Godzilla

From my 1950s Science Fiction Marathon, part 6 of 12.

Gojira, 1954. Giant dinosaur monster smash.

Directed by Ishirô Honda. Written by Honda & Takeo Murata; story by Shigeru Kayama. Starring Akira Takarada, Momoko Kôchi, Akihiko Hirata & Takashi Shimura.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 0/4 (Terrible)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent). Exceptionally terrible visual effects. Nice design. Great sound effects.
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). I never would have thought that a 90-minute movie about a giant monster could possibly be this boring.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.9/4 (Eh)

"20,000 Cheers for the Chain Gang"

"20,000 Cheers for the Chain Gang" (short), 1933. Musical parody of I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang.

Directed by Roy Mack. Written by Cyrus Wood & A. Dorian Otvos. Starring Jerry Bergen.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 0/4 (Terrible)
Characters: 0/4 (Terrible)
Dialog: 0/4 (Terrible)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 0/4 (Terrible)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 2/10 (Terrible, 0/4). It's an absurd enough set-up that it might have been amusing if it didn't keep going forever (it's twenty minutes long - for one joke), and if everyone on screen didn't seem either (1) to be embarrassed to be there or (2) to not really know where they are at all.
Objective Rating (Average): 0.7/4 (Very bad)

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, 1932. A man escapes from a brutal chain gang.

Directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Written by Howard J. Green & Brown Holmes, based on a book by Robert E. Burns. Starring Paul Muni.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good). With moments of greatness.  (Although, it is distracting how Paul Muni is James Franco.)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent). What's there is good, but this is from what I think of as the Awkward Silence Era, before they figured out how to use film scores.
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). It's in clear violation of my biggest movie pet peeve, the Wicked Nazi Step-Mother (i.e., extreme and unambiguous injustice as antagonist), but it's good enough to make up for that.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.6/4 (Good).

Them!

From my 1950s Science Fiction Marathon, part 5 of 12.

Them!, 1954. A colony of giant ants emerges from the New Mexico desert.

Directed by Gordon Douglas. Written by Ted Sherdeman; adapted by Russell S. Hughes; story by George Worthing Yates. Starring James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon & James Arness.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 3/4 (Good). It's based in bad science (clearly the writers have no concept of what a genetic mutation is, or how evolution works), but if you ignore that and just take the Giant Ants as a given, everything else follows with remarkable logic. Much more clever than the corny monster movie I was expecting.
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad). Very uneven.
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent). The ants themselves are just silly, but everything else is mostly good.
Acting: 1/4 (Bad). Okay, but with moments of awful due to stumbling over horribly-written dialog.
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4).  The Thing from Another World is the 1950s' Alien, and this is the 1950s' Aliens. It's nowhere near as scary or exciting as Aliens, but the parallels are strong enough that you could almost call it a remake. They really seem to have put some thought into the question, "Well, what would happen if there were giant, man-eating insect monsters?"  Not that anyone was dying to know the answer, but it turns out to make a pretty cool movie.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.2/4 (Okay)

"Tortoise Beats Hare"

"Tortoise Beats Hare" (short), 1941. Bugs Bunny races a tricky turtle.

Directed by Tex Avery. Written by Dave Monahan. Starring Mel Blanc.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Cecil Turtle is adorable. The timing is perfect.  The animators' performances are hilarious. The gags still seem fresh more than 70 years later.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.0/4 (Good)

"You Ought to Be in Pictures"

"You Ought to Be in Pictures" (short), 1940. Daffy Duck convinces Porky Pig to quit his job in cartoons.

Directed by Friz Freleng. Written by Jack Miller. Starring Mel Blanc.

Concept: 4/4 (Great). Cartoon characters in the real world, working for studios under contract - the people who made Roger Rabbit clearly loved this.
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: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). Interestingly novel. Daffy does a dance at one point which is delightful.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.9/4 (Good)

The Man Who Wasn't There

The Man Who Wasn't There, 2001. Blackmail leads to murder.

Written & directed by Joel & Ethan Coen. Starring Billy Bob Thornton.

Concept: 4/4 (Great). Noir and Coens are a perfect match - almost as good as Westerns and Coens.
Story: 4/4 (Great)
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites, 4/4 5/4). The best Coen Brothers movie.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.8/4 3.9/4 (Great)

"Old Glory"

"Old Glory" (short), 1939. Uncle Sam teaches Porky Pig about American history.

Directed by Chuck Jones. Written by Robert Givens, Richard Hogan & Dave Monahan. Starring Mel Blanc & John Deering.

Concept: 0/4 (Terrible)
Story: 0/4 (Terrible)
Characters: 0/4 (Terrible)
Dialog: 0/4 (Terrible)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 2/10 (Terrible, 0/4). They don't even bother to try to be entertaining.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.0/4 (Bad)

The 39 Steps

The 39 Steps, 1935. A man goes on the run when a secret agent is murdered in his home.

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Written by Ian Hay, adapted by Charles Bennett from a novel by John Buchan. Starring Robert Donat & Madeleine Carroll.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 3/4 (Good). The plot's not exactly air tight, but the holes don't seem to matter.
Characters: 3/4 (Good). Carroll's character is pretty great. We don't really know anything about Donat's character except that he's good at spouting an endless stream of 1930s film dialog. Also, he's Canadian, so when the pursuing police say please, he has no choice but to go with them.
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great). Maybe a little too fast.
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). A nice balance of humor and suspense.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.0/4 (Good)

"Porky in Wackyland"

"Porky in Wackyland" (short), 1938. Porky Pig hunts the last of the dodos. Directed by Robert Clampett. Written by Warren Foster. Starring Mel Blanc.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
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). Surreal silliness and visual gags of the best kind. One of the things I really like about this cartoon is how menacing Wackyland is; the Looney Tunes world is never what you would call a safe place, but these creatures would really have fun doing horrible things to you.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.0/4 (Good) 3.1/4 (Very good)

Spider-Man 2

Spider-Man 2, 2004. A mad scientist is determined to carry out his giant-ball-of-explosion experiment. Directed by Sam Raimi. Written by Alvin Sargent; story by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar & Michael Chabon, based on comic books by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko. Starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst & Alfred Molina.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). When it's campy action, it's fun. A lot of the time it tries to be earnest, though, and it is so very awful. Why did we like this movie so much back in 2004? It's not even as good as part 1.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.0/4 (Indifferent)

Mad Men: Season Three

Mad Men: Season Three, 2009. A British company takes control of a 1960s ad agency.

Created by Matthew Weiner. Directed by Phil Abraham (3 episodes), Lesli Linka Glatter (2), Jennifer Getzinger (2), Michael Uppendahl (2), Daisy von Scherler Mayer (1), Scott Hornbacher (1), Barbet Schroeder (1) & Matthew Weiner (1). Written by Matthew Weiner (12 episodes), Cathryn Humphris (2), Dahvi Waller (2), Kater Gordon (2), Andrew Colville (1), Robin Veith (1), Andre Jacquemetton (1), Maria Jacquemetton (1), Lisa Albert (1), Marti Noxon (1), Brett Johnson (1) & Erin Levy (1). Starring Jon Hamm.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). It took three seasons for the show to get going, but boy howdy did it get going. Now I finally see what all the fuss is about.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.1/4 (Very good)

"His Regeneration"

"His Regeneration" (short), 1915. A criminal shoots some people. Written by, directed by & starring Gilbert M. Anderson.

Concept: 0/4 (Terrible)
Story: 0/4 (Terrible)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 0/4 (Terrible)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 3/10 (Bad, 1/4). Pointless and confused. There's a Charlie Chaplin cameo, but it's out of place and just makes the film even more of a mess.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.2/4 (Bad)

"The Bank"

"The Bank" (short), 1915. A bank janitor has a bad day at work. Written by, directed by & starring Charles Chaplin.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
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). Pretty funny. Terrible ending.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.2/4 (Okay)

"A Woman"

"A Woman" (short), 1915. Men fight over women. Written by, directed by & 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). It doesn't have the brilliant sort of physical routines that he's known for, but I'd still place it among Chaplin's best performances - continuously, charmingly funny.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

The War of the Worlds

From my 1950s Science Fiction Marathon, part 4 of 12.

The War of the Worlds, 1953. Martians invade Earth. Directed by Byron Haskin. Written by Barré Lyndon, based on a book by H.G. Wells. Starring Gene Barry & Ann Robinson.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 0/4 (Terrible)
Dialog: 0/4 (Terrible)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 1/4 (Bad)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent). I like the alien, but he's only on screen for a few seconds. Mostly it's ships on strings. Oh, and the sound effects are good - probably the only good thing about the movie.
Acting: 1/4 (Bad)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 3/10 (Bad, 1/4). Sadly, this is probably the most influential science fiction film ever, even more so than Star Wars. And that made me angry with it. Otherwise, I probably would have liked it. Sure, it's an awful movie, but it's the kind of awful that's good for a laugh - and sometimes it's really very funny. But its not just a harmless B movie - it's a big, successful, influential movie that happens to be B movie quality. And all of its awfulness persists in big budget Hollywood "science fiction" movies to this day. The writers would seem to hate science, and the source material, and especially women. Everyone involved in the production must either be incompetent, or think so little of the audience that they don't care. The potential for the movie to be great is so high that its hard to imagine them making a movie this bad without trying. In short, it's Michael Bay with strings instead of CGI.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.3/4 (Bad)

Samurai Jack: Season Two

Samurai Jack: Season Two (13 episodes), 2002. An ancient samurai wanders the Earth in the distant future.

Created by Genndy Tartakovsky. Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky (13 episodes), Randy Myers (7), Robert Renzetti (4) & Robert Alvarez (4). Written by Bryan Andrews (4), Brian Larsen (4), Chris Mitchell (2), Erik Wiese (2), Mike Manley (2), Charlie Bean (2), Aaron Springer (2), Genndy Tartakovsky (1), Paul Rudish (1), ? (1). Starring Phil LaMarr.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 10/10 (Favorite of my favorites, 4/4 5/4). More of the same, mostly. It's a little better than season one, though, which is an impressive feat.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.5/4 (Very good) 3.6/4 (Great)

"Work"

"Work" (short), 1915. A put-upon wall-paperer's assistant goes to work. Written by, directed by & starring Charles Chaplin.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent). It lags a bit in places, and the climax is in fast forward.
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). Nothing memorable, but it's pretty funny.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.1/4 (Okay)

"The Tramp"

"The Tramp" (short), 1915. A tramp protects a farmer and his daughter from thieves. Written by, directed by & 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: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). Pleasantly silly. Not funny enough to make me laugh, though.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.2/4 (Okay)

The Avengers

The Avengers, 2012. Super heroes vs. an alien invasion. Written & directed by Joss Whedon. Story by Whedon & Zak Penn, based on comic books by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner & Tom Hiddleston.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites, 4/4 5/4). Well. That was fun.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.0/4 (Good) 3.1/4 (Very good)

The Day the Earth Stood Still

From my 1950s Science Fiction Marathon, part 3 of 12.

The Day the Earth Stood Still, 1951. An alien visitor wants humans to live in peace. Directed by Robert Wise. Written by Edmund H. North, based on a story by Harry Bates. Starring Michael Rennie.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
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). Rennie is excellent.
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). One of the only movies that's faithful to the spirit of the science fiction literature of its day. Also, Bernard Herrmann.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.2/4 (Very good)

(updated from a previous post - original is here)

"By the Sea"

"By the Sea" (short), 1915. Two men get into a fight, while one of them charms ladies. Written & directed by Charles Chaplin. Starring Chaplin & Billy Armstrong.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). Pure slapstick.  Amusing.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.1/4 (Okay)

"Have You Got Any Castles?"

"Have You Got Any Castles?" (short), 1938. Characters come out of books and sing. Directed by Frank Tashlin. Written by Jack Miller. Starring Mel Blanc.

Concept: 0/4 (Terrible)
Story: 0/4 (Terrible)
Characters: 0/4 (Terrible)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 3/10 (Bad, 1/4). A senseless string of bad puns and cultural references (some of which, such as the title song, are beyond me).
Objective Rating (Average): 1.3/4 (Bad)

The Thing from Another World

From my 1950s Science Fiction Marathon, part 2 of 12.

The Thing from Another World, 1951. An alien spaceship crashes in the arctic. Directed by Christian Nyby. Written by Charles Lederer, based on a story by John W. Campbell Jr.. Starring Kenneth Tobey, Robert Cornthwaite & Margaret Sheridan.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
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: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). Very cool. It's more like Alien than Carpenter's Thing - if Alien had been a Howard Hawks movie. There's a level of intelligence and detail to the dialog that does a lot for the suspense - the scenario has some weight to it, rather than just being an excuse for a monster.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.9/4 (Good)