Man with a Movie Camera

Chelovek s kino-apparatom, 1929. Images of the Soviet Union, shot by an anonymous but ever-present camera man. Directed by Dziga Vertov.

Concept: 4/4 (Great). I'm not convinced that Vertov succeeded in what he set out to do - but if his ideas had caught on with other filmmakers, I might feel differently about that.
Story: 0/4 (Terrible). If ever a movie could warrant a "n/a" in the story category, this would be it. I just can't bring myself to do it.
Characters: n/a
Dialog: n/a
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent). Most shots only last a couple seconds, which would be normal. But in this case, where the lack of narrative context means you don't know what you're going to be looking at until after you've seen it, that speed means you never have a chance to blink without missing something. It's actually a physical challenge to watch this movie.
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: n/a
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent). The Alloy Orchestra score overwhelms the film (arguably a good thing - it gives you something easy to follow), and isn't particularly good music besides.
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). It does something. I don't know what it does, but simply recognizing that something's happening is pretty interesting. It's hard to judge after only watching it once. I'm really in no hurry to watch it again, though.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.3/4 (Okay)

"A Trip to the Moon"

"Le voyage dans la lune" (short), 1902. Some astronomers go to the moon via cannon. Written & directed by Georges Méliès.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent). The version I watched has explanatory narration, which is extremely useful, if not particularly artful.
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). I expected this to just be An Important Film, but was surprised to find that it's also fun to watch. Very whimsical.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

Battleship Potemkin

Bronenosets Potyomkin, 1925. A battleship crew is driven to mutiny and joins the Russian revolution. Directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein. Written by Nina Agadzhanova, with Nikolai Aseyev & Sergei Tretyakov.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 0/4 (Terrible)
Dialog: 0/4 (Terrible)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 3/10 (Bad, 1/4). I hate when movies want to make points instead of tell stories, so I'm never going to like a propaganda film. But even putting that aside, I still think this is extremely over-rated. There are no characters that survive the beginning of the movie. The story is insultingly simple-minded. And even the iconic massacre scene is so ridiculously over-the-top that it plays more as comedy than horror. "My baby! Won't somebody save my baby!"
Objective Rating (Average): 1.8/4 (Eh)

Barton Fink

Barton Fink, 1991. A pretentious Broadway playwright is in over his head in Hollywood. Directed by Joel Coen. Written by Joel & Ethan Coen. Starring John Turturro & John Goodman.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 3/4 (Good). I wouldn't have minded if it had an ending... Otherwise, great.
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Lots of fun, but a far cry from the Coens' best. Then again, looking at how high I'm scoring it, maybe not.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.6/4 (Great)

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games, 2012. A dystopian government forces teenagers to fight to the death on TV. Directed by Gary Ross. Written by Ross, Suzanne Collins & Billy Ray, based on a book by Collins. Starring Jennifer Lawrence & Josh Hutcherson.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 4/4 (Great)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 1/4 (Bad). Shakey shakey shake.
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good). Pretty great for the most part, but with some glaring exceptions.
Acting: 3/4 (Good). Woody Harrelson is wasted. Liam Hemsworth is unintentionally hilarious (clearly someone in the casting department thought they were making "the next Twilight"). Lawrence is good of course, but in terms of acting opportunity, this script is no Winter's Bone.
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent). They could have done so much with the music, and did almost nothing.
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). I didn't love it, but they did a pretty good job. It's a damn hard book to adapt; a strictly faithful film would be at least three hours long and R-rated. Rather than rushing and forcing everything into the movie Harry Potter style, they chose their priorities and just did what they had time for. What made the cut is plot, a few nice science fiction ideas, and overarching themes of the series. What did not make the cut are most of the character relationships, and any of the trauma. But that's okay; there'll be plenty of time for character development in part 2, and for trauma in part 3.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.9/4 (Good)

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, 1972. An intelligent ape leads a revolution. Directed by J. Lee Thompson. Written by Paul Dehn, based on characters by Pierre Boulle (but not really). Starring Roddy McDowall, Don Murray, Hari Rhodes & Ricardo Montalban.

Concept: 3/4 (Good). The only one of the Apes sequels that wasn't completely uncalled for.
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 0/4 (Terrible)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent). The apes actually look a little better here than they did in part 2. I want to know why every single person in the future (1991) wears the same turtleneck/blazer combo; the explanation for that is probably more chilling than this whole ape revolt business.
Acting: 1/4 (Bad). McDowall is pretty good, though.
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (2/4, Indifferent). Pretty entertaining, considering how completely awful the writing is. It's a bad you can enjoy. There are even a few good moments, where you can see the potential for the remake.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.7/4 (Eh)

Being John Malkovich

Being John Malkovich, 1999. A puppeteer finds a portal into John Malkovich. Directed by Spike Jonze. Written by Charlie Kaufman. Starring John Cusack, Catherine Keener, Cameron Diaz & John Malkovich.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 4/4 (Great)
Characters: 3/4 (Good). Normally I would give them a 2/4, since they're not particularly plausible, but that's hardly a justified criticism with this movie.
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). It's been quite a few years since the last time I saw it, and I'm surprised to find it's a lot darker and more serious than I remembered it. It's very funny, and absurd well beyond the point of silliness, but not a comedy. How does that work?
Objective Rating (Average): 3.4/4 (Very good)

Sherlock: Series One

Sherlock: Series One, 2010. A private investigator solves mysteries.

Created by Mark Gatiss & Steven Moffat, based on works by Arthur Conan Doyle. Directed by Paul McGuigan (2 episodes) & Euros Lyn (1). Written by Steven Moffat (1 episode), Steve Thompson (1) & Mark Gatiss (1). Starring Benedict Cumberbatch & Martin Freeman.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent). How do you ruin Sherlock Holmes? Make him dumber than the audience.
Characters: 3/4 (Good). Holmes and Doctor Who have always been very similar characters, but when they're written by the same person, at the same time, the line between the two gets annoyingly fuzzy.
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent). Often good, but I've got to take a point off for the planetarium scene. So horrible.
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). It seems quite fun at first, but there are enough gaping holes in the quality of the writing that I ultimately find myself annoyed with it more than anything else. The more I see, the more convinced I am that Moffat's few great Who episodes were flukes.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.5/4 (Okay)

"Everything Will Be Ok"

"Everything Will Be Ok" (short), 2006. A man with unspecified neurological problems loses touch with reality. Written by, directed by and starring Don Hertzfeldt.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
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). Spectacularly great animation. Mediocre voice work.
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites, 4/4 5/4). Beautiful sadness, with enough humor to keep it from being depressing.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.5/4 (Very good) 3.6/4 (Great)

"Aria"

"Aria" (short), 2001. Puccini's Madam Butterfly enacted by dolls. Directed by Pjotr Sapegin. Written by Berit Reiss-Andersen.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: n/a
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). A lovely combination of classical tragedy and modern weirdness.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.0/4 (Good)

"The Bond"

"The Bond" (short), 1918. War bonds propaganda. Written by, directed by and starring Charles Chaplin.

Concept: 0/4 (Terrible)
Story: 0/4 (Terrible)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good). It was made hurriedly, without time for building sets, but I kind of like the (possibly unintentionally) cartoonish result.
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: n/a
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). Somewhat amusing, but it's just a long advertisement.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.8/4 (Eh)

"How to Make Movies"

"How to Make Movies" (short), 1918 (unreleased). A tour of Chaplin's studio. Written by, directed by & starring Charles Chaplin.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 0/4 (Terrible)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: n/a
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). There are some funny bits - it's worth watching - but as a film it's miles away from Chaplin's usual standards. Clearly never intended to be released.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.7/4 (Eh)

Creature Comforts: Season One

Creature Comforts: Season One, 2003. Animals share their opinions on various topics.

Created by Nick Park. Directed by Richard Goleszowski. Starring "The Great British Public."

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 0/4 (Terrible). No story.
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites, 4/4 5/4). Hilarious, in a quiet sort of way.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.1/4 3.2/4 (Very good)

(update of a previous post - original is here)

"The Pilgrim"

"The Pilgrim" (short version), 1923. An escaped convict disguises himself as a preacher. Written by, directed by and starring Charles Chaplin.

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: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). Fun and amusing. Mostly situational comedy, with very little slapstick. It's frustrating that the version on DVD is 20 minutes shorter than online sources say the film should be, but since both versions were cut by Chaplin (I think), I'm probably not missing much.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

Shoulder Arms

Shoulder Arms, 1918. A soldier fights Germans heroically. Written by, directed by and starring Charles Chaplin.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). Pleasant and fun, but never particularly hilarious. There's some historical interest, seeing how Hollywood portrayed WWI during the war. And Chaplin's character is very different from The Tramp, which is a nice change of pace.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.1/4 (Okay)

"A Dog's Life"

"A Dog's Life" (short), 1918. The Tramp gets a dog. Written by, directed by and starring Charles Chaplin.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
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: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Mostly just okay, but with two or three great routines.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

The Ides of March

The Ides of March, 2011. Presidential campaign staff are mean to each other. Directed by George Clooney. Written by Clooney, Grant Heslov & Beau Willimon, based on a play by Willimon. Starring Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti & Evan Rachel Wood.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad). As if real campaigns aren't depressing enough.
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good).
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). A strange mix of tedious tropes, moralizing, and relatively-well-crafted misery. It has it's moments, I guess. It also has a little something for everyone to hate.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

"Creature Comforts"

"Creature Comforts" (short), 1989. Animals talk about being in the zoo. Directed by Nick Park.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 0/4 (Terrible). No story.
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent). With only a few minutes, most of the characters don't get a chance to be anything beyond a gag.
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good). No music.
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). Clever and funny, but not nearly as good as the TV series.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.7/4 (Good)

Days of Heaven

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 9 of 15

Days of Heaven, 1978. A girl dispassionately observes a love-triangle melodrama. Written & directed by Terrence Malick. Starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard & Linda Manz.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). A moving painting. The plot is Shakespearean and biblical - and corny and predictable. I'm glad I read Ebert's essay before watching it; if I had gone in not knowing what to expect, I'd probably have been frustrated and/or confused.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.0/4 (Good)

Scarface

Scarface, 1932. A gangster improves his situation by killing his competitors. Directed by Howard Hawks & Richard Rosson. Written by Ben Hecht, with Seton I. Miller, John Lee Mahin & W.R. Burnett; adapted by Fred Pasley from a book by Armitage Trail. Starring Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, Karen Morley, Osgood Perkins, George Raft, Vince Barnett & Boris Karloff.

Concept: 4/4 (Great). Pre-code violence!
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad). Just like in the re-make, Scarface is an unforgivably and universally awful person with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. But at least in this film they had reasons for doing that.
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad). Mostly good, but with a handful of awful moments of gratuitous lecturing.
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 1/4 (Bad)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). It's an interesting movie, and solidly (if not remarkably) crafted. Ultimately, though, I just don't care about a story with no protagonist.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.3/4 (Okay)

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, 1989. A religious fanatic hijacks the Enterprise. Directed by William Shatner. Written by David Loughery; story by Shatner, Harve Bennett & Loughery; based on a TV show by Gene Roddenberry. Starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley & Laurence Luckinbill.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 0/4 (Terrible)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 1/4 (Bad)
Acting: 1/4 (Bad). Can someone tell me why David Warner is standing around in the background with almost no lines, while a random Sean Connery lookalike is playing a lead role?
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 3/10 (Bad, 1/4). Wow, what a piece of crap. Besides failing to be entertaining, it also doesn't bother to make any sense.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.1/4 (Bad)

The Descendants

The Descendants, 2011. With is wife dying in a coma, a lawyer is forced to be an involved father. Directed by Alexander Payne. Written by Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, based on a book by Kaui Hart Hemmings. Starring George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller & Nick Krause.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). A movie with this plot has no right being this good.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.9/4 (Good)

The Lady Eve

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 8 of 15

The Lady Eve, 1941. A card shark and her mark fall in love. Written & directed by Preston Sturges, based on a story by Monckton Hoffe. Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, Eugene Pallette & William Demarest.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Pleasant. A different director could have made an extremely tedious movie out of this, but Sturges' timing and pacing are excellent. It's also somewhat risqué and morally ambiguous for the period, which is interesting.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.7/4 (Good)

Hugo

Hugo, 2011. A mechanically-inclined orphan lives in the walls of a train station. Directed by Martin Scorsese. Written by John Logan, based on a book by Brian Selznick. Starring Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Ben Kingsley & Sacha Baron Cohen.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent). The kids are terrible.
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). It's very much like Shutter Island, in that it's just a sack full of its genre's cliches, strung together to no particular effect. The only parts I enjoyed - quite unexpectedly - were the two or three scenes of Sacha Baron Cohen's romantic subplot.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.2/4 (Okay)

top ten by decade

We're having a little vacation starting tomorrow, so I won't be posting for a week or so. In the mean time, here is an enormous list - my top ten high-scoring feature films by decade. (Note: These aren't necessarily my favorite films, and they're not necessarily the ones I think are best. They're the ones that have the highest scores, averaging my "subjective" and "objective" ratings. Also note: These lists are limited to movies I've watched since I started movie blogging about four years ago.)

00s
1. Wall-E, 2008
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004
3. Moon, 2009
4. Where the Wild Things Are, 2009
5. The Dark Knight, 2008
6. 25th Hour, 2002
7. Inglourious Basterds, 2009
8. Kill Bill: Vol. 1, 2003
9. Amélie, 2001
10. In Bruges, 2008

90s
1. Dark City, 1998
2. Twelve Monkeys, 1995
3. Magnolia, 1999
4. The Sixth Sense, 1999
5. Pulp Fiction, 1994
6. Reservoir Dogs, 1992
7. American Beauty, 1999
8. The Big Lebowski, 1998
9. Groundhog Day, 1993
10. Joe Versus the Volcano, 1990

80s
1. Time Bandits, 1981
2. Labyrinth, 1986
3. The Dark Crystal, 1982
4. The Princess Bride, 1987
5. My Neighbor Totoro, 1988
6. The Blues Brothers, 1980
7. First Blood, 1982
8. The Last Temptation of Christ, 1988
9. The Empire Strikes Back, 1980
10. Return of the Jedi, 1983

70s
1. Dog Day Afternoon, 1975
2. The Muppet Movie, 1979
3. The Godfather, 1972
4. Rocky, 1976
5. Network, 1976
6. The Exorcist, 1973
7. Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 1975
8. Alien, 1979
9. Star Wars, 1977
10. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, 1971

60s
1. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, 1966
2. Dr. Strangelove, 1964
3. The Sword in the Stone, 1963
4. Yojimbo, 1961
5. Planet of the Apes, 1968
6. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, 1966
7. A Fistful of Dollars, 1964
8. Breakfast at Tiffany's, 1961
9. To Kill a Mockingbird, 1962
10. For a Few Dollars More, 1965

50s
1. 12 Angry Men, 1957
2. The Night of the Hunter, 1955
3. All About Eve, 1950
4. The Bridge on the River Kwai, 1957
5. Stalag 17, 1953
6. Vertigo, 1958
7. Witness for the Prosecution, 1957
8. Strangers on a Train, 1951
9. Seven Samurai, 1954
10. Love in the Afternoon, 1957

40s
1. Casablanca, 1942
2. Brief Encounter, 1945
3. Dumbo, 1941
4. The Third Man, 1949
5. Shadow of a Doubt, 1943
6. The Red Shoes, 1948
7. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1948
8. The Shop Around the Corner, 1940
9. It's a Wonderful Life, 1946
10. The Grapes of Wrath, 1940

30s
1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937
2. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, 1939
3. The Wizard of Oz, 1939
4. Frankenstein, 1931
5. M, 1931
6. King Kong, 1933
7. The Adventures of Robin Hood, 1938
8. The Thin Man, 1934
9. City Lights, 1931
10. A Night at the Opera, 1935

20s
1. The Passion of Joan of Arc, 1928
2. Sherlock Jr., 1924
3. The Circus, 1928
4. The Adventures of Prince Achmed, 1926
5. The Gold Rush, 1925
6. The Cameraman, 1928
7. The General, 1927
8. Metropolis, 1927
9. Why Worry?, 1923
10. Street Angel, 1928

Samurai Jack: Season One

Samurai Jack: Season One (13 episodes), 2001. An ancient demon traps his enemy in the distant future.

Created by Genndy Tartakovsky. Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky (13 episodes), Robert Renzetti (5), Randy Myers (3) & Robert Alvarez (1). Written by Genndy Tartakovsky (4 episodes), Paul Rudish (3), Chris Mitchell (3), Carey Yost (3), Charlie Bean (2), Bryan Andrews (2), Mike Manley (1) & ? (2). Starring Phil LaMarr & Mako.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 3/4 (Good). Most of the acting is mediocre. But then there's Mako, giving one of my all-time favorite performances. Granted, that performance is mostly just yelling in a thick accent - but it is perfect.
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 10/10 (Favorite of my favorites, 4/4 5/4). God damn this show is awesome. If I could make a TV show, and Samurai Jack didn't already exist, this is the show I would make.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.6/4 3.7/4 (Great)

"Bathtime in Clerkenwell"

"Bathtime in Clerkenwell" (short), 2003. A singing cuckoo army comes out of a cuckoo clock. Directed by Alex Budovsky. Music by Stephen Coates (The Real Tuesday Weld).

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 0/4 (Terrible)
Characters: 0/4 (Terrible)
Dialog: n/a
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). I don't know why they call this a film; it is a music video. Lots of fun, though.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.3/4 (Okay)