Sicario

Sicario, 2015. An FBI agent is given a morally ambiguous assignment.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve. Written by Taylor Sheridan. Starring Emily Blunt, with Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, & Daniel Kaluuya.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: A
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: A
Music: B
Enjoyment: It's intense and engrossing, but not satisfying. The story and character don't arc so much as spiral. C

GPA: 2.8/4

Survivor: Season 28

Survivor: Season 28, 2014. A reality game in the Philippines.

Created by Charlie Parsons. Starring Jeff Probst.

Concept: C
Story: B
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: n/a
Music: C
Enjoyment: This cast is a weird group. There are a lot of people playing hard, which makes for an excitingly unpredictable season. But there are also almost no likable people, and a lot of bitterness and fighting. Overall, as annoyed as I often was with it, I suppose it had me hooked in. B

GPA: 2.3/4

The Martian

The Martian, 2015. An astronaut is stranded on Mars.

Directed by Ridley Scott. Written by Drew Goddard, based on a book by Andy Weir. Starring Matt Damon, with Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, & Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Concept: A
Story: A
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: A
Acting: A
Music: B
Enjoyment: They would have had to have messed this up pretty badly for me not to love it. They did not. It's faithful to the book, only simplifying or cutting things out for time. The book is much more effective, though (although maybe that's just because I didn't know what was going to happen). I really hope this new trend of science fiction movies that are actually science fiction keeps up. A+

GPA: 3.6/4

The Cosby Show: Season Six

The Cosby Show: Season Six, 1989-1990. The day-to-day life of a large, wealthy family.

Created by Ed. Weinberger, Michael Leeson, & Bill Cosby. Directed by Tony Singletary (14 episodes), Jay Sandrich (8), Chuck Vinson (2), Carl Lauten (2), Neema Barnette (1), & Malcolm-Jamal Warner (1). Written by John Markus (19 episodes), Carmen Finestra (18), Gary Kott (17), Mark St. Germain (4), Lore Kimbrough (2), Ehrich Van Lowe (1), & Matt Robinson (1). Starring Cosby, with Phylicia Rashad, Sabrina LeBeauf, Geoffrey Owens, Lisa Bonet, Joseph C. Phillips, Warner, Tempestt Bledsoe, Keshia Knight Pulliam, & Raven-Symoné.

Concept: B
Story: D
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: B
Enjoyment: Basically, The Cosby Show lasts for five seasons. Then it's replaced with an ordinary sitcom that happens to feature the same characters. B

GPA: 2.4/4

[update of a previous post - original is here]

The Odd Couple

The Odd Couple, 1968. Two divorced men live together.

Directed by Gene Saks. Written by Neil Simon, based on his play. Starring Jack Lemmon, & Walter Matthau, with John Fiedler, Herb Edelman, David Sheiner, Larry Haines, Monica Evans, & Carole Shelley.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: The first act is pretty great. After that, it settles down into standard TV sit-com humor. B

GPA: 2.4/4

Dirty Dancing

Dirty Dancing, 1987. A rich girl falls for a dance instructor "from the streets."

Directed by Emile Ardolino. Written by Eleanor Bergstein. Starring Jennifer Grey, & Patrick Swayze, with Jerry Orbach, & Cynthia Rhodes.

Concept: D
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: D
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: D
Acting: C
Music: I believe "hot mess" is the term. B
Enjoyment: The only way I can make sense of this movie is that it's actually about time-travelers. C

GPA: 1.7/4

Lost in Translation

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 65 of 100



Lost in Translation, 2003. Two people with unhappy marriages meet and hang out in Tokyo.

Written & directed by Sofia Coppola. Starring Scarlett Johansson, & Bill Murray, with Giovanni Ribisi, & Anna Faris.

Concept: D
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: It evokes something. And with these two leads, you can't really go wrong. B

GPA: 2.8/4

Parks and Recreation: Season Five

Parks and Recreation: Season Five, 2012-2013. An idealistic civil servant is a city council member.

Created by Greg Daniels, & Michael Schur. Directed by Dean Holland (6 episodes), Craig Zisk (4), Ken Whittingham (2), Kyle Newacheck (1), Wendey Stanzler (1), Morgan Sackett (1), Dan Goor (1), Norm Hiscock (1), Nick Offerman (1), Tristram Shapeero (1), Amy Poehler (1), Nicole Holofcener (1), & Alan Yang (1). Written by Aisha Muharrar (3 episodes), Hiscock (3), Yang (3), Schur (3), Joe Mande (3), Harris Wittels (2), Alexandra Rushfield (2), Megan Amram (2), Dave King (2), Goor (1), Greg Levine (1), Nate DiMeo (1), & Matt Murray (1). Starring Poehler, with Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Adam Scott, & Rob Lowe.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: There are some hilarious moments, mostly revolving around Chris Pratt. But it's also moved pretty well away from the goofier-than-reality world the show inhabited at its best. B

GPA: 2.6/4

Parks and Recreation: Season Four

Parks and Recration: Season Four, 2011-2012. An idealistic civil servant runs for office.

Created by Greg Daniels, & Michael Schur. Directed by Dean Holland (5 episodes), Troy Miller (2), Randall Einhorn (2), Schur (2), Charles McDougall (1), Wendey Stanzler (1), Jorma Taccone (1), Nicole Holofcener (1), Tucker Gates (1), Michael Trim (1), Morgan Sackett (1), Robert B. Weide (1), Dan Goor (1), Tristram Shapeero (1), & Amy Poehler (1). Written by Goor (3 episodes), Aisha Muharrar (3), Alan Yang (3), Schur (3), Norm Hiscock (2), Katie Dippold (2), Harris Wittels (2), Chelsea Peretti (2), Dave King (2), Mike Scully (1), Nick Offerman (1), & Poehler (1). Starring Poehler, with Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Adam Scott, & Rob Lowe.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: It's not as funny or charming as the previous two seasons, but it's still a very good show. B

GPA: 2.6/4

The Goonies

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 64 of 100

The Goonies, 1985. Kids find a pirate's treasure map.

Directed by Richard Donner. Written by Chris Columbus; story by Steven Spielberg. Starring Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Martha Plimpton, & Jonathan Ke Quan, with John Matuszak, Robert Davi, Joe Pantoliano, & Anne Ramsey.

Concept: B
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: D
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: So much yelling. D
Music: C
Enjoyment: Two hours or screaming children. I really do not get what people see in this movie. D

GPA: 1.6/4

Parks and Recreation: Season Three

Parks and Recreation: Season Three, 2011. A city parks department copes with budget cuts.

Created by Greg Daniels, & Michael Schur. Directed by Dean Holland (4 episodes), Randall Einhorn (2), Wendey Stanzler (1), Schur (1), Tucker Gates (1), David Rogers (1), Rob Schrab (1), Michael Trim (1), Ken Whittingham (1), Nicole Holofcener (1), Troy Miller (1), & Matt Sohn (1). Written by Alan Yang (2 episodes), Norm Hiscock (2), Harris Wittels (2), Katie Dippold (2), Dan Goor (2), Schur (1), Emily Kapnek (1), Aisha Muharrar (1), Emily Spivey (1), Amy Poehler (1), Greg Levine (1), & Brian Rowe (1). Starring Poehler, with Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Adam Scott, & Rob Lowe.

Concept: C
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: A
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: Hilarious, and just an all-around nice place to be. A

GPA: 2.9/4

Parks and Recreation: Season Two

Parks and Recreation: Season Two, 2009-2010. An idealistic civil servant tries to get a park built.

Created by Greg Daniels, & Michael Schur. Directed by Troy Miller (4 episodes), Jason Woliner (3), Dean Holland (3), Alex Hardcastle (2), Tristram Shapeero (2), Paul Feig (1), Seth Gordon (1), Schur (1), Charles McDougall (1), Millicent Shelton (1), Daniels (1), Randall Einhorn (1), Ken Kwapis (1), Michael Trim (1), & Ken Whittingham (1). Written by Schur (4 episodes), Katie Dippold (3), Harris Wittels (3), Daniel J. Goor (3), Norm Hiscock (2), Rachel Axler (2), Alan Yang (2), Aisha Muharrar (2), Mike Scully (2), & Amy Poehler (1). Starring Poehler, with Rashida Jones, Paul Schneider, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, & Chris Pratt.

Concept: C
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: A
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: Unashamedly goofy. A

GPA: 2.9/4

Live and Let Die

Live and Let Die, 1973. An international gang murders a few people.

Directed by Guy Hamilton. Written by Tom Mankiewicz, based on a book by Ian Fleming. Starring Roger Moore, with Yaphet Kotto, Jane Seymour, Julius Harris, Geoffrey Holder, & Gloria Hendry.

Concept: D
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: D
Pacing: F
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: D
Acting: D
Music: D
Enjoyment: I continue to be amazed at just how bad James Bond movies can be. Each one manages to top the last in awfulness. This one is so boring, it's exhausting. F

GPA: 0.9/4

Parks and Recreation: Season One

Parks and Recreation: Season One, 2009. An idiot civil servant tries to get a park built.

Created by Greg Daniels, & Michael Schur. Directed by Daniels (1 episode), Seth Gordon (1), Jeffrey Blitz (1), Michael McCullers (1), Beth McCarthy Miller (1), & Schur (1). Written by Daniels (1 episode), Schur (1), Rachel Axler (1), Daniel J. Goor (1), Alan Yang (1), Tucker Cawley (1), & Norm Hiscock (1). Starring Amy Poehler, with Rashida Jones, Paul Schneider, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, & Chris Pratt.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: We've already started watching season two, so I know it gets a lot funnier. But these first few episodes aren't that great. It's just a copy of The Office, with about one laugh per episode. C

GPA: 2.5/4

Survivor: Season 27

Survivor: Season 27, 2013. A reality game in the Philippines.

Created by Charlie Parsons. Starring Jeff Probst.

Concept: C
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: n/a
Music: D
Enjoyment: One of the series' better seasons. The majority of the contestants are seriously playing, and the gimmick of playing in pairs adds a lot of new complexity to the strategy. B

GPA: 2.4/4

Kingsman

Kingsman: The Secret Service, 2015. A boy is recruited by secret agents and saves the world from a mad scientist.

Directed by Matthew Vaughn. Written by Jane Goldman, & Vaughn, based on a book by Mark Millar, & Dave Gibbons. Starring Taron Egerton, & Colin Firth, with Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Caine, Mark Strong, Sofia Boutella, & Sophie Cookson.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: C
Music: C
Enjoyment: It's kind of a parody without jokes, but for the most part it manages to be fun enough to be entertaining. It might have been a pretty good movie if one or two tasteless scenes had been cut. C

GPA: 2.1/4

The Thief of Bagdad

The Thief of Bagdad, 1924 [2004 Kino edition, Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra score]. A thief tries to win a princess.

Directed by Raoul Walsh. Written by Lotta Woods; story by Douglas Fairbanks. Starring Fairbanks, with Julanne Johnston, Snitz Edwards, Sôjin Kamiyama, & Anna May Wong.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: D
Dialog: D
Pacing: C
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: D
Music: C
Enjoyment: This is essentially a Disney movie, minus the singing. C

GPA: 2.0/4

Ex Machina

Ex Machina, 2015. A robot woman's consciousness is tested.

Written & directed by Alex Garland. Starring Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, & Oscar Isaac, with Sonoya Mizuno.

Concept: A
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: A
Special effects/design: A
Acting: A
Music: B
Enjoyment: I expected to love this movie. It's a good movie - beautiful to look at, and intelligent - but I definitely did not love it. I was promised a meditation on the nature of consciousness. There is a lot of that, but it's equally as much about the untouchable power of the super-rich, which is not such a fun subject. B

GPA: 3.3/4

Survivor: Season 26

Survivor: Season 26, 2013. A reality game in the Philippines.

Created by Charlie Parsons. Starring Jeff Probst.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: n/a
Music: C
Enjoyment: The first half of the season is stressful and intense in the worst way: one of the players is apparently not just crazy in the usual reality TV contestant way, but genuinely psychotic - abusive and dangerous. It's a shame, since he renders unwatchable what might otherwise have been a good season. And then another player is pulled from the game because he was starving. This is not entertainment. D

GPA: 2.0/4

Tabletop: Season Three

Tabletop: Season Three, 2014-2015. Minor celebrities (and some not-so-celebrities) play board games.

Created by Wil Wheaton & Felicia Day. Directed by Jennifer Arnold. Starring Wheaton.

Concept: A
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: n/a
Music: C
Enjoyment: It's uneven compared with the first two seasons, but a few great episodes (like "Cards Against Humanity" and "Dread") are exceptionally great. They do seem to be playing increasingly more games that don't work well with the show's format. A+

GPA: 2.7/4

The Wire: Season Three

The Wire, 2004. A backward police department tries to catch a drug kingpin.

Created by David Simon. Directed by Ernest Dickerson (2 episodes), Ed Bianchi (1), Steve Shill (1), Rob Bailey (1), Dan Attias (1), Leslie Libman (1), Tim Van Patten (1), Agnieszka Holland (1), Alex Zakrzewski (1), Christine Moore (1), & Joe Chappelle (1). Written by Simon (3 episodes), Richard Price (2), George Pelecanos (2), Ed Burns (2), Dennis Lehane (1), Rafael Alvarez (1), & Joy Lusco (1). Starring Dominic West, with John Doman, Idris Elba, Frankie Faison, Aidan Gillen, Wood Harris, Deirdre Lovejoy, Clarke Peters, Wendell Pierce, Lance Reddick, Andre Royo, Sonja Sohn, Jim True-Frost, & Robert Wisdom.

Concept: C
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: I have to wonder why there are more than three seasons of this show. Everything is neatly wrapped up and resolved at the end of this one. In that respect, it's more satisfying than season two - but, otherwise, not quite as good. A lot of time is spent with a boring political subplot. B

GPA: 2.9/4

Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana

Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana (tv series), 2015. Five friends play a roleplaying game.

Created by Wil Wheaton. Directed by Adam Lawson. Written by Wil Wheaton (10 episodes), Ryan Wheaton (10), Chris Pramas (2), Leonard Balsera (1), Keith Baker (1), Will Hindmarch (1), Clark Valentine (1), Jackson Lanzing (1), Ray Winninger (1), Logan Bonner (1), Robert J. Schwalb (1), & Nicole Lindroos (1). Starring Wil Wheaton, Hank Green, Laura Bailey, Yuri Lowenthal, & Alison Haislip.

Concept: A
Story: C
Characters: A
Dialog: B
Pacing: A
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: This is easily the most entertaining unscripted show I've ever seen (if you can count something with a writing staff as unscripted). It's everything that's great about the best episodes of Tabletop, only with a story and characters. A+

GPA: 3.3/4

Sherlock: Series Three

Sherlock, 2014. A private investigator solves mysteries.

Created by Mark Gatiss, & Steven Moffat, based on works by Arthur Conan Doyle. Directed by Jeremy Lovering (1 episode), Colm McCarthy (1), & Nick Hurran (1). Written by Gatiss (2 episodes), Moffat (2), & Stephen Thompson (1). Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, & Martin Freeman.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: Very little holds together if you give it any thought. But if you can get past that and accept that it's a few degrees sillier than they intend it to be, it can be pretty fun. B

GPA: 2.9/4

Survivor: Season 25

Survivor: Season 25, 2012. A reality game in the Philippines.

Created by Charlie Parsons. Starring Jeff Probst.

Concept: C
Story: B
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: n/a
Music: C
Enjoyment: A pretty good season, despite a relatively unremarkable group of players. Things just happen to fall out in a way that generates a good story. B

GPA: 2.3/4

Foolish Wives

Foolish Wives, 1922 [Kino edition, Sigmund Romberg score]. A womanizer tries to seduce an ambassador's wife to get her money.

Directed by Erich von Stroheim. Written by Stroheim, with Marian Ainslee, & Walter Anthony. Starring Rudolph Christians, Miss DuPont, & Stroheim, with Maude George, Mae Busch, & Dale Fuller.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: C
Pacing: D
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C
Enjoyment: It's 2½ hours, cut down from the original 8-ish (now lost). There's no reason for it to be longer than 90 minutes. And in all that time, they never bother to explore the title character, or make her anything more than a plot device (in a very weak plot). I guess that would take away too much of Stroheim's own screen time. Still, for a drama of the era, it's not bad. It has some excitement, high production values (notoriously so), and even a sense of humor sometimes. C

GPA: 2.0/4

The Last Days of Pompeii

Gli ultimi giorni di Pompeii, 1913 [Kino edition, Beatrice Jona Affron score]. An Egyptian priest plots against the most fabulous couple in all of Pompeii.

Directed by Mario Caserini, & Eleuterio Rodolfi. Written by Caserini, based on a book by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton. Starring Fernanda Negri Pouget, Eugenia Tettoni Fior, Ubaldo Stefani, & Antonio Grisanti, with Cesare Gani Carini, & Vitale Di Stefano.

Concept: D
Story: F
Characters: F
Dialog: D
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: D
Music: C
Enjoyment: Melodrama of the corniest, Bulwer-Lyttonest variety, over-acted to a ridiculous degree. It's bad enough to be entertaining. C

GPA: 1.4/4

The X-Files: Season Four

The X-Files: Season Four, 1996-1997. Two FBI agents investigate spooky cases.

Created by Chris Carter. Directed by Kim Manners (8 episodes), Rob Bowman (7), James Charleston (3), R. W. Goodwin (2), James Wong (1), Tucker Gates (1), Michael Lange (1), & Cliff Bole (1). Written by Carter (8 episodes), Frank Spotnitz (7), Howard Gordon (5), Vince Gilligan (5), Glen Morgan (4), John Shiban (4), Wong (3), Valerie Mayhew (1), Vivian Mayhew (1), David Greenwalt (1), & Goodwin (1). Starring David Duchovny, & Gillian Anderson.

Concept: D
Story: D
Characters: C
Dialog: F
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: C
Enjoyment: The first third or so of the season is awful. It starts to pick up again, but never gets anywhere near as good as it had been in previous seasons. The main story arc is stalling; those episodes are reduced to little more than bad poetry readings. C

GPA: 1.6/4

The Outlaw and His Wife

Berg-Ejvind och hans hustru, 1918 [Kino edition, Torbjorn Iwan Lundquist score]. A woman runs off with a man driven to theft by poverty.

Directed by Victor Sjöström. Written by Sjöström, & Sam Ask, based on a play by Jóhann Sigurjónsson. Starring Sjöström, & Edith Erastoff, with John Ekman, & Nils Aréhn.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: F
Dialog: Possibly the most dialog-heavy silent film I've seen. There's almost more reading than watching. And it's really awful dialog. F
Pacing: It's clearly projected at the wrong speed; it's like watching a movie in fast-forward. D
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: C
Music: B
Enjoyment: It's operatic, in the way that people do grandly dramatic things for no explicable reason. C

GPA: 1.8/4

Blood and Sand

Blood and Sand, 1922 [Kino edition, Rodney Sauer score]. A married bullfighter is seduced.

Directed by Fred Niblo. Written by June Mathis, based on a book by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, and a play by Tom Cushing. Starring Rudolph Valentino, with Nita Naldi, Lila Lee, Rosa Rosanova, & Leo White.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: They do almost everything they can to make the protagonist unlikable. D
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: C
Enjoyment: It's weird how little action there is for a movie about a bullfighter. C

GPA: 1.9/4

Ingeborg Holm

Ingeborg Holm, 1913 [Kino edition, David Drazin score]. A widowed mother is sent to a workhouse.

Written & directed by Victor Sjöström, based on a play by Nils Krok. Starring Hilda Borgström, with Aron Lindgren, & Georg Grönroos.

Concept: D
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C
Enjoyment: It's surprisingly well done for 1913, especially the acting. Movies about tragic social injustice are very much not my thing, but I've seen a lot worse from modern movies. It's not preachy, doesn't make villains of people. And it has the added bonus of possibly being a significant factor in the adoption of socialism in Sweden, which is pretty important for the world (albeit not so important for my enjoyment of the movie). C

GPA: 2.1/4

Ant-Man

Ant-Man, 2015. An ex con is recruited to stop a super-villain with a shrinking suit.

Directed by Peyton Reed. Written by Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, Adam McKay, & Paul Rudd; story by Wright & Cornish, based on a comic book by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, & Jack Kirby. Starring Rudd, with Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña, David Dastmalchian, & T.I..

Concept: D
Story: D
Characters: They spend a lot of time with character development. So, good for them for at least trying, I guess? D
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C
Enjoyment: Forgettable fun. The action doesn't drag on as badly as the typical Marvel movie (thanks to the heist formula being a change of pace from the usual Cartoons Punching Each Other). The sense of humor is enough to keep the movie entertaining, but never enough to get a laugh. You can definitely tell it was written by committee, but it's still a lot better than, say, a Thor movie. C

GPA: 2.1/4

"Prehistoric Porky"

"Prehistoric Porky" (short), 1940. Porky Pig is a caveman.

Directed by Robert Clampett. Written by Melvin Millar. Starring Mel Blanc.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: A
Enjoyment: Thoroughly silly, emphasized by juxtaposition with artwork that looks like it's made for a serious adventure story. B

GPA: 2.8/4

"Patient Porky"

"Patient Porky" (short), 1940. Porky Pig goes to the hospital.

Directed by Robert Clampett. Written by Warren Foster. Starring Mel Blanc.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: A
Enjoyment: About a third of the cartoon (or what seems like it) features a racist caricature. Then there's a long section of bad puns and cultural references. Once you finally get to Porky's part, it just ends up being a copy of "The Daffy Doc," only with a cat in place of Daffy. C

GPA: 2.2/4

The Penalty

The Penalty, 1920 [2001 Kino edition, Michael Polher score]. A double amputee gangster mastermind has a sinister hat factory.

Directed by Wallace Worsley. Written by Charles Kenyon; adapted by Gouverneur Morris from his book. Starring Lon Chaney, with Charles Clary, Jim Mason, Ethel Grey Terry, Kenneth Harlan, & Claire Adams.

Concept: B
Story: D
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: D
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C
Enjoyment: It starts out really promising, with lots of action, a super-villain, a lady detective, and... a hat factory. It loses steam pretty soon, though. The plot doesn't end up going anywhere, and the movie goes on for about half an hour longer than it should. C

GPA: 2.1/4

The Addams Family

The Addams Family, 1991. Con artists try to rob the Addams family.

Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Written by Caroline Thompson, & Larry Wilson, based on characters by Charles Addams. Starring Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, & Christopher Lloyd, with Dan Hedaya, Elizabeth Wilson, Judith Malina, Carel Struycken, Dana Ivey, Christina Ricci, & Jimmy Workman.

Concept: B
Story: F
Characters: D
Dialog: D
Pacing: D
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: D
Acting: C
Music: C
Enjoyment: It's not funny. It has none of the TV show's charm. The characters don't make sense. D

GPA: 1.4/4

Blind Husbands

Blind Husbands, 1919 [Kino edition, Donald Sosin score]. A womanizer tries to seduce a neglected wife.

Directed by Erich von Stroheim. Written by Stroheim, based on his book, with Lillian Ducey. Starring Sam De Grasse, Francelia Billington, & Stroheim, with Gibson Gowland, Fay Holderness, & Ruby Kendrick.

Concept: D
Story: C
Characters: D
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: A movie filmed in the Alps should really be more spectacular than this. C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: C
Music: C
Enjoyment: As far as melodrama goes, having your climax on a mountain peak is pretty good. But it's still just melodrama. C

GPA: 1.9/4

The Extra Girl

The Extra Girl, 1923 [Kino edition, Jack Ward score]. A girl escapes an arranged marriage by going to Hollywood.

Directed by F. Richard Jones. Written by Bernard McConville; story by Mack Sennett. Starring Mabel Normand, with Ralph Graves, George Nichols, Anna Dodge, Vernon Dent, Ramsey Wallace, & Charlotte Mineau.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: C
Pacing: D
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: D
Enjoyment: It's more of a melodrama than a comedy, but it's not bad. There's a lot of action, and the handful of comedic bits are amusing. C

GPA: 1.7/4

Manhunter

Manhunter, 1986. A detective tries to get in the head of a serial killer.

Written & directed by Michael Mann, based on a book by Thomas Harris. Starring William Petersen, with Kim Greist, Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Dennis Farina, Tom Noonan, & Stephen Lang.

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: Okay, obviously Hannibal Lecter is a great character. But he's barely in this movie. D
Dialog: D
Pacing: D
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: C
Music: B
Enjoyment: There are a handful of great scenes, but most of it is really boring. What the movie's really about is stuff that's going on inside the character's head, and Petersen is nowhere near good enough to pull that off. C

GPA: 2.2/4

Sabrina: The Teenage Witch: Season One

Sabrina: The Teenage Witch: Season One, 1996-1997. A teenager has magic powers.

Created by Nell Scovell, based on a comic book by Dan DeCarlo, & George Gladir. Directed by Gary Halvorson (9 episodes), Peter Baldwin (5), Robby Benson (3), Gail Mancuso (2), David Grossman (2), Brian K. Roberts (1), Chuck Vinson (1), & Liz Plonka (1). Written by Scovell (9 episodes), Jon Sherman (4), Norma Safford Vela (3), Nick Bakay (3), Frank Conniff (3), Carrie Honigblum (2), Renee Phillips (2), Rachel Lipman (2), Neal Boushell (1), & Sam O'Neal (1). Starring Melissa Joan Hart, with Caroline Rhea, Beth Broderick, Nate Richert, Jenna Leigh Green, Michelle Beaudoin, Paul Feig, & Bakay.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: D
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: D
Acting: D
Music: D
Enjoyment: I don't know why we started watching this, but it is actually enjoyable. I mean, I wouldn't call it a good show, but it has a weirdly good sense of humor for what it is. C

GPA: 1.5/4

The History of Future Folk

The History of Future Folk, 2013. After hearing music, an alien invader decides to live on Earth instead of conquering it.

Directed by John Mitchell, & Jeremy Kipp Walker. Written by Mitchell. Starring Nils d'Aulaire, & Jay Klaitz, with Julie Ann Emery, April L. Hernandez, & Dee Snider.

Concept: B
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: B
Enjoyment: There are funny parts, and it's kind of a cute idea. It's like an episode of Flight of the Conchords that goes on for 90 minutes. C

GPA: 2.1/4

Inside Out

Inside Out, 2015. Personified emotions that pilot a girl's mind get lost.

Directed by Pete Docter, & Ronaldo Del Carmen. Written by Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley, & Docter; story by Docter, & Del Carmen. Starring Amy Poehler, & Phyllis Smith, with Richard Kind, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, & Kaitlyn Dias.

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: A
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: A
Special effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: It's not one of Pixar's best, but that's an unfair standard. It is one of their most unusual, though. There's a lot to like about it, and I expect it will grow on me with time. A+

GPA: 3.5/4

"Lava"

"Lava" (short), 2015. A volcano wants to be loved.

Written & directed by James Ford Murphy. Starring Napua Greig, & Kuana Torres Kahele.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: C
Dialog: D
Pacing: C
Cinematography: A
Special effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: It's good at pulling emotional strings, although it doesn't make much sense. B

GPA: 2.5/4

"Tom Thumb in Trouble"

"Tom Thumb in Trouble" (short), 1940. Tom Thumb has some trouble.

Directed by Chuck Jones. Written by Rich Hogan. Starring Margaret Hill-Talbot, & Shepperd Strudwick.

Concept: D
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: D
Pacing: F
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: It's so boring it made me a little angry. F

GPA: 1.6/4

"A Gander at Mother Goose"

"A Gander at Mother Goose" (short), 1940. Nursery rhymes with punchlines.

Directed by Tex Avery. Written by Dave Monahan. Starring Sara Berner, Mel Blanc, Robert C. Bruce, & Bernice Hansen.

Concept: D
Story: F
Characters: F
Dialog: D
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: A series of bad gags with overly elaborate setups. D

GPA: 1.6/4

Donnie Brasco

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 63 of 100



Donnie Brasco, 1997. An undercover FBI agent infiltrates the mob.

Directed by Mike Newell. Written by Paul Attanasio, based on a book by Joseph D. Pistone, & Richard Woodley. Starring Al Pacino, & Johnny Depp, with Michael Madsen, & Anne Heche.

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: D
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: A
Music: B
Enjoyment: It's too slow; the relationship stuff in particular is boring. It's an interesting story, though, and would have been a great movie with some better editing. B

GPA: 2.8/4

Jurassic World

Jurassic World, 2015. Jurassic Park is open for business and nothing could possibly go wrong.

Directed by Colin Trevorrow. Written by Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Trevorrow, & Derek Connolly; story by Jaffa, & Silver. Starring Chris Pratt, & Bryce Dallas Howard; with Vincent D'Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, & Irrfan Khan.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: D
Dialog: C
Pacing: A
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: Lots of fun. They take advantage of the 22 years of perspective to recognize what people like about the original, and basically just pack this movie with that sort of thing - only on a larger scale, with every type of dinosaur they could think of. B

GPA: 2.6/4

True Romance

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 62 of 100



True Romance, 1993. Newlyweds go to Hollywood with a suitcase full of stolen cocaine.

Directed by Tony Scott. Written by Quentin Tarantino. Starring Christian Slater, & Patricia Arquette, with Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken, Bronson Pinchot, Michael Rapaport, Saul Rubinek, & James Gandolfini.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: How does a movie about a guy obsessed with Elvis have such shitty music? D
Enjoyment: The tone doesn't mesh with the material. It seems like Tarantino wrote a satire, but Scott didn't notice. C

GPA: 2.5/4

"Sniffles Takes a Trip"

"Sniffles Takes a Trip" (short), 1940. A mouse visits the countryside.

Directed by Chuck Jones. Written by Dave Monahan. Starring Margaret Hill-Talbot.

Concept: D
Story: F
Characters: C
Dialog: D
Pacing: F
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: Sniffles is cute. The animation and artwork are good. The cartoon is awful. D

GPA: 1.6/4

Lucky Number Slevin

Lucky Number Slevin, 2006. Rival gangsters try to use a guy who's not who they think he is.

Directed by Paul McGuigan. Written by Jason Smilovic. Starring Josh Hartnett, with Bruce Willis, Lucy Liu, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, & Stanley Tucci.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: C
Music: C
Enjoyment: It's a lot of fun for the first two thirds. Then, after a twist, it essentially loses its protagonist and becomes pretty dull. It's especially frustrating since Lucy Liu's character is standing by, perfectly good to fill the vacuum, but instead she inexplicably loses all agency. C

GPA: 2.4/4

Inherent Vice

Inherent Vice, 2014. A stoner detective stumbles into a conspiracy.

Written & directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, based on a book by Thomas Pynchon. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, with Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterston, Reese Witherspoon, & Benicio Del Toro.

Concept: I get the distinct impression that this is one of those books that cannot possibly be made into a movie. D
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: B
Pacing: D
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: A
Enjoyment: A two-and-a-half-hour stoner movie, with a story so convoluted, I don't it's possible to make sense out of it. I guess it's supposed to be like a paranoid drug trip? Why do I want to watch that? D

GPA: 2.1/4