1/4 (Bad). Not meant to have a story, but what little bit of plot there is is bad.
Characters: 0/4 (Terrible). Such awful people. I'll bet Nora Ephron loves this movie.
Dialog: 3/4 (Good).
Pacing: 0/4 (Terrible). It's nice that they tried to do something new. But, sorry guys, when you throw out narrative structure, you have to replace it with something. You can't just throw some scenes together like it doesn't matter. Also: boring.
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent). Audrey's very good. Finney is terrible.
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 3/10 (Bad, 1/4). Cynical, miserable, pretentious garbage. There are a few bits with humor that are amusing, but they're few. Donen's directing is at its most awkward (which is really saying something), and Finney does what he can to make you despise every second his character is on screen.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.4/4 (Bad)

Doctor Who: Series Six, Part One

Data
Title: Doctor Who: Series Six, Part One
Year: 2011
Network: BBC
Episodes: 7, at about 45 minutes each
Creators: Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber, Donald Wilson
Directors: Toby Haynes (2 episodes), Julian Simpson (2), Richard Clark (1), Peter Hoar (1), Jeremy Webb (1)
Writers: Steven Moffat (3 episodes), Matthew Graham (2), Neil Gaiman (1), Steve Thompson (1)
Starring: Matt Smith
With: Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Alex Kingston, Frances Barber, Hugh Bonneville, Raquel Cassidy, Suranne Jones, Mark Sheppard, Sarah Smart
Music: Murray Gold
Cinematography: Stephan Pehrsson, Balazs Bolygo, Dale McCready, Owen McPolin
Editing: Jamie Pearson, Tim Porter, Úna Ní Dhonghaíle, Peter Oliver, Simon Reglar
I saw it: on video, over the past couple weeks (have on DVD)
Synopsis: an alien travels through space and time with a human couple expecting a time-baby

My reaction
Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent). What was wrong with adventures? I liked when they went on adventures. Not happy to see the show turning into Lost.
Story: 1/4 (Bad). The Neil Gaiman episode is excellent. The pirate episode is crap. Otherwise, the rest of the episodes are pretty much all part of one big story, and not a very good one. There are so many unanswered questions set up in the beginning that I don't even know what hasn't been resolved yet. And I don't care. They mean to be creating suspense, but instead they're just ensuring that none of the stories have effective conclusions.
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent). The only development going on is with River Song. Does anybody actually like River Song? I mean, other than Moffat, who is clearly obsessed with her.
Dialog: 4/4 (Great). At least when the stories get bad, I can tune out the plot and enjoy the banter (when the music's not too loud to drown it out).
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad). This season is on crack a little. Kind of like we're watching it in fast forward. Which makes the "emotional" parts hilarious.
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great). Reasonably good special effects. Not much designing to speak of compared with previous seasons (only one new alien), although what there is is excellent - the sets in particular.
Acting: 3/4 (Good). It is hard to judge this when you're watching a show in fast forward.
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Meh. Matt Smith's Doctor is turning out to be a lot of fun. But there sure is a lot wrong with this season so far. Still good, though, thanks mostly to Neil Gaiman for sticking something great into the middle of this mess.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.3/4 (Okay)

Star Trek: "The Survivor"

Data
Title: Star Trek [The Animated Series]: "The Survivor"
Year: 1973
Network: NBC
Episodes: the sixth (of sixteen) from season one; 24 minutes
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Director: Hal Sutherland
Writer: James Schmerer
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley
With: George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Majel Barrett, James Doohan, Ted Knight
Music: Alexander Courage (theme); Ray Ellis, Norm Prescott
I saw it: on video a couple times, most recently a couple days ago (have on DVD)
Synopsis: shape-shifting floaty squidy thing

My reaction
Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 1/4 (Bad)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). It completely misses out on the psychological thriller elements that you'd expect from a story about a shape-shifter (and that the original series did quite well with in a very similar episode). On the other hand, it's a space squid with the voice of Ted Baxter. Space squid!
Objective Rating (Average): 2.6/4 (Good)

Star Trek: "More Tribbles, More Troubles"

Data
Title: Star Trek [The Animated Series]: "More Tribbles, More Troubles"
Year: 1973
Network: NBC
Episode: the fifth (of sixteen) from season one; 24 minutes
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Director: Hal Sutherland
Writer: David Gerrold
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley
With: George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan, Stanley Adams, David Gerrold
Music: Alexander Courage (theme); Ray Ellis, Norm Prescott
I saw it: on video a couple times, most recently a couple days ago (have on DVD)
Synopsis: Klingons attack in pursuit of the tribble merchant

My reaction
Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). The space battle bits are nice. The tribble bits are a sad imitation of the original tribble episode.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.6/4 (Good)

Star Trek: "The Lorelei Signal"

Data
Title: Star Trek [The Animated Series]: "The Lorelei Signal"
Year: 1973
Network: NBC
Episode: the fourth (of sixteen) from season one; 24 minutes
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Director: Hal Sutherland
Writer: Margaret Armen
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley
With: Nichelle Nichols, Majel Barrett, James Doohan
Music: Alexander Courage (theme); Ray Ellis, Norm Prescott
I saw it: on video a couple times, most recently yesterday (have on DVD)
Synopsis: alien mind powers only work on men

My reaction
Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 1/4 (Bad). Not so much bad acting, just awful casting - two people who are decidedly not voice actors doing half the voices in the show.
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). The "science" is ridiculous, and the plot is almost non-existent. But it's nice to have Uhura do something for a change. And there's a bit where Scotty sings which is hilarious.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.2/4 (Okay)

The Wolf Man

Data
Title: The Wolf Man
Year: 1941
Length: 70 minutes
Director: George Waggner
Writer: Curt Siodmak
Starring: Lon Chaney Jr.
With: Claude Rains, Ralph Bellamy, Warren William, Patric Knowles, Bela Lugosi, Maria Ouspenskaya, Evelyn Ankers, Fay Helm, J.M. Kerrigan, Forrester Harvey
Music: Charles Previn, Hans J. Salter, Frank Skinner
Cinematography: Joseph A. Valentine
Editing: Ted J. Kent
I saw it: in the theater, a few days ago
Synopsis: a man becomes a werewolf

My reaction
Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent). The basic plot is good, but it's very badly written.
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 0/4 (Terrible). "That guy's got a bad haircut! Shoot him!" It would be nice monster makeup - if it were for a different movie. Why would they even put a guy in makeup in this story? Did they not read the script before making that decision?
Acting: 1/4 (Bad). Rains is good of course, and so is Lugosi's cameo. Chaney's pretty awful. Also: holy casting catastrophe. What must Mrs. Talbot have looked like?
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). A lot of potential, and zero craftsmanship. I wasn't expecting Frankenstein levels of quality, but I thought it would at least be competently made. No. Garbage.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.6/4 (Eh)

Doctor Who #25: The Gunfighters

Data

Title: Doctor Who: "The Gunfighters"
Year: 1966
Network: BBC
Episodes: 4, at 25 minutes each; the eighth story (of ten) from season three
Creators: Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber, Donald Wilson
Director: Rex Tucker
Writer: Donald Cotton
Starring: William Hartnell
With: Peter Purves, Jackie Lane, Richard Beale, David Cole, David Graham, Anthony Jacobs, William Hurndell, Laurence Payne, Sheena Marshe, Reed De Rouen, Maurice Good, Shane Rimmer, John Alderson, Martyn Huntley, Victor Carin
Music: Ron Grainer (theme); Tristram Cary
I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), a few days ago
Synopsis: The Doctor is mistaken for Doc Holiday

My reaction
Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 1/4 (Bad)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 0/4 (Terrible). Oh my god the accents. Even the British characters use horrible "American" accents.
Music: 0/4 (Terrible). A serious contender for The Worst Use Of Music Ever.
Subjective Rating: 3/10 (Bad, 1/4). It could have been good. The script is unremarkable but a perfectly okay Western, and it doesn't take much to make something fun out of a perfectly okay Western script. Add to it the novelty of putting The Doctor in the old west, and you've got a lot of potential. Unfortunately, just about everything is done as horribly as humanly possible.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.3/4 (Bad)

Star Trek: "One of Our Planets Is Missing"

Data
Title: Star Trek [The Animated Series]: “One of Our Planets Is Missing”
Year: 1973
Network: NBC
Episode: the third (of sixteen) from season one; 24 minutes
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Director: Hal Sutherland
Writer: Marc Daniels
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley
With: George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Majel Barrett, James Doohan
Music: Alexander Courage (theme); Ray Ellis, Norm Prescott
I saw it: on video a couple times, most recently a few days ago (have on DVD)
Synopsis: a space cloud eats planets

My reaction
Concept:
Story:
Characters:
Dialog: It's ironic, the dialog in the cartoon is so much more natural and believable and all-around grownup than it became toward the end of the original series. There's this nice bit where Kirk gets Bones' advice on whether or not to let a doomed planet know it's doomed; it feels like they're actually the characters they're meant to be, instead of some sort of childish cowboy/Flash Gordon hybrids.
Pacing:
Cinematography:
Special effects/design:
Acting:
Music:
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, ). The title is "One of Our Planets Is Missing." That's all I have to say about that.
Objective Rating (Average):

eta: The writer, Marc Daniels, directed a lot of the better episodes of the original series, including "The Doomsday Machine" (written by Norman Spinrad), which this episode rips off. Shameless. But I've always complained that if they're going to rip off earlier episodes, why don't they rip off the good ones? Giant Space Monster, Devourer of Worlds - none of that Little Timmy Gets Magic bullshit.

Star Trek: "Yesteryear"

Data
Title: Star Trek [The Animated Series]: “Yesteryear”
Year: 1973
Network: NBC
Episode: the second (of sixteen) from season one; 24 minutes
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Director: Hal Sutherland
Writer: D.C. Fontana
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley
With: Majel Barrett, James Doohan, Mark Lenard, Billy Simpson, Keith Sutherland
Music: Alexander Courage (theme); Ray Ellis, Norm Prescott
I saw it: on video a couple times, most recently a few days ago (have on DVD)
Synopsis: Time Travelin' Spock helps his younger self

My reaction
Concept: It answers that burning question, "If they've discovered half a dozen means of time travel throughout the original series, why aren't they time traveling more often?" The answer: "What? They time travel all the time. It ain't no thing."
Story: So timey-wimey.
Characters:
Dialog:
Pacing:
Cinematography:
Special effects/design:
Acting:
Music:
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, ). Baby Spock is annoying, but if you can get past the ridiculousness of the setup, it's a novel story.
Objective Rating (Average):

Star Trek: "Beyond the Farthest Star"

Data
Title: Star Trek [The Animated Series]: “Beyond the Farthest Star”
Year: 1973
Network: NBC
Episode: the first (of sixteen) from season one; 24 minutes
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Director: Hal Sutherland
Writer: Samuel A. Peeples
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley
With: George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan
Music: Alexander Courage (theme); Ray Ellis, Norm Prescott
I saw it: on video a couple times, most recently a few days ago (have on DVD)
Synopsis: an ancient spaceship is orbiting a dead star

My reaction
Concept:
Story:
Characters: No time for characters - too much awesome science fiction.
Dialog: Most of this episode consists of discussion of astrophysics. Kids love that shit.
Pacing: Way too fast. On the other hand, the half hour time slot leaves no room for Kirk to even think about getting his romantic subplot on; dude's forced to captain a starship for a change.
Cinematography:
Special effects/design: Yeah, the animation of people - or anything else that moves, really - is awful. But other than that, it is a beautiful, beautiful show.
Acting:
Music:
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites, ). I guess four years of not making Star Trek gave them a chance to figure out what people liked about the show. This takes everything good about it, throws out the garbage, and adds in the wonderful bonus of not having to worry about a special effects budget.
Objective Rating (Average):