Gates of Heaven

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 7 of 15

Gates of Heaven, 1980. People talk about the pet cemetery business. Directed by Errol Morris.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 1/4 (Bad). Not that kind of movie.
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: n/a
Acting: n/a
Music: 3/4 (Good). No music, except when it's played on camera.
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). No commentary, no explanations, no hint at what Morris is thinking - just People. Although it consists of almost nothing but talk about pet cemeteries, that's not what it's about. Here's what Ebert's essay has to say about one of the film's monologues: "William Faulkner or Mark Twain would have wept with joy to have created such words as fall from her mouth, as she tells the camera the story of her life. She paints the details in quick, vivid sketches and then contradicts every single thing she says."
Objective Rating (Average): 2.9/4 (Good)

"All a Bir-r-r-d"

"All a Bir-r-r-d" (short), 1950. Sylvester and Tweety are on a train together. Directed by Friz Freleng. Written by Tedd Pierce. Starring Mel Blanc.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad). I've never understood the draw to these two.
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great). Wonderful backgrounds. Too bad there are only a few shots where you get to appreciate them.
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). There's only one funny gag in the whole cartoon - unless you think seeing a cat get punched in the face is funny.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.1/4 (Okay)

Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler

Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler, 1922. A criminal genius uses his mind-control powers to cheat at cards. Directed by Fritz Lang. Written by Lang & Thea von Harbou, based on a novel by Norbert Jacques. Starring Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Bernhard Goetzke, Aud Egede Nissen & Gertrude Welcker.

Concept: 3/4 (Good). Cops versus gangsters directed by Fritz Lang. What could possibly go wrong?
Story: 0/4 (Terrible). Wait, the criminal mastermind's great scheme is to... cheat at cards? He can control people's minds, he has a gang at his disposal, he's a master of disguise, and he uses all this to cheat at cards. And, naturally, when various unrelated people start losing at cards, the state prosecutor diverts all his attention to this important case. What the hell.
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad). The pacing of any particular scene is good, and the movie does finally start to move toward the end. Why is this 4½ hours long? Sinister raised eyebrows are fun and all, but after a few hours they do start to get tedious...
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great). With some amusing jabs at expressionism. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who isn't in love with the "great" silent German films of the early 20s.
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent). Klein-Rogge is quite good. There's a lot of ridiculous over-acting.
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). It's good for 3 or 4 (out of 12!) acts, near the end - when Mabuse finally starts fighting. But then there's the other 3½ hours of the movie. It's the kind of corny, serial-ish writing that might be fun despite itself in a 90 minute movie. Did I mention this is 4½ hours long?
Objective Rating (Average): 2.3/4 (Okay)

"Moving Illustrations of Machines"

"Moving Illustrations of Machines" (short), 2000. Bizarre, complex machinery operates. Directed by Jeremy Solterbeck.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 0/4 (Terrible). Non-existent.
Characters: n/a
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: n/a
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Fascinating and impressive.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.9/4 (Good)

"Parking"

"Parking" (short), 2003. A persistent blade of grass disturbs a parking lot. Written & directed by Bill Plympton.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: n/a
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). Not funny.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.7/4 (Eh)

"Uncle"

"Uncle" (short), 1996. Childhood recollections of the narrator's uncle. Written & directed by Adam Elliot. Starring William McInnes.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good). No music.
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Much the same as "Cousin" - only good on its own, great as part of the trilogy.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.9/4 (Good)

"Cousin"

"Cousin" (short), 1999. Childhood recollections of the narrator's cousin. Written & directed by Adam Elliot. Starring William McInnes.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good). Too short.
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good). No music.
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). As a middle chapter of the Elliot's "Uncle"/"Cousin"/"Brother" trilogy, it's great. On its own, its very nice but nothing amazing.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.0/4 (Good)

Beginners

Beginners, 2011. A man with a gay father doesn't know how to have a happy relationship. Written & directed by Mike Mills. Starring Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer & Mélanie Laurent.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 4/4 (Great). I've despised this same character (The Man Who Doesn't Know How to Love) in countless movies, and disliked all of those movies because of him. But here, I'm completely with him the entire time. They made me understand and relate to a person I've never understood before.
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good). It might be too hip for its own good. Sometimes it feels like you're watching Tumblr: The Movie.
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). That took me by surprise. I was expecting the same old tired Quirky Indie Dramedy. This has the elements of that formula, but for once something powerful and honest is built out of them.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.1/4 (Very good)

My Darling Clementine

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 6 of 15

My Darling Clementine, 1946. Wyatt Earp becomes marshal of Tombstone to find his brother's murderers. Directed by John Ford. Written by Samuel G. Engel & Winston Miller, story by Sam Hellman, based on a book by Stuart N. Lake. Starring Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell, Victor Mature & Cathy Downs.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good). It's uneven, but there are some really great lines in there.
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent). Mostly it's good bordering on great, but I was completely lost (geographically speaking) during the final shootout.
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good). Fonda has an unexpected cheerful energy which is quite nice.
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Thoroughly entertaining. It sure is a relief to finally have a good movie in this marathon; I was almost ready to give up on Ebert.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.9/4 (Good)

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

O Brother, Where Art Thou?, 2000. Chain gang fugitives have adventures. Directed by Joel Coen. Written by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen, based on an epic by Homer. Starring George Clooney, John Turturro & Tim Blake Nelson.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites, 4/4 5/4). Wonderful Coeny Coenness. I'm perplexed at how the most basic of lines manage to get a laugh out of me.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.5/4 (Very good) 3.6/4 (Great)

Spellbound

Spellbound, 1945. The new head of a mental institution is a disturbed impostor. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Written by Ben Hecht, adapted by Angus MacPhail from a novel by Frances Beeding. Starring Ingrid Bergman & Gregory Peck.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad). A respectable, exceptionally rational person suddenly, without cause, becomes an irresponsible, obsessive idiot, and we are just supposed to accept that... because she is a woman.
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad). Granted, the most ridiculously bad bits of dialog are immediately called out by another character as being ridiculous. But that does not excuse them.
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). It's badly written in a way that is quite off-putting. On the other hand, I was engaged and entertained throughout the movie.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

Body Heat

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 5 of 15

Body Heat, 1981. An affair leads to murder. Written & directed by Lawrence Kasdan. Starring William Hurt & Kathleen Turner.

Concept: 4/4 (Great). Noir! Suspense! Crime! Thrills and chills! What could possibly go wrong?
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 1/4 (Bad). It would have been fine for most 80s movies, but come on, this is supposed to be noir. I demand visual flair!
Special effects/design: 1/4 (Bad). Maybe it's unfair to take points off for 80s fashion. It's not their fault that they didn't think, for instance, that William Hurt's mustache was ridiculous. But again, this is noir. There are expectations to be met. The juxtaposition of 80s and 40s style might not have been so obvious back in 1981, but... it has not aged well.
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 0/4 (Terrible). The same complaints as the special effects/design point, but amplified a million times.
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). It's polished and crisp in place of grittiness. It's blunt and soft-core porn-y in place of wit and innuendo. There's no mystery. The plot twist supplies the bare minimum necessary for the genre. They don't even have the decency to give us a voice-over narration. And what good there is can hardly be seen through the glare of the 1980s.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.0/4 (Indifferent)

Escape from the Planet of the Apes

Escape from the Planet of the Apes, 1971. Some apes travel back in time to the Planet of the Humans. Directed by Don Taylor. Written by Paul Dehn, based on characters by Pierre Boulle. Starring Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Bradford Dillman, Natalie Trundy, Eric Braeden & Ricardo Montalban.

Concept: 3/4 (Good). As long as science has already been abandoned in the second movie, you might as well embrace it and have some ridiculous fun.
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 1/4 (Bad). I could accept a man in an anthropomorphic gorilla suit wearing clothes, wielding a gun and riding a horse. That was fine. But a straight-up man in a gorilla suit? No. That's just silly.
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). It's extremely corny, but it's also entertaining. Too bad Kim Hunter isn't the star of all five of these movies.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.2/4 (Okay)

"Brother"

"Brother" (short), 2000. Childhood recollections of the narrator's brother. Written & directed by Adam Elliot. Starring William McInnes.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent). Not that kind of movie.
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good) No music.
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites, 4/4 5/4). Absurd humor side by side with sincere autobiography, with a dry, pensive tone that makes it hard to tell which is which.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.4/4 3.5/4 (Very good)

Pickpocket

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 4 of 15

Pickpocket, 1959. An arrogant man is obsessed with pickpocketing. Written & directed by Robert Bresson. Starring Martin LaSalle, Marika Green & Jean Pélégri.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 1/4 (Bad)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). There's some great suspense in the beginning, but it very quickly deteriorates into pretentious crap. Bresson deliberately alienates the audience every chance he gets.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

Crazy, Stupid, Love

Crazy, Stupid, Love, 2011. A divorced, middle-aged man learns to pick up women. Directed by Glenn Ficarra & John Requa. Written by Dan Fogelman. Starring Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore & Emma Stone.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
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). Great cast, good writing, and an effective balancing of comedy and drama.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.9/4 (Good)

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Two

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Two (22 episodes), 1988-1989. A giant space ship flies around the galaxy, ostensibly exploring but usually running errands.

Created by Gene Roddenberry. Directed by Rob Bowman (7 episodes), Winrich Kolbe (3), Les Landau (2), Robert Scheerer (2), Joseph L. Scanlan (2), Cliff Bole (2), Robert Becker (1), Larry Shaw (1), Paul Lynch (1) & Robert Iscove (1). Written by Maurice Hurley (4 episodes), Tracy Tormé (3), Richard Manning (3), Hans Beimler (3), Melinda M. Snodgrass (3), Burton Armus (2), Robert L. McCullough (2), Jaron Summers (1), Jon Povill (1), Jack B. Sowards (1), Brian Alan Lane (1), Les Menchen (1), Lance Dickson (1), David Landsberg (1), Jacqueline Zambrano (1), John Mason (1), Mike Gray (1), Wanda M. Haight (1), Gregory Amos (1), Scott Rubenstein (1), Leonard Mlodinow (1), Steve Gerber (1), Beth Woods (1), Kurt Michael Bensmiller (1), David Assael (1), Hannah Louise Shearer (1), Thomas H. Calder (1) & David Kemper (1). Starring Patrick Stewart & Jonathan Frakes.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Better on average than the first season, but much more uneven. When it's good, it can be pretty clever. When it's bad, it can be completely awful. There are even a couple episodes in season two that are bad enough that they're not even fun to watch, which is really something coming from me.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.3/4 (Okay)

The Science of Sleep

La science des rêves, 2006. A guy that can't keep dreams straight from reality harasses his pretty neighbor. Written & directed by Michel Gondry. Starring Gael García Bernal & Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). Basically just a feature-length music video. Gondry has a wonderful visual style, but when it comes to writing, he seems to have no interest in character. Seeing as this is supposed to be a sort of love story (or is it? fuck if I can tell), giving the audience some inkling of what the characters' relationship is might have been helpful...
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

The Exterminating Angel

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 3 of 15

El ángel exterminador, 1962. Upper class dinner guests are unable to leave a room, for no apparent reason. Written & directed by Luis Buñuel.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). It was okay for the most part, up until the very end. There's a cheap gag of a coda that's frustratingly stupid and obvious. It might have been a good movie if the characters had any depth whatsoever. But that would require admitting that people are human, which is a point of view I suspect (based on this one movie) is beyond Buñuel.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.2/4 (Okay)

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 2 of 15

Angst essen Seele auf, 1974. An interracial couple is surrounded by former Nazis. Written & directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Starring Brigitte Mira & El Hedi ben Salem.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). I'm fortunate that I don't relate to this movie. I don't personally experience prejudice in my day to day life. In the film, it's just taken as a given. There's no attempt by Fassbinder to explain or understand it; it's just the way things are. Intellectually, I know that people as hateful as those in the movie are real. Even today, some of them are successful, powerful politicians. But, emotionally, I find I'm unable (or maybe unwilling) to accept it. The result is that the movie feels unbelievably over-the-top to me.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.6/4 (Good)

Floating Weeds

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 1 of 15

Ukigusa, 1959. A traveling actor returns to the town where his now-grown son lives. Directed by Yasujirô Ozu. Written by Kôgo Noda & Ozu. Starring Ganjirô Nakamura, Machiko Kyô, Ayako Wakao, Hiroshi Kawaguchi & Haruko Sugimura.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad). I would love the way its paced, if it were a more interesting movie. This story is too boring for such a patient approach.
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). This is my first Ozu film. My impression is that he's an excellent director and a godawful dull writer.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.3/4 (Okay)

The Guard

The Guard, 2011. A small town Irish cop pisses off an FBI agent during a drug smuggling investigation. Written & directed by John Michael McDonagh. Starring Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Mark Strong, Fionnula Flanagan, Liam Cunningham & David Wilmot.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). A western set in modern times, which also happens to be a hilarious comedy. Stylistically, it's very much the same as In Bruges, which was made by this director's brother. The two McDonaghs might as well be the same person. It's not as amazing as In Bruges - the plot isn't very original - but it's a wonderfully fun movie.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.4/4 (Very good)

Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids, 2011. A woman's life falls apart while her best friend plans her wedding. Directed by Paul Feig. Written by Kristen Wiig & Annie Mumolo. Starring Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Chris O'Dowd & Melissa McCarthy.

Concept: 0/4 (Terrible)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
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). Well, that was completely different than what I expected. Yes, there are lots of dick jokes and a lengthy vomiting scene, but it's not really that kind of movie. If you took all the jokes out, you would still have a perfectly good (if significantly shorter and less entertaining) drama. I guess all the comparisons critics made to The Hangover just meant "this is also an R-rated movie that is funny" - because that is all they have in common.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.9/4 (Good)

VSM: Ebert's Great Movies, part 2

(Picking up from the 1st Ebert's Great Movies Marathon)

I've decided to expedite my Ebert's Great Movies watching by limiting it to just the titles I haven't seen, or haven't seen recently. Also being skipped are the titles that aren't available from Netflix. (E.T. is one of those. The hell?) So: of what's left, from the contents of the first book, sorted according to the articles' dates on his website, here are the next 15 Great Movies.

Very Slow Marathon #8 – The 2nd Ebert's Great Movies Marathon
[note: You can find this list from the sidebar, under "Very Slow Marathons."]

1. Floating Weeds, 1959
2. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, 1974
3. The Exterminating Angel, 1962
4. Pickpocket, 1959
5. Body Heat, 1981
6. My Darling Clementine, 1946
7. Gates of Heaven, 1978
8. The Lady Eve, 1941
9. Days of Heaven, 1978
10. A Woman Under the Influence, 1974
11. Written on the Wind, 1956
12. Woman in the Dunes, 1964
13. Swing Time, 1936
14. Red River, 1948
15. Pandora's Box, 1928

Time After Time

from my 1970s Science Fiction Marathon, part 12 of 12

Time After Time, 1979. H.G. Wells chases Jack the Ripper to 1979. Written & directed by Nicholas Meyer. Story by Steve Hayes, based on a novel by Karl Alexander. Starring Malcolm McDowell, David Warner & Mary Steenburgen.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good). Very good design, bad effects.
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). If only it had been the chess game that the movie's own recurring metaphor wants to believe it is. In the few parts where it lets itself be the suspenseful thriller it should be, it's quite good. But for the most part, it's an implausible, tedious love story. Hard to believe this was written by the same guy behind the best Star Trek movies.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.5/4 (Okay)

And that's the end of another Very Slow Marathon. But did we win the marathon? That is what everyone wants to know, right? Well, the movies were, on average, pretty damn mediocre. Subjective ratings: 5.4/10; Objective ratings: 2.2/4. It's ever so slightly on the positive side of the scale, though, so yes. We win. But it was close.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

from my 1970s Science Fiction Marathon, part 11 of 12

Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1978. Plants from space are replacing people. Directed by Philip Kaufman. Written by W.D. Richter, based on a novel by Jack Finney. Starring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright & Leonard Nimoy.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent). And now... we will run away for 45 minutes.
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good). Great effects, bad design.
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). I guess they couldn't think of an ending (even though the ending is one of the few great things about the book); instead it just turns into a zombie movie. Still good, though. Plenty scary, with an entertaining cast.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.6/4 (Good)

Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice, 1988. A ghost couple is bad at haunting. Directed by Tim Burton. Written by Michael McDowell & Warren Skaaren, story by McDowell & Larry Wilson. Starring Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton, Catherine O'Hara, Jeffrey Jones & Winona Ryder.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). The delightful weirdness is at odds with the misguidedly Hollywood-ized plot, but Burton forces the weirdness to the top.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.5/4 (Okay)