site update

I'm making some changes to my rating system. It's essentially the same, but with the wording changed to (hopefully) make it less confusing. Here's a description, copied from my About page:

I give each title a grade (A, B, C, D or F) for each of the following aspects:
- concept
- story
- characters
- dialog
- pacing
- cinematography
- special effects/design
- acting
- music
- enjoyment (how much fun I had watching the movie)
and average them for a GPA on a 4 point scale.

In the "enjoyment" category, I allow for a grade of A+ (calculated as 5.0), meaning my favorite movies get an extra point.

The only big change in the new system is that the former "subjective rating" no longer has a unique 10 point rating system, and is now just another of the categories (renamed "enjoyment"). Which means my very-difficult-to-explain method of averaging the "subjective" and "objective" ratings (for my Favorites page and Directors page) is eliminated. The "GPA" is the movie's score, and that's the end of it.

It'll take a long while to update the Favorites page and Directors page. I'll post again to let you know when I'm done with that, on the off chance that anyone other than me cares.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season Six

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season Six, 1997-1998. The galaxy goes to war.

Created by Rick Berman & Michael Piller. Directed by Allan Kroeker (6 episodes), Mike Vejar (2), Jesús Salvador Treviño (2), LeVar Burton (2), Winrich Kolbe (2), David Livingston (2), Victor Lobl (2), Anson Williams (1), Chip Chalmers (1), René Auberjonois (1), Avery Brooks (1), Allan Eastman (1), Jonathan West (1), Michael Dorn (1) & Alexander Siddig (1). Written by Ira Steven Behr (9 episodes), Hans Beimler (9), Ronald D. Moore (6), Bradley Thompson (5), David Weddle (5), René Echevarria (3), Michael Taylor (2), Pam Pietroforte (2), Mark Gehred-O'Connell (1), Marc Scott Zicree (1), Philip Kim (1), Peter Allan Fields (1), Harry M. Werksman (1), Gabrielle Stanton (1) & Joe Menosky (1). Starring Avery Brooks.

Concept: 3/4 (Good). There's always been a lot of talk about war in Star Trek, but, 30 years in, this is the first time you really see it in detail. It's not just some battles, or after-the-fact lesson-learning, or "by the way the Borg killed a lot of people now lets get on with what we were doing." They had to spend five seasons building to it in order to make it work, losing casual viewers in the process. Ballsy.
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). Every season of this show keeps surprising me with its quality. I'm a little sad that I now only have 26 episodes left; they're only just beginning to exploit the Star Trek universe's potential.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.7/4 (Good)

"The Magnetic Telescope"

"The Magnetic Telescope" (short), 1942. Superman vs. a mad scientist with a comet.

Directed by Dave Fleischer. Written by Dan Gordon & Carl Meyer, based on characters by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. Starring Joan Alexander, Bud Collyer & Julian Noa.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). The series continues to decline. Luckily it started high enough that it has a long way to go down before it stops being good.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

Minority Report

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 13 of 100



Minority Report, 2002. A cop is framed for murder... in the future!

Directed by Steven Spielberg. Written by Scott Frank & Jon Cohen, based on a story by Philip K. Dick. Starring Tom Cruise.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent). Very good, up until the happily-ever-after ending. (Spoiler: It's a Spielberg movie.)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad). Lots of pointless action in the first half of the movie, so that by the time you get to the plot, halfway through, you expect the movie to be over. I think Tom Cruise has a contract stipulation that he has to spend a given amount of every movie in free fall.
Cinematography: 1/4 (Bad). They're doing something unique, but I can't figure out what the intended effect is.  Mostly it just looks like they mucked it up to camouflage the CG.
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). It's a clever plot, with a lot of memorable moments scattered throughout. But I never really got into it. Despite good science fiction, it's ultimately more of an action movie (with not particularly good action).
Objective Rating (Average): 2.1/4 (Okay)

You Only Live Twice

You Only Live Twice, 1967. Spaceships are captured in order to start a war.

Directed by Lewis Gilbert. Written by Roald Dahl, based on a book by Ian Fleming. Starring Sean Connery.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 0/4 (Terrible)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 0/4 (Terrible)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 1/4 (Bad)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 3/10 (Bad, 1/4). Boring, inane and racist. You expect a James Bond film to be corny and cringe-inducing, but being boring really makes this installment stand out as uniquely awful. The only thing about it that isn't terrible (apart from the theme song, or course) is Donald Pleasence's Blofeld - but he's only in the movie for about five minutes.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.2/4 (Bad)

"The Bulleteers"

"The Bulleteers" (short), 1942. Superman vs. some guys with a "bullet" plane.

Directed by Dave Fleischer. Written by Bill Turner & Carl Meyer, based on characters by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. Starring Joan Alexander, Jackson Beck, Bud Collyer & Julian Noa.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad). Really, an airplane? That's supposed to be a match for Superman?
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). I love Fleischer Superman, so I still think this is awesome, but the series is definitely going downhill.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.2/4 (Okay)

Total Recall

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 12 of 100



Total Recall, 1990. An ordinary man turns into a super spy after something goes wrong with recreational memory alterations.

Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Written by Ronald Shusett, Dan O'Bannon & Gary Goldman; story by Shusett, O'Bannon & Jon Povill, based on a story by Philip K. Dick. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 4/4 (Great)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 1/4 (Bad)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). The Paul Verhoeven movie with a script good enough that even Paul Verhoeven couldn't wreck it - though he really tries. If it had been made by someone with any sense of taste or aesthetics, it might have been one of my favorite movies.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

Survivor: Season 21

Survivor: Season 21, 2010. A reality game in the Nicaraguan rain forest.

Created by Charlie Parsons. Starring Jeff Probst.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: n/a
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). I've always hated reality shows, and had never seen a single episode (including the occasional episode of earlier Survivor seasons) that I would call good. I'm not sure why we started watching this, but it sure took me by surprise. There's no bullshit, no stalling, no manufactured drama. It's just a bunch of people playing a strategy game. I might be hooked.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

RoboCop

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 11 of 100



RoboCop, 1987. A murdered cop is turned into a cyborg.

Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Written by Edward Neumeier & Michael Miner. Starring Peter Weller.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 1/4 (Bad)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). Corny, with a bad sense of humor and a misguided attempt at satire that conflicts with the aggressive tone. It had the potential to be interesting science fiction, but that element is confined to two or three scenes. Instead, the focus is on action, which consists entirely of tropes copied from better movies.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.9/4 (Eh)

Breaking Bad: The Final Season

Breaking Bad: The Final Season [season five part 2], 2013. A retired drug lord tries to avoid capture.

Created by Vince Gilligan. Directed by Michelle MacLaren (2 episodes), Bryan Cranston (1), Michael Slovis (1), Sam Catlin (1), Rian Johnson (1), Peter Gould (1) & Gilligan (1). Written by Peter Gould (2 episodes), Thomas Schnauz (1), Gennifer Hutchison (1), Sam Catlin (1), George Mastras (1), Moira Walley-Beckett (1) & Gilligan (1). Starring Bryan Cranston.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 3/4 (Good). Great through episode six.
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). The finale is a little disappointing. The story arc of this season wraps up in episode six, and the final two episodes feel like an epilogue. They're still good episodes, but compared to the rest of the season (which is one of the best of the series), it's anticlimactic.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.3/4 (Very good)

Catching Fire

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, 2013. A teenage girl is an unwilling symbol of rebellion against a dystopian government.

Directed by Francis Lawrence. Written by Simon Beaufoy & Michael Arndt, based on a book by Suzanne Collins. Starring Jennifer Lawrence.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 4/4 (Great). My big complaint about the first movie was that once they got in all the necessary plot stuff, there wasn't any room for trauma or character development. Boy howdy is that made up for in this film. They're clearly seeing the character arc as taking place over the course of the entire series, and in retrospect, what they did in the first movie was probably the right way to handle Act I.
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). It's a bit of a downer, by its nature. And it doesn't have as much action or excitement as the rest of the series. But I don't think they could have done any better adapting this book. It's rare that I enjoy a movie based on a book I've read, so for me to feel this strongly positive, about a movie based on a book I loved, is pretty damn impressive.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.4/4 (Very good)

Star Trek: Voyager: Season Four

Star Trek: Voyager: Season Four, 1997-1998. A spaceship stranded on the other side of the galaxy continues to make its way home.

Created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller & Jeri Taylor. Directed by Jesús Salvador Treviño (4 episodes), Alexander Singer (3), David Livingston (3), Winrich Kolbe (2), Anson Williams (2), Kenneth Biller (2), Allan Kroeker (2), Victor Lobl (2), LeVar Burton (1), Mike Vejar (1), Nancy Malone (1), Allan Eastman (1), Andrew Robinson (1) & Tim Russ (1). Written by Joe Menosky (9 episodes), Brannon Braga (8), Lisa Klink (5), Bryan Fuller (4), Jeri Taylor (3), Kenneth Biller (3), Harry 'Doc' Kloor (2), Jimmy Diggs (2), André Bormanis (2), Sherry Klein (1), Rick Williams (1), Andrew Shepard Price (1), Mark Gaberman (1), Robert J. Doherty (1), Steve J. Kay (1), Greg Elliot (1), Michael Perricone (1) & Rick Berman (1). Starring Kate Mulgrew.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent). Seven of Nine shows up, and suddenly Voyager has a well-written character. It would have been better if they'd just started writing Janeway well (or Kes, for that matter). When they briefly did that in season two, it was pretty great. But I'll take what I can get. Meanwhile, the inanity of the other characters intensifies.
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad). Usually terrible, with a couple surprising moments of greatness.
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). It's occasionally awful, but most episodes have something to offer, and a few are very good. I would have given it a 7/10, except that a lot of the mediocre episodes manage to be boring as well, which is a first for Star Trek.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.9/4 (Eh)

"The Arctic Giant"

"The Arctic Giant" (short), 1942. Superman vs. a giant dinosaur.

Directed by Dave Fleischer. Written by Bill Turner & Tedd Pierce, based on characters by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. Starring Joan Alexander, Jackson Beck, Bud Collyer & Julian Noa.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). It's not as visually amazing as previous Superman cartoons (although Metropolis does have some great architecture). On the other hand, Lois Lane is extra sassy.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.5/4 (Okay)

The Butterfly Effect

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 10 of 100



The Butterfly Effect, 2004. A man is able to relive and change moments in his childhood.

Written & directed by Eric Bress & J. Mackye Gruber. Starring Ashton Kutcher.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good). It helps that almost no difficult acting was required of Ashton Kutcher.
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). It's pretty clever, but not much else. There's lots of horrible stuff that happens just for the sake of having something horrible to happen. And a love story that exists for no apparent reason other than that the people involved are the main characters in the same movie.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.2/4 (Okay)

Why Worry?

Why Worry?, 1923. A wealthy hypochondriac vacations in South America during a revolution.

Directed by Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor. Written by Taylor, with Ted Wilde, Tim Whelan & H.M. Walker. Starring Harold Lloyd.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). It's amusing, but not exceptionally so - the usual Harold Lloyd standard of pleasant and forgettable, with a few bigger laughs thrown in here and there.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.2/4 (Okay)

[update of a previous post - original is here]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Two

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Two, 1997-1998. The vampire-hunting teenager fights more monsters.

Created by Joss Whedon. Directed by Whedon (5 episodes), Bruce Seth Green (5), David Greenwalt (2), David Semel (2), John T. Kretchmer (1), Ellen S. Pressman (1), David Solomon (1), Michael Lange (1), James A. Contner (1), Michael Gershman (1), Deran Sarafian (1) & James Whitmore, Jr. (1). Written by Whedon (7 episodes), Marti Noxon (6), David Greenwalt (3), Dean Batali (3), Rob Des Hotel (3), Ty King (2), Matt Kiene (1), Joe Reinkemeyer (1), Carl Ellsworth (1), Howard Gordon (1), David Fury (1) & Elin Hampton (1). Starring Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good). Occasionally great.
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Better than season one. About half of it follows the pattern of the first season (monster shows up, buffy kills it), while the rest is full-on soap opera. The former is getting tedious, while the latter is uneven but interestingly unpredictable.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

"Billion Dollar Limited"

"Billion Dollar Limited" (short), 1942. Superman vs. a train robbery.

Directed by Dave Fleischer. Written by Seymour Kneitel & Izzy Sparber, based on characters by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. Starring Joan Alexander & Bud Collyer.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good). Lois Lane: Action Hero.
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good). Superman's up against more mundane challenges here - first a carload of gangsters, then a runaway train - which leaves less room for the brilliant science fiction design work the first two cartoons had.
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). It was nice of Superman to stop that train, but I'm pretty sure Lois had the bad guys under control.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.8/4 (Good)

"The Mechanical Monsters"

"The Mechanical Monsters" (short), 1941. Superman vs. an army of robot thieves.

Directed by Dave Fleischer. Written by Izzy Sparber & Seymour Kneitel, based on characters by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. Starring Joan Alexander & Bud Collyer.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Only two cartoons into the series, and already it's too repetitive. It doesn't do anything that the first one didn't do, and it doesn't do it quite as well. Still awesome, though. If I'd seen this one first, I probably would have given it a 9/10.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.6/4 (Good)

Lolita

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 9 of 100



Lolita, 1962. A man obsessed with a teenage girl marries her mother.

Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Written by Vladimir Nabokov, based on his book. Starring James Mason & Sue Lyon.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad). At least they made Lolita older. A story about taking advantage of a promiscuous teenager (which the movie is) makes for a decidedly less miserable movie-watching experience than a story about child-molesting (which the book is) would.
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). It isn't until the very end of the movie that we're given any sort of hint that everything we're seeing might not be real, which kind of defeats the purpose. I guess it would consequently be more interesting on a second viewing, but I have zero interest in watching it a second time. There just isn't anything in it to get you to care.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.3/4 (Okay)

"Superman"

"Superman" (short), 1941. A mad scientist intends to destroy Metropolis with a giant ray gun.

Directed by Dave Fleischer. Written by Seymour Kneitel & Izzy Sparber, based on characters by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. Starring Joan Alexander, Jackson Beck, Bud Collyer, Jack Mercer & Julian Noa.

Concept: 3/4 (Good). Bonus points for Superman himself. (This is his first film.)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent). They do surprisingly well, for a 10-minute action-oriented cartoon.
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites, 4/4 5/4). In a perfect world, every super hero movie would aspire to be as awesome as this.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.8/4 2.9/4 (Good)