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