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]