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)