"Cheese Chasers"

"Cheese Chasers" (short), 1951. Suicidal mice try to get a cat to eat them.

Directed by Chuck Jones. Written by Michael Maltese. Starring Mel Blanc.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Twisted, and very funny. It has no ending, though. And the quality of the animation is inconsistent.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.9/4 (Good)

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Hedwig and the Angry Inch, 2001. An unsuccessful glam rocker tells and sings her life story.

Written by, directed by & starring John Cameron Mitchell, based on a play by Mitchell & Stephen Trask.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). The story of Unfair Show Business and Generally Having a Crappy Life isn't interesting (especially since Hedwig is too much of a diva to get any sympathy), but that's not too important. It's sufficient story to hang the music on, and the music is what matters. If a typical musical is a story with songs injected, this is the other way around - kind of like an elaborate concert film, with story injected to keep it rolling.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.9/4 (Good)

Goldfinger

Goldfinger, 1964. A gold smuggler plans to break into Fort Knox.

Directed by Guy Hamilton. Written by Richard Maibaum & Paul Dehn, based on a book by Ian Fleming. Starring Sean Connery & Gert Fröbe.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). All the nonsense and plot holes of Dr. No, but without nearly as much fun. And James Bond does nothing whatsoever to stop the evil plot. Still pretty good, though. Almost everything in it is iconic.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.3/4 (Okay)

Doctor Who: Series Seven, Part One

Doctor Who: Series Seven Part One, 2012. An alien travels through space and time with a human couple.

Created by Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber & Donald Wilson. Directed by Nick Hurran (2 episodes), Saul Metzstein (2) & Douglas Mackinnon (1). Written by Steven Moffat (2 episodes), Chris Chibnall (2) & Toby Whithouse (1). Starring Matt Smith, Karen Gillan & Arthur Darvill.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent). The plots are either predictable, or Swiss cheese. It's a huge improvement over season six, but Moffat's still more interested in writing Clever Twists than telling stories.
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good). Not as many great joke lines as I expect from Moffat's Doctor, and some occasional awfulness.
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent). Too fast. Mostly good, but the Ponds' exit is frustratingly incomplete.
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good). Often great, sometimes terrible.
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites, 4/4 5/4). I don't find any of the individual episodes to be particularly remarkable (at least not compared to what the show was doing a few years ago); the best ones fall apart at the end when the plot holes are brushed aside with babble. But the tone of the show is back to the old standard of fun and adventure, and I'm back to being Unreasonably Excited about watching it.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.9/4 3.0/4 (Good)

The Secret in Their Eyes

El secreto de sus ojos, 2009. A retired court employee writes a book about a 25-year-old case.

Directed by Juan José Campanella. Written by Eduardo Sacheri & Campanella, based on Sacheri's book. Starring Ricardo Darín & Soledad Villamil.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 1/4 (Bad)
Special effects/design: 1/4 (Bad). Appallingly bad aging makeup. He actually looks older in the flashbacks.
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). It could have been worse; there are a couple scenes that work very well. If it had just been a crime/mystery story, it might have been good, but it's all framed within a terribly-written love story. Why are we expected to care (especially with all the other stuff going on in this movie) about a couple of boring characters' inability to express their feelings?
Objective Rating (Average): 1.8/4 (Eh)

Breaking Bad: Season One

From my Best TV Shows We've Never Seen marathon - part 2 of 5.



Breaking Bad: Season One, 2008. A terminally ill science teacher takes up cooking meth.

Created by Vince Gilligan. Directed by Adam Bernstein (2 episodes), Gilligan (1), Jim McKay (1), Tricia Brock (1), Bronwen Hughes (1) & Tim Hunter (1). Written by Gilligan (4 episodes), Patty Lin (1), George Mastras (1) & Peter Gould (1). Starring Bryan Cranston.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). Well that was fun. People might be on to something with this whole Watching TV thing that's so popular lately.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.3/4 (Very good)

Doctor Who: "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe"

Doctor Who: "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" (tv special), 2011. A British family during WWII is treated to an unusual Christmas holiday.

Created by Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber & Donald Wilson. Directed by Farren Blackburn. Written by Steven Moffat. Starring Matt Smith & Claire Skinner.

Concept: 4/4 (Great). Domestic Doctor is always welcome.
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites, 4/4 5/4). Now that I've finally gotten around to watching this, I'm very relieved to find Doctor Who turning in the complete opposite direction of the cluttered, fast-forward mess of series six. There are still a lot of problems with the story, but nothing too bad. The focus is back on characters, and taking the time to let the audience care about what's happening to them. As far as emotional impact goes, this is the strongest episode so far of the Smith/Moffat era - maybe of the entire series.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.1/4 3.2/4 (Very good)

"French Rarebit"

"French Rarebit" (short), 1951. Bugs Bunny vs. French chefs.

Directed by Robert McKimson. Written by Tedd Pierce. Starring Mel Blanc.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
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: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). Old gags that weren't that great to begin with, executed poorly. Apart from a nice performance by Mel Blanc, it's got nothing going for it.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.9/4 (Eh)

Skyfall

Skyfall, 2012. James Bond vs. a computer hacker from M's past.

Directed by Sam Mendes. Written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade & John Logan, based on characters by Ian Fleming. Starring Daniel Craig, Judi Dench & Javier Bardem.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent). Oh no, he's in the computers! Quick, Hipster Q, type faster than him! Okay, that's only about ten minutes of the movie, but still, it is the basic premise behind the plot. Your audiences are no longer computer illiterate, Hollywood; that shit is just ridiculous.
Story: 3/4 (Good). Very good, but there's too much of it for one movie.
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great). Holy bejesus this movie is pretty - even by Roger Deakins standards.
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 3/4 (Good). Sometimes great, sometimes generic Action Movie Noises.
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). Granted, I've only seen five of them in recent memory, but this is easily the best James Bond movie I've seen. Lots of fun, and expertly crafted. Serious Director + Action Movie = Everybody Wins.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.4/4 (Very good)

"Bumping into Broadway"

"Bumping into Broadway" (short), 1919. A boy and girl trying to make it into show business have no money.

Directed by Hal Roach. Written by H.M. Walker. Starring Harold Lloyd & Bebe Daniels.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
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). Slow at first, but eventually gets around to zany, madcap antics.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.0/4 (Indifferent)

Chicken Run

Chicken Run, 2000. Chickens try to escape from a farm.

Directed by Peter Lord & Nick Park. Written by Karey Kirkpatrick, with Mark Burton & John O'Farrell; story by Lord & Park. Starring Julia Sawalha & Mel Gibson.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent). Mostly bad, with moments of greatness.
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). The story and character arcs could not be more generic, and most of the jokes aren't funny. It still manages to be an entertaining movie, though; there's enough Aardman charm to make up for the script.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.2/4 (Okay)

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Seven

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Seven, 1993-1994. A giant space ship flies around the galaxy, ostensibly exploring but usually running errands.

Created by Gene Roddenberry. Directed by Alexander Singer (3 episodes), Cliff Bole (3), Robert Wiemer (3), Winrich Kolbe (3), Patrick Stewart (2), Les Landau (2), Jonathan Frakes (2), Peter Lauritson (1), Robert Lederman (1), Robert Scheerer (1), LeVar Burton (1), Gabrielle Beaumont (1), Gates McFadden (1), Corey Allen (1) & Jonathan West (1). Written by Brannon Braga (8 episodes), René Echevarria (6), Ronald D. Moore (6), Naren Shankar (5), Joe Menosky (3), Christopher Hatton (2), Nicholas Sagan (2), Jeanne Carrigan-Fauci (1), Lisa Rich (1), Roger Eschbacher (1), Jaq Greenspon (1), Hilary J. Bader (1), Dan Koeppel (1), Spike Steingasser (1), William N. Stape (1), Jeri Taylor (1), Jeanna F. Gallo (1), Ron Wilkerson (1), Jean Louise Matthias (1), Shawn Piller (1), Antonia Napoli (1) & Mark Kalbfeld (1). Starring Patrick Stewart & Jonathan Frakes.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). It's more concerned with wrapping up old unresolved storylines (that had been left unresolved because no one gave a crap about them) than with doing anything interesting. By my count, there are only two great episodes, about six other good episodes, three or four bad episodes, and a couple of terrible episodes (including the clear Worst TNG Episode Ever). That leaves about half a season of mediocrity - a pretty sad way for the show to go out.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

Band of Brothers

From my Best TV Shows We've Never Seen marathon - part 1 of 5.



Band of Brothers (tv series), 2001. A company of WWII paratroopers fights through Europe.

Directed by Mikael Salomon (2 episodes), David Frankel (2), Phil Alden Robinson (1), Richard Loncraine (1), David Nutter (1), Tom Hanks (1), David Leland (1) & Tony To (1). Written by Erik Jendresen (3 episodes), Bruce C. McKenna (3), John Orloff (2), Graham Yost (2), Erik Bork (2), Tom Hanks (1) & E. Max Frye (1); based on a book by Stephen E. Ambrose. Starring Damian Lewis (4 episodes), David Schwimmer (1), Marc Warren (1), Michael Cudlitz (1), Shane Taylor (1), Donnie Wahlberg (1), Eion Bailey (1), Colin Hanks (1) & Ron Livingston (1).

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 4/4 (Great)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent). I had a hard time keeping the supporting characters straight. There's a lot of story and action; with only ten episodes, there's not enough time left to clearly establish an army of characters.
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 3/4 (Good). Mostly mediocre, with moments of greatness.
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). Very engrossing, but draining. I never looked forward to the next episode.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.0/4 (Good)

"Room and Bird"

"Room and Bird" (short), 1951. Sylvester and Tweety in a hotel.

Directed by Friz Freleng. Written by Tedd Pierce & Warren Foster. Starring Mel Blanc.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent). Why must Tweety sing?
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). I hate 1950s Tweety so much. It's like they think it's funny to make him as obnoxious as possible.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.7/4 (Eh)

Animal Crackers

Animal Crackers, 1930. Some Marx Brothers characters show up at a socialite party.

Directed by Victor Heerman. Written by Morrie Ryskind, with Pierre Collings, based on a play by George S. Kaufman, Ryskind, Bert Kalmar & Harry Ruby. Starring The Marx Brothers.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 1/4 (Bad)
Acting: 1/4 (Bad)
Music: 3/4 (Good). It opens with a barrage of terrible numbers, but later musical interludes are the best things in the movie.
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). It has a traditional farce plot, which is at odds with the Marx Brothers' style - when silliness breaks out, it's jarring and confusing as often as funny (usually both), and when it returns to the story it's a tedious distraction. The jokes are great, and a lot of the routines are hilarious, but overall it's a badly-made movie.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.9/4 (Eh)

"Bangville Police"

"Bangville Police" (short), 1913. Police respond to a farm girl's call.

Directed by Henry Lehrman. Starring Fred Mace & Mabel Normand.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 0/4 (Terrible)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad). Not enough of it, and never any jokes.
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 1/4 (Bad)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 3/10 (Bad, 1/4). I guess this is supposed to be a comedy? It's just a lot of exaggerated gestures and expressions, like someone might make who's trying to entertain a baby.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.2/4 (Bad)

Moonrise Kingdom

Moonrise Kingdom, 2012. Two kids run away together.

Directed by Wes Anderson. Written by Anderson & Roman Coppola. Starring Jared Gilman & Kara Hayward.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great). Great as far as the story on hand is concerned. However, there are a lot of great supporting characters who don't get nearly enough screen time to do them justice. There could be entire movies about most of them.
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
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). Anderson's best movie. It's kind of like the ideas from his earlier stuff is filtered through Fantastic Mr. Fox's cartoony-ness, ending up with the best of both worlds.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.7/4 3.8/4 (Great)

"Bunny Hugged"

"Bunny Hugged" (short), 1951. Bugs Bunny in a wrestling match.

Directed by Chuck Jones. Written by Michael Maltese. Starring Mel Blanc.

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: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). There are some good laughs in there, but a lot of the gags didn't do anything for me.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

From Russia with Love

From Russia with Love, 1963. SPECTRE sets a trap for James Bond.

Directed by Terence Young. Written by Richard Maibaum; adapted by Johanna Harwood from a book by Ian Fleming. Starring Sean Connery.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). It's not fun enough. The action scenes are bad and go on too long. It doesn't have the great sense of style that Dr. No has. On the other hand, it also doesn't have any of the story problems that Dr. No has.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

Meet the Robinsons

Meet the Robinsons, 2007. An orphan is taken to the future by a boy with his parents' time machine.

Directed by Stephen J. Anderson. Written by Jon Bernstein, Michelle Bochner, Don Hall, Nathan Greno, Aurian Redson, Joseph Mateo & Stephen J. Anderson, based on a book by William Joyce. Starring Daniel Hansen, Jordan Fry, Wesley Singerman & Stephen J. Anderson.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 1/4 (Bad). A cookie-cutter story arc, and long stretches of stuff that has nothing to do with anything.
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent). A frantic mess, but often in a good way.
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good). Great design. Some pretty bad animation.
Acting: 3/4 (Good). The child leads are mediocre at best, but there are some great comedic performances.
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Manic beyond all reason, and hilarious. One of those surprise movies that has no business being as good as it is.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.3/4 (Okay)

"The Girl and Her Trust"

"The Girl and Her Trust" (short), 1912. A telegraph operator is alone at a train station when it is robbed.

Directed by D.W. Griffith. Written by George Hennessy. Starring Dorothy Bernard & Wilfred Lucas.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good). A female action hero in 1912. Neat.
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good). There's the occasional Theater Pose, but mostly it's very good.
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). Surprisingly entertaining. I wouldn't quite go so far as to call it exciting, but it does pretty well.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.6/4 (Good)

Nanook of the North

Nanook of the North, 1922. A look at the difficult life of an Inuit family.

Written & directed by Robert J. Flaherty. Starring Allakariallak.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good). Surprisingly modern.
Special effects/design: n/a
Acting: n/a
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). It's kind of like looking at a series of museum dioramas, except that they move. And Nanook is a ham.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.3/4 (Okay)

Mulan

Mulan, 1998. A woman joins the army in drag to save her elderly father.

Directed by Tony Bancroft & Barry Cook. Written by Rita Hsiao, Chris Sanders, Philip LaZebnik, Raymond Singer, Eugenia Bostwick-Singer, Dean DeBlois, Robert D. San Souci & 24 others. Starring Ming-Na Wen.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 0/4 (Terrible)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 0/4 (Terrible)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). Crap. It moves fast enough and has enough action to keep it from being too painful to watch.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.6/4 (Eh)

VSM: The Best TV Shows We've Never Seen

These are the titles with the highest IMDb score and at least 25,000 votes (and that are available in the US) that we haven't seen. And they all happen to be TV shows, which suits us as we've been itching to watch more TV lately.

Very Slow Marathon #12 - The Best TV Shows We've Never Seen
-Band of Brothers (2001)
-Breaking Bad (season 1, 2008)
-The Wire (season 1, 2002)
-Game of Thrones (season 1, 2011)
-The Sopranos (season 1, 1999)

Brave

Brave, 2012. A teenage princess has her mother turned into a bear.

Directed by Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman & Steve Purcell. Written by Andrews, Purcell, Chapman & Irene Mecchi; story by Chapman. Starring Kelly Macdonald.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 4/4 (Great)
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). Very underrated. No, it's not the best Pixar movie (that's hardly a fair comparison to make for any movie), but it might be the strongest emotionally. My wife observes that it's the first time a fight scene made her cry.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.1/4 (Very good)

"La Luna"

"La Luna" (short), 2012. A boy learns the family trade, on the moon.

Written & directed by Enrico Casarosa. Starring Krista Sheffler, Tony Fucile & Phil Sheridan.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Cute, with some nice whimsy. But apart from the basic idea, there's nothing to the story. And its tendency for swelling music and slow motion make it feel like it has a high opinion of itself.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.0/4 (Good)

Rebel without a Cause

Rebel without a Cause, 1955. Angsty teenagers get into trouble.

Directed by Nicholas Ray. Written by Stewart Stern; adapted by Irving Shulman; story by Ray. Starring James Dean, Natalie Wood & Sal Mineo.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
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). The first half is great. After the "chickie run," it's still good, but the tension drops out. I can't quite say why, but I just don't feel it anymore; there's a lot of waiting around for inevitable tragedy.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.7/4 (Good)

The Storyteller

The Storyteller (tv series), 1988. An old man tells folktales to his dog.

Created by Jim Henson. Directed by Steve Barron (3 episodes), Jim Henson (2), Charles Sturridge (1), Jon Amiel (1), Peter Smith (1) & Paul Weiland (1). Written by Anthony Minghella. Starring John Hurt.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). At its best it's fun, and at its worst it's at least interesting. It's one of the only faithful screen adaptation of fairy tales. They just don't make shows like this - and understandably. Henson and Minghella apparently just said "fuck it" to every conventional idea of what audiences like and made the weird-ass show they felt like making.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.0/4 (Good)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season One

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season One, 1993. Democratic imperialists and former terrorists work together on a space station in order to keep away fascist imperialists.

Created by Rick Berman & Michael Piller. Directed by Paul Lynch (5 episodes), David Carson (4), David Livingston (3), Winrich Kolbe (2), Les Landau (2), Corey Allen (1), Robert Legato (1), Cliff Bole (1) & James L. Conway (1). Written by Michael Piller (8 episodes), Ira Steven Behr (3), Robert Hewitt Wolfe (3), Peter Allan Fields (3), Rick Berman (2), Lisa Rich (2), Jeanne Carrigan-Fauci (2), Katharyn Powers (1), Gerald Sanford (1), Michael McGreevey (1), Naren Shankar (1), Sally Caves (1), Jill Sherman Donner (1), Hannah Louise Shearer (1), D.C. Fontana (1), Morgan Gendel (1), Frederick Rappaport (1), David Livingston (1), Sam Rolfe (1), Richard Danus (1), Evan Carlos Somers (1), Hilary J. Bader (1), Kurt Michael Bensmiller (1), Nell McCue Crawford (1), William L. Crawford (1), Don Carlos Dunaway (1), Jim Trombetta (1) & Joe Menosky (1). Starring Avery Brooks.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad). It takes the entire two-hour pilot just to explain the set-up, which is crap, but it doesn't matter much anyway since it's irrelevant for most of the show.
Story: 0/4 (Terrible)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad). O'Brien is the only main character who isn't a jackass.
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 1/4 (Bad). It's good, in-so-far as everything looks exactly like it should look. It's not the artists' fault that the writers asked for a world that's dull and vaguely unpleasant to look at.
Acting: 1/4 (Bad). Some truly awful acting. (Although, again, O'Brien is the exception to the rule.)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). At its best, it's just barely an okay show. Usually, it's crap. The stories are the biggest offender - poorly conceived, uninteresting, and filled with plot holes and continuity problems. The show has a pretty good reputation, though, so I'd like to hope that that area will be fixed in later seasons. But short of a complete retooling, it could never be as good as TNG, simply because none of these characters get along. DS9's whole concept is that it's about unpleasant people, forced to work together on a job they don't want to do, in a place they don't want to be. What's fun about watching that?
Objective Rating (Average): 1.3/4 (Bad)