A Bit of Fry & Laurie: Series Four

A Bit of Fry & Laurie: Series Four, 1995. Sketch comedy.

Created by, written by & starring Stephen Fry & Hugh Laurie. Directed by Bob Spiers.

Concept: B
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: B
Enjoyment: There is an occasional funny joke. It's very bitter. I always felt relief when an episode came to an end. C

GPA: 2.2/4

"Showdown"

"Showdown" (short), 1942. Superman vs. a Superman impersonator.

Directed by Izzy Sparber. Written by Jay Morton, based on characters by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. Starring Joan Alexander, Jackson Beck, Bud Collyer, & Jack Mercer.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: B
Enjoyment: Pretty good. It's amusing to see some criminals for once that have taken precautions against the inevitable arrival of Superman. Lois doesn't get anything to do, though. B

GPA: 2.5/4

Fiddler on the Roof

Fiddler on the Roof, 1971. A man with five daughters is faced with changes in society.

Directed by Norman Jewison. Written by Joseph Stein; adapted by Tommy Abbott from a play by Stein, based on stories by Sholom Aleichem. Starring Topol, with Norma Crane, Leonard Frey, Molly Picon, Paul Mann, Rosalind Harris, Michele Marsh, Neva Small, & Paul Michael Glaser.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: D
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: I find most of the songs annoying and ineffective. And the musical numbers are pretty boring. But John Williams and Isaac Stern do an excellent job with the instrumental stuff. C
Enjoyment: Slow, and doesn't make me care about it. It's too serious to be any fun, too much a musical to be serious. It's not a bad movie; there's some nice enough stuff here and there. But I can think of about a million other things I'd rather do with three hours. C

GPA: 2.3/4

X-Men: Days of Future Past

X-Men: Days of Future Past, 2014. Time-traveling Wolverine tries to stop the rise of evil robots.

Directed by Bryan Singer. Written by Simon Kinberg; story by Jane Goldman, Kinberg, & Matthew Vaughn. Starring Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, & Jennifer Lawrence, with Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Evan Peters, & Patrick Stewart.

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: It's a wonderful thing when a movie is many times better than your expectations. I never would have thought an X-Men movie would make me cry. A

GPA: 3.0/4

Help!

Help!, 1965. A cult wants to sacrifice Ringo.

Directed by Richard Lester. Written by Marc Behm & Charles Wood; story by Behm. Starring George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr, with Leo McKern, Eleanor Bron, Victor Spinetti & Roy Kinnear.

Concept: C
Story: F
Characters: D
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: D
Music: Yeah, okay, it's great music, obviously. But it's not incorporated into the story at all - they just stop to sing a song every now and then. B
Enjoyment: It's painless to watch, and interestingly bizarre. It's a lot like Monty Python, without the humor. C

GPA: 1.9/4

"Japoteurs"

"Japoteurs" (short), 1942. Superman vs. giant-bomber-plane hijackers.

Directed by Seymour Kneitel. Written by Bill Turner & Carl Meyer, based on characters by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. Starring Joan Alexander & Bud Collyer.

Concept: Wait, the people trying to get rid of the deadly super weapon are the badguys? D
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: D
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: D
Music: B
Enjoyment: If it weren't for the racism, this would be pretty good. But, you know, it's a film called "Japoteurs," so, yeah. C

GPA: 2.1/4

The Twilight Zone: Season One (wrap-up)

The Twilight Zone: Season One, 1959-1960. A collection of modern-day fairy tales.

[see individual episode posts for details]

Concept: Great idea for a show, although the episodes only occasionally have good ideas. A [episode-by-episode average: 2.89/4]
Story: I was surprised by how weak the stories are. I mean, they're mostly good, but I expected greatness. C [average: 2.39/4]
Characters: C [average: 2.14/4]
Dialog: B [average: 2.5/4]
Pacing: B [average: 2.67/4]
Cinematography: Great for early television. B [average: 2.69/4]
Special effects/design: B [average: 2.53/4]
Acting: B [average: 2.83/4]
Music: B [average: 2.89/4]
Enjoyment: I had extremely high expectations for this show - reinforced by the exceptional first episode - so maybe I'm not judging it fairly. But The Twilight Zone is not everything I'd hoped it would be. The few great episodes make up for a lot, though. And even when it doesn't work, they're at least constantly trying to do something different. B [average: 2.72/4]

GPA: 2.9/4 [episode-by-episode average: 2.63/4]

The Twilight Zone: "A World of His Own"

The Twilight Zone: "A World of His Own" (episode 36 of 36 from season one), 1960. A writer can create real people with his dictaphone.

Created by Rod Serling. Directed by Ralph Nelson. Written by Richard Matheson. Starring Keenan Wynn, with Phyllis Kirk & Mary LaRoche.

Concept: C
Story: B
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: C
Enjoyment: A mediocre episode for the most part, but it has some fun with itself - especially in the coda. B

GPA: 2.3/4

The Twilight Zone: "The Mighty Casey"

The Twilight Zone: "The Mighty Casey" (episode 35 of 36 from season one), 1960. A robot plays professional baseball.

Written & created by Rod Serling. Directed by Alvin Ganzer & Robert Parrish. Starring Jack Warden, with Abraham Sofaer & Robert Sorrells.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: C
Enjoyment: Maybe this would seem cute if you were a baseball fan? I can't imagine there are many people who aren't Rod Serling who love baseball and also like comedic fairy tales. C

GPA: 2.2/4

The Twilight Zone: "The After Hours"

The Twilight Zone: "The After Hours" (episode 34 of 36 from season one), 1960. A woman is taken to a non-existent floor of a department store.

Written & created by Rod Serling. Directed by Douglas Heyes. Starring Anne Francis.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C
Enjoyment: The basic idea here seems to be, as far as I can tell, that Rod Serling couldn't think up a story for this episode. But mannequins are creepy, right? C

GPA: 2.2/4

Godzilla

Godzilla, 2014. Giant monsters smash.

Directed by Gareth Edwards. Written by Max Borenstein; story by Dave Callaham. Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, & Elizabeth Olsen.

Concept: A
Story: C
Characters: D
Dialog: D
Pacing: C
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: A
Enjoyment: The focus is on the characters, which is great from the standpoint of teasing the monster, but also kind of awful since the characters are not even remotely interesting. It's a lot better than I expected it to be, though. Godzilla kicks ass, and the movie's a lot of fun whenever he's around. B

GPA: 2.7/4

The Twilight Zone: "Mr. Bevis"

The Twilight Zone: "Mr. Bevis" (episode 33 of 36 from season one), 1960. An eccentric man has a bad day and meets his guardian angel.

Written & created by Rod Serling. Directed by William Asher. Starring Orson Bean & Henry Jones.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: C
Enjoyment: Pleasantly sweet, but not paticularly interesting or half as fun as the premise should have made it. C

GPA: 2.3/4

Torchwood: Miracle Day

Torchwood: Miracle Day [Torchwood series 4], 2011. No one in the world is able to die.

Created by Russell T. Davies. Directed by Billy Gierhart (4 episodes), Guy Ferland (3), Gwyneth Horder-Payton (2), & Bharat Nalluri (1). Written by Jane Espenson (5 episodes), Davies (2), John Shiban (2), Doris Egan (1), Jim Gray (1), Ryan Scott (1), & John Fay (1). Starring John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Mekhi Phifer, Alexa Havins, & Kai Owen, with Bill Pullman & Lauren Ambrose.

Concept: B
Story: It's nice as it's going, but ultimately it's a mystery with nonsense for a solution. C
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: C
Enjoyment: It's no "Children of Earth" by a long shot (the fact that it's twice as long doesn't help). But it's entertaining and moderately suspenseful. Although, it's too insistent on teasing and holding things back when there isn't anything worth holding back - the J.J. Abrams school of writing. B

GPA: 2.6/4

The Twilight Zone: "A Passage for Trumpet"

The Twilight Zone: "A Passage for Trumpet" (episode 32 of 36 from season one), 1960. An alcoholic trumpet player commits suicide.

Written & created by Rod Serling. Directed by Don Medford. Starring Jack Klugman, with John Anderson & Frank Wolff.

Concept: C
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: Kind of cute. It's not a noteworthy episode, but it's executed well. B

GPA: 2.9/4

The Twilight Zone: "The Chaser"

The Twilight Zone: "The Chaser" (episode 31 of 36 from season one), 1960. A man buys a potion to make a woman love him.

Created by Rod Serling. Directed by Douglas Heyes. Written by Robert Presnell Jr., based on a story by John Collier. Starring John McIntire, Patricia Barry, & George Grizzard.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: Pure fairy tale. B

GPA: 2.7/4

The Twilight Zone: "A Stop at Willoughby"

The Twilight Zone: "A Stop at Willoughby" (episode 30 of 36 from season one), 1960. An ad executive dreams that his train stops at a peaceful town.

Written & created by Rod Serling. Directed by Robert Parrish. Starring James Daly.

Concept: D
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: D
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C
Enjoyment: A dumb idea, and a boring episode. D

GPA: 1.9/4

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

The Amazing Spider-Man 2, 2014. A parade of villains all have an inexplicable hatred of Spider-Man.

Directed by Marc Webb. Written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, & Jeff Pinkner; story by Kurtzman, Orci, Pinkner, & James Vanderbilt, based on books by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko. Starring Andrew Garfield & Emma Stone, with Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, & Sally Field.

Concept: C
Story: F
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: D
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: D
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: It has one good scene - where Electro turns from frightened to evil. The rest of the movie is crap. As a whole, it has no shape or direction. In the details, it makes no sense. D

GPA: 1.7/4

Angel: Season Two

Angel: Season Two, 2000-2001. The vampire detective is driven to alienate his friends.

Created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. Directed by James A. Contner (3 episodes), Greenwalt (2), Tim Minear (2), Fred Keller (2), Michael Lange (1), David Semel (1), Whedon (1), Krishna Rao (1), David Grossman (1), Bruce Seth Green (1), Michael Grossman (1), R.D. Price (1), Bill L. Norton (1), Scott McGinnis (1), James Whitmore, Jr. (1), Thomas J. Wright (1), & Turi Meyer (1). Written by Minear (7 episodes), Greenwalt (6), Shawn Ryan (5), Mere Smith (4), Whedon (2), Jim Kouf (2), Jane Espenson (1), Douglas Petrie (1), & David Fury (1). Starring David Boreanaz, with Charisma Carpenter, Alexis Denisof, & J. August Richards.

Concept: They acknowledge at one point that a show about someone who broods is not entertaining. It's still a show about someone who broods, though, so I don't know what to think about that. D
Story: They have some fun in the last few episodes, but most of the season's story is all about making someone who broods a lot brood more than usual. C
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: C
Music: D
Enjoyment: Much better than the first season, but that's not saying much. Once again, in the moments when it lets itself have fun, it's kind of nice. Those moments are much more frequent than season one, but still not enough. C

GPA: 2.0/4

Stagecoach

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 28 of 100



Stagecoach, 1939. A stagecoach rides through Indian country.

Directed by John Ford. Written by Dudley Nichols; story by Ernest Haycox. Starring Claire Trevor & John Wayne, with Andy Devine, John Carradine, Thomas Mitchell, Louise Platt, George Bancroft, Donald Meek, & Berton Churchill.

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: A
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C
Enjoyment: Entertaining. Although, most of the movie is build-up, and I found the payoff a little disappointing. All that fuss about the Indians attacking, and when they finally show up they don't do much more than fall off their horses. B

GPA: 3.0/4

Revenge of the Sith

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 27 of 100



Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, 2005. War distracts from political machinations... in space!

Written & directed by George Lucas. Starring Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, & Hayden Christensen, with Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson, & Frank Oz.

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: D
Dialog: D
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: There's some terrible CG, if you're expecting a live-action movie. If you don't mind that it's a cartoon, it often looks pretty great. B
Acting: D
Music: B
Enjoyment: Perfectly okay. A lot of the action is fun. It has its share of cringe-inducing awful scenes, but nowhere near what the other two prequels have. C

GPA: 2.3/4

Under the Skin

Under the Skin, 2014. Something posing as human lures men to their doom.

Directed by Jonathan Glazer. Written by Walter Campbell & Glazer, based on a book by Michel Faber. Starring Scarlett Johansson.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: A
Special effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: A
Enjoyment: Visually, very cool. And a lot of stuff is interestingly disturbing. The whole point seems to be the development of the character, and she remains too alien the entire time to get anything from that aspect. You don't ever get a sense of what she's thinking until two or three scenes later, and you never have anything like an understanding of the character. As far as the science fiction goes, it's as absent as possible. It's kind of like a Tarkovsky film, except not boring. Which I guess I kind of like, apparently? At it's worst, it's at least fascinating. B

GPA: 2.9/4

The Twilight Zone: "Nightmare as a Child"

The Twilight Zone: "Nightmare as a Child" (episode 29 of 36 from season one), 1960. A woman with repressed memories meets an unusual child.

Written & created by Rod Serling. Directed by Alvin Ganzer. Starring Janice Rule, Shepperd Strudwick, & Terry Burnham.

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: No real shortcomings, and well executed. And there's some suspense in wondering how dark they'll get in a 1960 TV show. B

GPA: 2.7/4

Only Lovers Left Alive

Only Lovers Left Alive, 2013. A mopey vampire is mopey.

Written & directed by Jim Jarmusch. Starring Tilda Swinton & Tom Hiddleston, with Anton Yelchin, Mia Wasikowska, John Hurt, & Jeffrey Wright.

Concept: D
Story: D
Characters: C
Dialog: A
Pacing: Slow in a way that would have been great if there was a story. C
Cinematography: A
Special effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: A
Enjoyment: Lots of style. Almost no story or character development. It's memorable, and rewarding, and the sort of movie that's far more enjoyable to think about than it is to watch. My wife described it as "a warm blanket." I'm not so sure about the "warm" part, but it is something you can be enveloped in. B

GPA: 2.8/4

The Twilight Zone: "A Nice Place to Visit"

The Twilight Zone: "A Nice Place to Visit" (episode 28 of 36 from season one), 1960. A petty criminal is introduced to the afterlife.

Created by Rod Serling. Directed by John Brahm. Written by Charles Beaumont. Starring Larry Blyden & Sebastian Cabot.

Concept: A
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: Predictable but fun. B

GPA: 3.0/4

Attack of the Clones

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, 2002. Political machinations lead to war... in space!.

Directed by George Lucas. Written by Lucas & Jonathan Hales; story by Lucas. Starring Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, & Hayden Christensen, with Christopher Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Frank Oz, & Ian McDiarmid.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: F
Dialog: F
Pacing: D
Cinematography: D
Special effects/design: Lots of terrible CG, but the design is nice, and the sound is great. C
Acting: D
Music: B
Enjoyment: Anakin Skywalker is almost as bad as Jar Jar Binks. But at least Jar Jar wasn't meant to be taken seriously. It does have some redeeming value, though. The Kamino scenes, for instance, are actually pretty good. D

GPA: 1.4/4