Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Three

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Three, 1998-1999. The vampire-hunting teenager mopes a lot and fights some monsters.

Created by Joss Whedon. Directed by Whedon (5 episodes), James Whitmore, Jr. (4), James A. Contner (4), David Greenwalt (2), Michael Lange (2), David Semel (1), Michael Gershman (1), David Grossman (1), Regis Kimble (1) & David Solomon (1). Written by Whedon (5 episodes), Marti Noxon (5), Jane Espenson (3), Douglas Petrie (3), David Greenwalt (2), Dan Vebber (2), David Fury (2) & Thania St. John (1). Starring Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: C
Enjoyment: The soap opera aspect is extremely tedious this season. There's plenty of humor to keep the show fun, but otherwise they spend a lot of time stalling with character relationships that were already resolved last season but have to keep going because Angel doesn't have his own show yet. C

GPA: 2.2/4

"Terror on the Midway"

"Terror on the Midway" (short), 1942. Superman vs. escaped circus animals.

Directed by Dave Fleischer. Written by Jay Morton & Dan Gordon, based on characters by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. Starring Joan Alexander & Bud Collyer.

Concept: D
Story: D
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: C
Music: B
Enjoyment: A new low for the series (which I expect to be beaten soon, as this is the last of the Superman cartoons directed by Fleischer). Even with some good Lois Lane moments, it still manages to be crappy. C

GPA: 2.1/4

American Hustle

American Hustle, 2013. The FBI uses con artists to entrap politicians.

Directed by David O. Russell. Written by Eric Singer & Russell. Starring Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper & Amy Adams.

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: Boring. There's only about five minutes that are any fun (Louis C.K.'s bits, and the phrase "science oven"). C

GPA: 2.7/4

"Volcano"

"Volcano" (short), 1942. Superman vs. a volcano.

Directed by Dave Fleischer. Written by Bill Turner & Carl Meyer, based on characters by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. Starring Joan Alexander, Jackson Beck & Bud Collyer.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: B
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: C
Music: B
Enjoyment: A step back in the right direction. Superman's up against something that's a match for him for a change, and Lois is wily and resourceful. B

GPA: 2.5/4

"Electric Earthquake"

"Electric Earthquake" (short), 1942. Superman vs. a Native American mad scientist.

Directed by Dave Fleischer. Written by Seymour Kneitel & Izzy Sparber, based on characters by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. Starring Joan Alexander, Jackson Beck & Bud Collyer.

Concept: D
Story: D
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: C
Music: B
Enjoyment: You'd think these mad scientists would eventually start to factor Superman into their evil plans. I guess they don't read the Daily Planet. At least this one didn't use the same mountain lab that's so popular. C

GPA: 2.1/4

A Fistful of Dollars

Per un pugno di dollari, 1964. A wandering gunfighter tries to get rival gangs to kill each other.

Directed by Sergio Leone. Written by Víctor Andrés Catena, Jaime Comas Gil & Leone; story by Adriano Bonzzoni, Catena & Leone, based on a movie by Ryuzo Kikushima & Akira Kurosawa. Starring Clint Eastwood.

Concept: A
Story: A
Characters: A
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: A
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: A
Enjoyment: Iconic. It slows down a little in the middle, but not much, and there's more than enough awesome to make up for it. A+

GPA: 3.7/4

[update of a previous post - original is here]

Frances Ha

Frances Ha, 2013. A woman is bad a being a grown-up.

Directed by Noah Baumbach. Written by Baumbach & Greta Gerwig. Starring Gerwig.

Concept: D
Story: C
Characters: A
Dialog: A
Pacing: A
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: Gerwig reminds me of Giulietta Masina. A
Music: A
Enjoyment: There's a lot of cringe-inducing awkwardness, which I hate in a movie. But after it was done, I felt pretty good. And as I've been thinking about it, it's been growing on me. I expect that if I re-watched it, I might love it. B

GPA: 3.2/4

Training Day

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 15 of 100



Training Day, 2001. A cop has a really bad first day on the job.

Directed by Antoine Fuqua. Written by David Ayer. Starring Denzel Washington & Ethan Hawke.

Concept: B
Story: A
Characters: A
Dialog: A
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: A
Music: B
Enjoyment: At least two different games of chess are going on simultaneously - an external game of surviving on the streets (and getting the badguys, maybe), and an internal game of the characters' ethics. The former makes for an excellent thriller. The latter makes for a remarkably unique drama. A

GPA: 3.5/4

Before Sunrise

Before Sunrise, 1995. Two strangers spend the night in Vienna.

Directed by Richard Linklater. Written by Linklater & Kim Krizan. Starring Ethan Hawke & Julie Delpy.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: I can believe that these characters would talk in a series of indie movie monologues, so it works. B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: Delpy's good enough to turn this from a novel experiment into a genuinely good movie. A
Music: B
Enjoyment: I expected it to be better, given its reputation, but it is very good. B

GPA: 2.8/4

Nebraska

Nebraska, 2013. A son drives his dad to Nebraska to collect an imaginary million dollars.

Directed by Alexander Payne. Written by Bob Nelson. Starring Bruce Dern & Will Forte.

Concept: C
Story: B
Characters: A
Dialog: A
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: Dern is great, and Forte is surprisingly competent. A
Music: B
Enjoyment: Funny, well-crafted, and an all-around pleasant experience to watch. A

GPA: 3.3/4

Gattaca

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 14 of 100



Gattaca, 1997. A conventionally-born person hides in a society of engineered supermen.

Written & directed by Andrew Niccol. Starring Ethan Hawke.

Concept: C
Story: F. Lots of stuff happens which in a competently-written movie would be the elements of the plot, but in this movie, those things have almost no impact on the actions of the characters, and no consequences.
Characters: F. These characters must have been written by someone who's heard of human beings, but has never actually seen one in person.
Dialog: D
Pacing: F
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: A
Acting: D. The actors seem as bored with this movie as I am.
Music: C
Enjoyment: F. Boring, and hopelessly in love with its own half-baked ideas. Niccol's idea of developing those ideas is to add more and more blunt metaphors, and not care that the movie does not work on a literal level.

GPA: 1.3/4

site update

I'm making some changes to my rating system. It's essentially the same, but with the wording changed to (hopefully) make it less confusing. Here's a description, copied from my About page:

I give each title a grade (A, B, C, D or F) for each of the following aspects:
- concept
- story
- characters
- dialog
- pacing
- cinematography
- special effects/design
- acting
- music
- enjoyment (how much fun I had watching the movie)
and average them for a GPA on a 4 point scale.

In the "enjoyment" category, I allow for a grade of A+ (calculated as 5.0), meaning my favorite movies get an extra point.

The only big change in the new system is that the former "subjective rating" no longer has a unique 10 point rating system, and is now just another of the categories (renamed "enjoyment"). Which means my very-difficult-to-explain method of averaging the "subjective" and "objective" ratings (for my Favorites page and Directors page) is eliminated. The "GPA" is the movie's score, and that's the end of it.

It'll take a long while to update the Favorites page and Directors page. I'll post again to let you know when I'm done with that, on the off chance that anyone other than me cares.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season Six

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season Six, 1997-1998. The galaxy goes to war.

Created by Rick Berman & Michael Piller. Directed by Allan Kroeker (6 episodes), Mike Vejar (2), Jesús Salvador Treviño (2), LeVar Burton (2), Winrich Kolbe (2), David Livingston (2), Victor Lobl (2), Anson Williams (1), Chip Chalmers (1), René Auberjonois (1), Avery Brooks (1), Allan Eastman (1), Jonathan West (1), Michael Dorn (1) & Alexander Siddig (1). Written by Ira Steven Behr (9 episodes), Hans Beimler (9), Ronald D. Moore (6), Bradley Thompson (5), David Weddle (5), René Echevarria (3), Michael Taylor (2), Pam Pietroforte (2), Mark Gehred-O'Connell (1), Marc Scott Zicree (1), Philip Kim (1), Peter Allan Fields (1), Harry M. Werksman (1), Gabrielle Stanton (1) & Joe Menosky (1). Starring Avery Brooks.

Concept: 3/4 (Good). There's always been a lot of talk about war in Star Trek, but, 30 years in, this is the first time you really see it in detail. It's not just some battles, or after-the-fact lesson-learning, or "by the way the Borg killed a lot of people now lets get on with what we were doing." They had to spend five seasons building to it in order to make it work, losing casual viewers in the process. Ballsy.
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). Every season of this show keeps surprising me with its quality. I'm a little sad that I now only have 26 episodes left; they're only just beginning to exploit the Star Trek universe's potential.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.7/4 (Good)

"The Magnetic Telescope"

"The Magnetic Telescope" (short), 1942. Superman vs. a mad scientist with a comet.

Directed by Dave Fleischer. Written by Dan Gordon & Carl Meyer, based on characters by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. Starring Joan Alexander, Bud Collyer & Julian Noa.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). The series continues to decline. Luckily it started high enough that it has a long way to go down before it stops being good.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

Minority Report

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 13 of 100



Minority Report, 2002. A cop is framed for murder... in the future!

Directed by Steven Spielberg. Written by Scott Frank & Jon Cohen, based on a story by Philip K. Dick. Starring Tom Cruise.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent). Very good, up until the happily-ever-after ending. (Spoiler: It's a Spielberg movie.)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad). Lots of pointless action in the first half of the movie, so that by the time you get to the plot, halfway through, you expect the movie to be over. I think Tom Cruise has a contract stipulation that he has to spend a given amount of every movie in free fall.
Cinematography: 1/4 (Bad). They're doing something unique, but I can't figure out what the intended effect is.  Mostly it just looks like they mucked it up to camouflage the CG.
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). It's a clever plot, with a lot of memorable moments scattered throughout. But I never really got into it. Despite good science fiction, it's ultimately more of an action movie (with not particularly good action).
Objective Rating (Average): 2.1/4 (Okay)

You Only Live Twice

You Only Live Twice, 1967. Spaceships are captured in order to start a war.

Directed by Lewis Gilbert. Written by Roald Dahl, based on a book by Ian Fleming. Starring Sean Connery.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 0/4 (Terrible)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 0/4 (Terrible)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 1/4 (Bad)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 3/10 (Bad, 1/4). Boring, inane and racist. You expect a James Bond film to be corny and cringe-inducing, but being boring really makes this installment stand out as uniquely awful. The only thing about it that isn't terrible (apart from the theme song, or course) is Donald Pleasence's Blofeld - but he's only in the movie for about five minutes.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.2/4 (Bad)

"The Bulleteers"

"The Bulleteers" (short), 1942. Superman vs. some guys with a "bullet" plane.

Directed by Dave Fleischer. Written by Bill Turner & Carl Meyer, based on characters by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. Starring Joan Alexander, Jackson Beck, Bud Collyer & Julian Noa.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad). Really, an airplane? That's supposed to be a match for Superman?
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)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). I love Fleischer Superman, so I still think this is awesome, but the series is definitely going downhill.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.2/4 (Okay)

Total Recall

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 12 of 100



Total Recall, 1990. An ordinary man turns into a super spy after something goes wrong with recreational memory alterations.

Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Written by Ronald Shusett, Dan O'Bannon & Gary Goldman; story by Shusett, O'Bannon & Jon Povill, based on a story by Philip K. Dick. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 4/4 (Great)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 1/4 (Bad)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). The Paul Verhoeven movie with a script good enough that even Paul Verhoeven couldn't wreck it - though he really tries. If it had been made by someone with any sense of taste or aesthetics, it might have been one of my favorite movies.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

Survivor: Season 21

Survivor: Season 21, 2010. A reality game in the Nicaraguan rain forest.

Created by Charlie Parsons. Starring Jeff Probst.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: n/a
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). I've always hated reality shows, and had never seen a single episode (including the occasional episode of earlier Survivor seasons) that I would call good. I'm not sure why we started watching this, but it sure took me by surprise. There's no bullshit, no stalling, no manufactured drama. It's just a bunch of people playing a strategy game. I might be hooked.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

RoboCop

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 11 of 100



RoboCop, 1987. A murdered cop is turned into a cyborg.

Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Written by Edward Neumeier & Michael Miner. Starring Peter Weller.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 1/4 (Bad)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). Corny, with a bad sense of humor and a misguided attempt at satire that conflicts with the aggressive tone. It had the potential to be interesting science fiction, but that element is confined to two or three scenes. Instead, the focus is on action, which consists entirely of tropes copied from better movies.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.9/4 (Eh)

Breaking Bad: The Final Season

Breaking Bad: The Final Season [season five part 2], 2013. A retired drug lord tries to avoid capture.

Created by Vince Gilligan. Directed by Michelle MacLaren (2 episodes), Bryan Cranston (1), Michael Slovis (1), Sam Catlin (1), Rian Johnson (1), Peter Gould (1) & Gilligan (1). Written by Peter Gould (2 episodes), Thomas Schnauz (1), Gennifer Hutchison (1), Sam Catlin (1), George Mastras (1), Moira Walley-Beckett (1) & Gilligan (1). Starring Bryan Cranston.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 3/4 (Good). Great through episode six.
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
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). The finale is a little disappointing. The story arc of this season wraps up in episode six, and the final two episodes feel like an epilogue. They're still good episodes, but compared to the rest of the season (which is one of the best of the series), it's anticlimactic.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.3/4 (Very good)

Catching Fire

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, 2013. A teenage girl is an unwilling symbol of rebellion against a dystopian government.

Directed by Francis Lawrence. Written by Simon Beaufoy & Michael Arndt, based on a book by Suzanne Collins. Starring Jennifer Lawrence.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 4/4 (Great). My big complaint about the first movie was that once they got in all the necessary plot stuff, there wasn't any room for trauma or character development. Boy howdy is that made up for in this film. They're clearly seeing the character arc as taking place over the course of the entire series, and in retrospect, what they did in the first movie was probably the right way to handle Act I.
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). It's a bit of a downer, by its nature. And it doesn't have as much action or excitement as the rest of the series. But I don't think they could have done any better adapting this book. It's rare that I enjoy a movie based on a book I've read, so for me to feel this strongly positive, about a movie based on a book I loved, is pretty damn impressive.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.4/4 (Very good)

Star Trek: Voyager: Season Four

Star Trek: Voyager: Season Four, 1997-1998. A spaceship stranded on the other side of the galaxy continues to make its way home.

Created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller & Jeri Taylor. Directed by Jesús Salvador Treviño (4 episodes), Alexander Singer (3), David Livingston (3), Winrich Kolbe (2), Anson Williams (2), Kenneth Biller (2), Allan Kroeker (2), Victor Lobl (2), LeVar Burton (1), Mike Vejar (1), Nancy Malone (1), Allan Eastman (1), Andrew Robinson (1) & Tim Russ (1). Written by Joe Menosky (9 episodes), Brannon Braga (8), Lisa Klink (5), Bryan Fuller (4), Jeri Taylor (3), Kenneth Biller (3), Harry 'Doc' Kloor (2), Jimmy Diggs (2), André Bormanis (2), Sherry Klein (1), Rick Williams (1), Andrew Shepard Price (1), Mark Gaberman (1), Robert J. Doherty (1), Steve J. Kay (1), Greg Elliot (1), Michael Perricone (1) & Rick Berman (1). Starring Kate Mulgrew.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent). Seven of Nine shows up, and suddenly Voyager has a well-written character. It would have been better if they'd just started writing Janeway well (or Kes, for that matter). When they briefly did that in season two, it was pretty great. But I'll take what I can get. Meanwhile, the inanity of the other characters intensifies.
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad). Usually terrible, with a couple surprising moments of greatness.
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). It's occasionally awful, but most episodes have something to offer, and a few are very good. I would have given it a 7/10, except that a lot of the mediocre episodes manage to be boring as well, which is a first for Star Trek.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.9/4 (Eh)

"The Arctic Giant"

"The Arctic Giant" (short), 1942. Superman vs. a giant dinosaur.

Directed by Dave Fleischer. Written by Bill Turner & Tedd Pierce, based on characters by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. Starring Joan Alexander, Jackson Beck, Bud Collyer & Julian Noa.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). It's not as visually amazing as previous Superman cartoons (although Metropolis does have some great architecture). On the other hand, Lois Lane is extra sassy.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.5/4 (Okay)

The Butterfly Effect

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 10 of 100



The Butterfly Effect, 2004. A man is able to relive and change moments in his childhood.

Written & directed by Eric Bress & J. Mackye Gruber. Starring Ashton Kutcher.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good). It helps that almost no difficult acting was required of Ashton Kutcher.
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). It's pretty clever, but not much else. There's lots of horrible stuff that happens just for the sake of having something horrible to happen. And a love story that exists for no apparent reason other than that the people involved are the main characters in the same movie.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.2/4 (Okay)

Why Worry?

Why Worry?, 1923. A wealthy hypochondriac vacations in South America during a revolution.

Directed by Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor. Written by Taylor, with Ted Wilde, Tim Whelan & H.M. Walker. Starring Harold Lloyd.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
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: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). It's amusing, but not exceptionally so - the usual Harold Lloyd standard of pleasant and forgettable, with a few bigger laughs thrown in here and there.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.2/4 (Okay)

[update of a previous post - original is here]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Two

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Two, 1997-1998. The vampire-hunting teenager fights more monsters.

Created by Joss Whedon. Directed by Whedon (5 episodes), Bruce Seth Green (5), David Greenwalt (2), David Semel (2), John T. Kretchmer (1), Ellen S. Pressman (1), David Solomon (1), Michael Lange (1), James A. Contner (1), Michael Gershman (1), Deran Sarafian (1) & James Whitmore, Jr. (1). Written by Whedon (7 episodes), Marti Noxon (6), David Greenwalt (3), Dean Batali (3), Rob Des Hotel (3), Ty King (2), Matt Kiene (1), Joe Reinkemeyer (1), Carl Ellsworth (1), Howard Gordon (1), David Fury (1) & Elin Hampton (1). Starring Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good). Occasionally great.
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Better than season one. About half of it follows the pattern of the first season (monster shows up, buffy kills it), while the rest is full-on soap opera. The former is getting tedious, while the latter is uneven but interestingly unpredictable.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

"Billion Dollar Limited"

"Billion Dollar Limited" (short), 1942. Superman vs. a train robbery.

Directed by Dave Fleischer. Written by Seymour Kneitel & Izzy Sparber, based on characters by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. Starring Joan Alexander & Bud Collyer.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good). Lois Lane: Action Hero.
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good). Superman's up against more mundane challenges here - first a carload of gangsters, then a runaway train - which leaves less room for the brilliant science fiction design work the first two cartoons had.
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). It was nice of Superman to stop that train, but I'm pretty sure Lois had the bad guys under control.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.8/4 (Good)

"The Mechanical Monsters"

"The Mechanical Monsters" (short), 1941. Superman vs. an army of robot thieves.

Directed by Dave Fleischer. Written by Izzy Sparber & Seymour Kneitel, based on characters by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. Starring Joan Alexander & Bud Collyer.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Only two cartoons into the series, and already it's too repetitive. It doesn't do anything that the first one didn't do, and it doesn't do it quite as well. Still awesome, though. If I'd seen this one first, I probably would have given it a 9/10.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.6/4 (Good)

Lolita

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 9 of 100



Lolita, 1962. A man obsessed with a teenage girl marries her mother.

Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Written by Vladimir Nabokov, based on his book. Starring James Mason & Sue Lyon.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad). At least they made Lolita older. A story about taking advantage of a promiscuous teenager (which the movie is) makes for a decidedly less miserable movie-watching experience than a story about child-molesting (which the book is) would.
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). It isn't until the very end of the movie that we're given any sort of hint that everything we're seeing might not be real, which kind of defeats the purpose. I guess it would consequently be more interesting on a second viewing, but I have zero interest in watching it a second time. There just isn't anything in it to get you to care.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.3/4 (Okay)

"Superman"

"Superman" (short), 1941. A mad scientist intends to destroy Metropolis with a giant ray gun.

Directed by Dave Fleischer. Written by Seymour Kneitel & Izzy Sparber, based on characters by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. Starring Joan Alexander, Jackson Beck, Bud Collyer, Jack Mercer & Julian Noa.

Concept: 3/4 (Good). Bonus points for Superman himself. (This is his first film.)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent). They do surprisingly well, for a 10-minute action-oriented cartoon.
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites, 4/4 5/4). In a perfect world, every super hero movie would aspire to be as awesome as this.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.8/4 2.9/4 (Good)

Thor: The Dark World

Thor: The Dark World, 2013. Nihilistic space elves want to destroy the universe.

Directed by Alan Taylor. Written by Christopher Yost, Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely; story by Don Payne & Robert Rodat, based on a comic book by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby. Starring Chris Hemsworth.

Concept: 0/4 (Terrible)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). Brainless and completely forgettable. The only reason to care about the character is because previous movies made him likable - which is enough to make the (mostly pretty good) action scenes work, which is in turn enough to make the movie entertaining.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.0/4 (Indifferent)

"We're in the Money"

"We're in the Money" (short), 1933. Toys in a department store sing and dance.

Directed by Rudolf Ising.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
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: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). Extremely pointless. There is some nice dancing here and there, but not enough to make it worth watching.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.5/4 (Eh)

"Bosko's Picture Show"

"Bosko's Picture Show" (short), 1933. Bosko hosts a motion picture showing.

Directed by Friz Freleng & Hugh Harman. Starring Johnny Murray & Rochelle Hudson.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 1/4 (Bad). The sound is terrible; the newsreel sequence is largely unintelligible.
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). The nature of the thing (a series of different "films") keeps it entertainingly unpredictable, although none of the components are especially good on their own.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.9/4 (Eh)

Taken

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 8 of 100



Taken, 2008. A retired spy hunts his daughter's kidnappers.

Directed by Pierre Morel. Written by Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen. Starring Liam Neeson.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 3/4 (Good). Neeson has been doing the Action Hero thing for so long now, sometimes I forget that he used to be an Oscar-winning actor.
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). There's a lot that's good about it. But in the end, action movies should be fun. And this is a movie about sex trafficking, which, go figure, is kind of a downer.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.2/4 (Okay)

Despicable Me 2

Despicable Me 2, 2013. Gru is recruited by the Anti-Villain League.

Directed by Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud. Written by Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio. Starring Steve Carell.

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: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). More of the same as the first movie: disposable entertainment. The plot is tedious and could not be more predictable. You couldn't possibly care about anything that happens. But it's funny enough to be fun to watch.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.0/4 (Indifferent)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season One

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season One, 1997. A vampire-hunting teenager moves to a new school.

Created by Joss Whedon. Directed by Bruce Seth Green (3 episodes), Charles Martin Smith (1), John T. Kretchmer (1), Stephen Cragg (1), David Semel (1), Scott Brazil (1), Stephen Posey (1), Ellen S. Pressman (1), Reza Badiyi (1) & Whedon (1). Written by Whedon (5 episodes), David Greenwalt (3), Rob Des Hotel (2), Dean Batali (2), Ashley Gable (2), Thomas A. Swyden (2), Dana Reston (1), Matt Kiene (1) & Joe Reinkemeyer (1). Starring Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 1/4 (Bad)
Special effects/design: 1/4 (Bad)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Fun, but slightly repetitive and very low budget. I expected it to be better, based on how much people love it (and how much I love Firefly). Presumably it will improve in later seasons. The level of thought that seems to go into everything is promising.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.1/4 (Okay)

"The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon"

"The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon" (short), 1933. Dinnerware sings and dances and is attacked by dough.

Directed by Rudolf Ising.

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: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). It's pretty dull in the first half. Then things start getting weird. It's odd: the story here is a carbon copy of "It's Got Me Again," except with that one it was good in the first half and dull in the second half.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.8/4 (Eh)

"Shuffle Off to Buffalo"

"Shuffle Off to Buffalo" (short), 1933. Singing and dancing at the baby factory.

Directed by Rudolf Ising. Starring Johnny Murray.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
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: 2/4 (Indifferent).
Subjective Rating: 2/10 (Terrible, 0/4). Pointless, humorless, and featuring just about every kind of ethnic caricature (for no reason other than that it was easier than thinking up gags).
Objective Rating (Average): 1.2/4 (Bad)

The Fifth Element

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 7 of 100



The Fifth Element, 1997. A cab driver helps a genetically engineered girl save the world.

Directed by Luc Besson. Written by Besson & Robert Mark Kamen; story by Besson. Starring Bruce Willis & Milla Jovovich.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great). A shameless and uninhibited celebration of 1970s and 80s sci-fi artwork and movies.
Acting: 3/4 (Good). I'd never actually seen a Milla Jovovich movie (apart from this one, which I last saw in the 90s). She's surprisingly good. Too bad she just makes B horror movies.
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). Lots of fun. It pulls off a nearly impossible balance of not taking itself seriously, but also not quite being a comedy. It should never have worked - should have turned out a disastrous, big-budget sci-fi version of Hudson Hawk - but somehow it does.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.3/4 (Very good)

"I Like Mountain Music"

"I Like Mountain Music" (short), 1933. Magazine illustrations sing and dance in a drug store.

Directed by Rudolf Ising.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 0/4 (Terrible)
Characters: 0/4 (Terrible)
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: 3/10 (Bad, 1/4). I don't get it.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.6/4 (Eh)

Safety Last

Safety Last!, 1923. A store clerk arranges a building-scaling promotional stunt.

Directed by Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor. Written by Hal Roach, Taylor & Tim Whelan, with H.M. Walker. Starring Harold Lloyd.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 0/4 (Terrible). It's like the first two thirds of the movie exist purely to make you not sympathize with Harold.
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). One of Lloyd's worst films. I can see why people like the climbing sequence (even though it's just a less-funny variant on a bit he's done before), but that only makes up a small part of an otherwise bad movie.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.9/4 (Eh)

[update of a previous post - original is here]

Captain Phillips

Captain Phillips, 2013. Somali pirates try to hijack a cargo ship.

Directed by Paul Greengrass. Written by Billy Ray, based on a book by Richard Phillips & Stephan Talty. Starring Tom Hanks & Barkhad Abdi.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 4/4 (Great)
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: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). As suspense, it's a pretty great film - exciting, tense, and intelligent. And then there's the final scene - one of the most powerful scenes I've ever seen. Hanks transforms the movie from just an expertly crafted thriller into one of the rare handful of films that I'm sure I'll never forget.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.7/4 (Great)

Monsters University

Monsters University, 2013. A young Mike and Sully go to scaring school.

Directed by Dan Scanlon. Written by Daniel Gerson, Robert L. Baird & Scanlon. Starring Billy Crystal & John Goodman.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
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)
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites, 4/4 5/4). It had mediocre reviews (for Pixar), and it's a prequel. I didn't think there was much chance of it being anything but a disappointment. I was very wrong. It's at least as good, if not better than, Monsters, Inc. Like that movie, it doesn't have the emotional impact of some other Pixar films. But it's hilariously funny, and adorable, and all-around fun to watch.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.3/4 3.4/4 (Very good)

"The Blue Umbrella"

"The Blue Umbrella" (short), 2013. A pair of umbrellas meet on a crowded street.

Written & directed by Saschka Unseld.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 1/4 (Bad). It just kind of stops at the end, like they realized they were out of time and just said, "Okay, happy ending now."
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: n/a
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
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). Cute, and very impressive visually.  It tries too hard and relentlessly to be Filled with Wonder, though, which, combined with the pop score, gives it the tone of a commercial.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.9/4 (Good)

Die Hard: With a Vengeance

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 6 of 100



Die Hard: With a Vengeance, 1995. A mad bomber toys with John McClane... or does he?

Directed by John McTiernan. Written by Jonathan Hensleigh. Starring Bruce Willis, Jeremy Irons & Samuel L. Jackson.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent). Might have been a better idea if Speed hadn't already been made.
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent). It moves at a good pace, but there's just too much of it. Feels like watching two movies in one sitting.
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). Reasonably entertaining.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.9/4 (Eh)

"Bosko in Person"

"Bosko in Person" (short), 1933. Bosko and Honey sing and dance on stage.

Directed by Friz Freleng & Hugh Harman. Starring Johnny Murray & Rochelle Hudson.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent). There is no story whatsoever, which is great for the cartoon, but I guess I can't call it a great story.
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
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). Apart from some pop culture references (mostly over my head, naturally), this is non-stop delightful.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.6/4 (Good)

Gremlins

Gremlins, 1984. A cute creature spawns a pack of monsters with a sick sense of humor.

Directed by Joe Dante. Written by Chris Columbus. Starring Zach Galligan.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Kind of awesome. Also a mess, to such a degree that I suspect it's deliberate; it seems like about half the scenes exist solely to create loose ends. And the fact that it's a xenophobic allegory is a little off-putting. But still, it's kind of awesome.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.1/4 (Okay)

Carrie

Carrie, 1976. An awkward, unpopular teenager has telekinetic powers.

Directed by Brian De Palma. Written by Lawrence D. Cohen, based on a book by Stephen King. Starring Sissy Spacek.

Concept: 2/4 (Indiffernet)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good). Sometimes great, often mediocre.
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good). Spacek is great.
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). Apart from a handful of iconic images, it's pretty bad. I think they decided the genre/tone of each scene by picking it out of a hat.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.3/4 (Okay)

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, 1962. A former child star torments her crippled sister.

Directed by Robert Aldrich. Written by Lukas Heller, based on a book by Henry Farrell. Starring Bette Davis & Joan Crawford.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Very suspenseful. It feels overly long despite that, maybe because you spend so much of the running time feeling unsettled and uncomfortable.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.1/4 (Very good)

MythBusters: 2004 Season

MythBusters: 2004 season* [year two]. A couple special effects guys and cohorts test whether various urban legends are possible.

Created by Peter Rees. Directed by Rees (7 episodes), Andrew Farrell (1), & ? (8). Starring Jamie Hyneman & Adam Savage.

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: n/a
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). It's frustrating how off-track they get at testing myths this season. It's often more about messing around on the theme of a myth. Still, it's fun to watch them messing around.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4 (Okay)

*There doesn't seem to be any standard for what constitutes a season of MythBusters. No two sources I can find agree with each other. So I'm going with Wikipedia's arbitrary but conveniently simple method of dividing the show by broadcast year.

(quasi-update of a previous post - original is here)