"The Bear's Tale"

"The Bear's Tale" (short), 1940. The story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears gets mixed up.

Directed by Tex Avery. Written by Ben Hardaway. Starring Avery, Bea Benaderet, Sara Berner, Mel Blanc, Robert C. Bruce, & Bernice Hansen.

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: Poppa Bear is delightful. The story is cute. There are some musical gags that aren't funny and take up a lot of time. B

GPA: 2.8/4

Fargo

Fargo, 1996. An idiot arranges to have his wife kidnapped.

Directed by Joel Coen. Written by Ethan & Joel Coen. Starring William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, & Frances McDormand, with Peter Stormare, Kristin Rudrüd, Harve Presnell, & John Carroll Lynch.

Concept: B
Story: A
Characters: A
Dialog: A
Pacing: A
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: A
Music: A
Enjoyment: One of the Coens' best movies - which is saying something when you're talking about filmmakers that make masterpieces more often than not. A

GPA: 3.7/4

[update of a previous post - original is here]

Sleepless in Seattle

Sleepless in Seattle, 1993. A woman obsesses over a man she heard on the radio.

Directed by Nora Ephron. Written by Ephron, David S. Ward, & Jeff Arch; story by Arch. Starring Tom Hanks, & Meg Ryan, with Ross Malinger, & Bill Pullman.

Concept: It would be a reasonable concept for a thriller. Not a romantic comedy. D
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: D
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: C
Enjoyment: Not too awful, for a Nora Ephron movie. Unlike the other Ephron movies I've seen, this one at least has characters that are nice people. C

GPA: 1.7/4

Support Your Local Sheriff!

Support Your Local Sheriff!, 1969. A wanderer becomes sheriff of a gold rush town.

Directed by Burt Kennedy. Written by William Bowers. Starring James Garner, with Joan Hackett, Walter Brennan, Harry Morgan, Jack Elam, & Bruce Dern.

Concept: B
Story: It's a parody of a good story, which I guess means it's not a good story? C
Characters: C
Dialog: A
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: F
Enjoyment: It would have been a good movie if it weren't for the "silly" music. It's like having a laugh track, only harder to tune out. C

GPA: 2.1/4

MASH: Season Seven

MASH: Season Seven, 1978-1979. Hijinks in an army hospital.

Created by Richard Hooker (novel) & Larry Gelbart (developer). Directed by Charles Dubin (6 episodes), Burt Metcalfe (5), Alan Alda (4), George Tyne (2), Tony Mordente (2), William Jurgensen (2), Mel Damski (1), James Sheldon (1), Harry Morgan (1), & Mike Farrell (1). Written by Ken Levine (8 episodes), David Isaacs (8), Larry Balmagia (5), Ronny Graham (4), Tom Reeder (3), Alda (3), Mitch Markowitz (2), Sheldon Bull (1), David Lawrence (1), Johnny Bonaduce (1), Gary David Goldberg (1), Erik Tarloff (1), Bernard Dilbert (1), & Metcalfe (1). Starring Alda, Farrell, & Morgan, with Loretta Swit, David Ogden Stiers, Gary Burghoff, Jamie Farr, & William Christopher.

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: A
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: D
Enjoyment: One of the show's best seasons so far. There aren't a lot of episodes that stand out as particularly memorable or important, but there's a consistently high quality - with the exception of the clip episode. B

GPA: 2.8/4

"Pilgrim Porky"

"Pilgrim Porky" (short), 1940. Porky Pig captains the Mayflower.

Directed by Robert Clampett. Written by Warren Foster. Starring Mel Blanc, & Robert C. Bruce.

Concept: D
Story: F
Characters: F
Dialog: D
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: C
Music: B
Enjoyment: Dumb jokes, and racism. D

GPA: 1.5/4

Manhattan Murder Mystery

Manhattan Murder Mystery, 1993. A woman suspects her neighbor of murder.

Directed by Woody Allen. Written by Allen, & Marshall Brickman. Starring Diane Keaton, & Allen, with Alan Alda, Anjelica Huston, & Jerry Adler.

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: A
Enjoyment: It's a cute idea, and often amusing enough to be pleasant despite a pervasive uncomfortable anxiety. C

GPA: 2.8/4

"Elmer's Candid Camera"

"Elmer's Candid Camera" (short), 1940. A rabbit messes with Elmer Fudd's nature photography.

Directed by Chuck Jones. Written by Rich Hogan. Starring Mel Blanc, & Arthur Q. Bryan.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: D
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: A
Enjoyment: Young Chuck Jones hasn't got timing down yet. Otherwise, this cartoon is pretty great. B

GPA: 2.7/4

"The Film Fan"

"The Film Fan" (short), 1939. Porky Pig goes to the movies.

Directed by Robert Clampett. Starring Mel Blanc, & Billy Bletcher.

Concept: C
Story: F
Characters: D
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: B
Enjoyment: Some corny jokes, loosely strung together, with one or two good visual gags thrown in. C

GPA: 2.0/4

Chappelle's Show: Season One

Chappelle's Show: Season One, 2003. Sketch comedy.

Created & written by Dave Chappelle, & Neal Brennan. Directed by Andre Allen, Rusty Cundieff, Bobcat Goldthwait, Peter Lauer, & Scott Vincent. Starring Chappelle.

Concept: B
Story: D
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: D
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: B
Enjoyment: I hadn't watched this show in more than a decade, and it falls very short of living up to my memory of it. The really classic sketches are apparently all (or should I say both) in season two. This season is uncomfortable more often than it's funny. Although, when it is funny it can be great. C

GPA: 2.2/4

Mad Max: Fury Road

Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015. Post-apocalyptic desert car chase.

Directed by George Miller. Written by Miller, Brendan McCarthy, & Nick Lathouris. Starring Tom Hardy, & Charlize Theron, with Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Nathan Jones, Zoë Kravitz, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Riley Keough, Abbey Lee, & Courtney Eaton.

Concept: A
Story: Barely there, but I've got to give it some credit for efficiency. C
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: A
Cinematography: A
Special effects/design: A
Acting: The acting's perfectly good, but what's with the casting of Max? Don't get me wrong, Tom Hardy's a great actor, but this role does not call for a great actor. It calls for an old, weathered Australian. C
Music: B
Enjoyment: Most action movies these days, you just have to wait for the action scenes to be over so you can get on with the movie. Meanwhile, this movie is almost nothing but action, for two hours straight, and it is exciting from start to finish - impeccably shot and edited, and conceived with an uninhibited sense of fun. Any random sequence from this movie is easily a contender for the best action scene in the last five years. A+

GPA: 3.3/4

Snatch

Snatch, 2000. Various unsavory types are all after a stolen diamond.

Written & directed by Guy Ritchie. Starring Jason Statham, & Brad Pitt, with Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Farina, Vinnie Jones, Rade Serbedzija, Alan Ford, Mike Reid, Robbie Gee, Lennie James, Ade, & Stephen Graham.

Concept: B
Story: A
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: D
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: A lot of fun, with a cleverly interwoven plot - basically a British take on early Tarantino. It's so weird that this is made by the same guy who made those awful Sherlock Holmes movies. B

GPA: 2.9/4

[update of a previous post - original is here]

Doctor Who: Series Eight

Doctor Who: Series Eight, 2014. An alien travels through space and time with a human girl.

Created by Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber & Donald Wilson. Directed by Douglas Mackinnon (3 episodes), Ben Wheatley (2), Paul Murphy (2), Paul Wilmshurst (2), Rachel Talalay (2), & Sheree Folkson (1). Written by Steven Moffat (7 episodes), Jamie Mathieson (2), Phil Ford (1), Mark Gatiss (1), Stephen Thompson (1), Gareth Roberts (1), Peter Harness (1), & Frank Cottrell Boyce (1). Starring Peter Capaldi, & Jenna Coleman.

Concept: A
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C
Enjoyment: I put off watching this for a really long time, largely because "The Time of the Doctor" was so completely godawful. I'm relieved to find that the show seems to be back on its feet, though. They have adventures. There's minimal bullshit (the "teases" throughout the season mostly tease stuff that actually happens, instead of Moffat's usual empty bluster). Clara's still not much of a character (despite spending most of the season attempting to develop her). Moffat's writing style still tries too hard (and has a way of sounding like he's writing for trailers more than for the episode). Overall, it's a great show again, the best series since series five. Hopefully the Capaldi Years don't decline as sharply as the Smith Years did. A

GPA: 2.8/4

As Good as It Gets

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 61 of 100



As Good as It Gets, 1997. An obsessive-compulsive misanthrope learns to be slightly less horrible.

Directed by James L. Brooks. Written by Brooks, & Mark Andrus; story by Andrus. Starring Jack Nicholson, & Helen Hunt, with Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding Jr., Skeet Ulrich, & Shirley Knight.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: The score is ridiculously overdone, but there's some good pop music. C
Enjoyment: Harmless. There are some bits of memorable dialog here and there that manage to make it more than just a 90's artifact. C

GPA: 2.3/4

"Wise Quacks"

"Wise Quacks" (short), 1939. Daffy Duck has kids.

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

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: A
Enjoyment: The baby duck is more adorable than anything in a Looney Tune has any business being (in a good way). And Daffy gets more range than usual for the time; there's a nice juxtaposition of madman and Regular Joe in the same character. B

GPA: 2.8/4

"Polar Pals"

"Polar Pals" (short), 1939. Porky Pig vs. an arctic fur trapper.

Directed by Robert Clampett. Written by Warren Foster. Starring Mel Blanc, & Billy Bletcher.

Concept: D
Story: F
Characters: D
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: C
Music: A
Enjoyment: I don't understand why any of this is happening. Otherwise, it's fairly enjoyable. C

GPA: 2.1/4

The X-Files: Season Three

The X-Files: Season Three, 1995-1996. Two FBI agents investigate spooky cases.

Created by Chris Carter. Directed by Rob Bowman (8 episodes), Kim Manners (7), David Nutter (4), R. W. Goodwin (2), Carter (1), Tucker Gates (1), & James Charleston (1). Written by Carter (8 episodes), Howard Gordon (4), Frank Spotnitz (4), Darin Morgan (3), Jeffrey Vlaming (2), John Shiban (2), Kim Newton (2), Charles Grant Craig (1), Vince Gilligan (1), & Mat Beck (1). Starring David Duchovny, & Gillian Anderson.

Concept: D
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: C
Enjoyment: The show's sense of humor is growing rapidly. A few episodes this season are outright silly, and they are brilliant. Meanwhile, the more serious episodes continue to be pretty dumb, especially where the main story arc is concerned. B

GPA: 2.2/4

The Powerpuff Girls: Season Five

The Powerpuff Girls: Season Five, 2003-2004. Three little girls are superheros.

Created by Craig McCracken. Directed by Randy Myers (11 episodes), John McIntyre (9), Chris Savino (2), Robert Alvarez (1), & Brian Larsen (1). Written by Cindy Morrow (4 episodes), Chris Reccardi (4), Larsen (3), Savino (3), Mark O'Hare (2), Alex Almaguer (2), Carey Yost (1), Lauren Faust (1), Paul McEvoy (1), Greg Colton (1), Dave Smith (1), Mike Bell (1), Tim Parsons (1), Bobby London (1), & Mucci Fassett (1). Starring Catherine Cavadini, Tara Strong, & E.G. Daily, with Tom Kane, & Tom Kenny.

Concept: A
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: McCracken moved on after season four, and took a lot of the creative team with him. So the series probably should have ended then. It's still a good show. Visually it's increasingly more interesting, and there are a handful of very funny moments. But there are also a couple painfully bad episodes. Usually, it scrapes by. B

GPA: 3.0/4

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Avengers: Age of Ultron, 2015. Super heroes accidentally make an evil artificial intelligence.

Written & directed by Joss Whedon, based on comic books by Stan Lee, & Jack Kirby. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, & James Spader, with Samuel L. Jackson, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, & Paul Bettany.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: The action scenes go on way too long; the movie could probably be about 30 minutes shorter. Otherwise, it's very good. It doesn't take itself too seriously (even the villain has fun), and it balances the giant cast well. B

GPA: 2.7/4

The Muppet Show: Season Three

The Muppet Show: Season Three, 1978-1979. The Muppets put on a weekly variety show.

Created by Jim Henson. Directed by Peter Harris (13 episodes), & Philip Casson (11). Written by Jerry Juhl, Joseph A. Bailey, Chris Langham, Henson, & Don Hinkley. Starring various guest stars, with Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz, Louise Gold, & Steve Whitmire.

Concept: A
Story: D
Characters: A
Dialog: B
Pacing: A
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: A
Enjoyment: More of the same (which I guess is a little contradictory for a show that prides itself on strangeness, but I'm not complaining). A+

GPA: 3.3/4

[update of a previous post - original is here]

"Thugs with Dirty Mugs"

"Thugs with Dirty Mugs" (short), 1939. A parody of gangster movies.

Directed by Tex Avery. Written by Dave Monahan. Starring Avery, Mel Blanc, & John Deering.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: They're just caricatures, there to deliver gags and tropes and nothing else. F
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: A
Enjoyment: There are some great gags, a relentless silliness, and unusually high quality visuals (for Looney Tunes). But still it doesn't really work for me. I need characters. C

GPA: 2.3/4