Maleficent

Maleficent, 2014. A powerful fairy curses a princess.

Directed by Robert Stromberg. Written by Linda Woolverton, based on various sources. Starring Angelina Jolie, with Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, & Sam Riley.

Concept: A movie about Maleficent: great idea. Making her the hero: terrible idea. B
Story: C
Characters: They go through all that trouble (ie, the first half of the movie) effectively establishing why she's evil. Then she just stops being evil for no apparent reason. The original Maleficent is one of the most awesome villains of all time, and seeing a version of her that so easily softens is extremely disappointing. D
Dialog: F
Pacing: C
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: A
Acting: Jolie is great. The narrator is bad enough to make me cringe. C
Music: B
Enjoyment: It's entertaining, but there isn't anything that wasn't much better in Sleeping Beauty. Still, movie producers without ideas of their own could do a lot worse for a source of material to mine. C

GPA: 2.2/4

The Cosby Show: Season Two

The Cosby Show: Season Two, 1985-1986. The day-to-day life of a large, wealthy family.

Created by Ed. Weinberger, Michael Leeson, & Bill Cosby. Directed by Jay Sandrich. Written by John Markus (6 episodes), Elliot Shoenman (6), Matt Williams (6), Carmen Finestra (4), Gary Kott (3), Matt Robinson (2), Ross Brown (1), & Thad Mumford (1). Starring Cosby, with Phylicia Rashad, Sabrina Le Beauf, Lisa Bonet, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Tempestt Bledsoe, & Keshia Knight Pulliam.

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: A
Dialog: A
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: There's a handful of mediocre episodes, but for the most part it's as good as season one - occasionally better. A+

GPA: 3.2/4

[update of a previous post - original is here]

A Bit of Fry & Laurie: Series Four

A Bit of Fry & Laurie: Series Four, 1995. Sketch comedy.

Created by, written by & starring Stephen Fry & Hugh Laurie. Directed by Bob Spiers.

Concept: B
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: B
Enjoyment: There is an occasional funny joke. It's very bitter. I always felt relief when an episode came to an end. C

GPA: 2.2/4

"Showdown"

"Showdown" (short), 1942. Superman vs. a Superman impersonator.

Directed by Izzy Sparber. Written by Jay Morton, based on characters by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. Starring Joan Alexander, Jackson Beck, Bud Collyer, & Jack Mercer.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: B
Enjoyment: Pretty good. It's amusing to see some criminals for once that have taken precautions against the inevitable arrival of Superman. Lois doesn't get anything to do, though. B

GPA: 2.5/4

Fiddler on the Roof

Fiddler on the Roof, 1971. A man with five daughters is faced with changes in society.

Directed by Norman Jewison. Written by Joseph Stein; adapted by Tommy Abbott from a play by Stein, based on stories by Sholom Aleichem. Starring Topol, with Norma Crane, Leonard Frey, Molly Picon, Paul Mann, Rosalind Harris, Michele Marsh, Neva Small, & Paul Michael Glaser.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: D
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: I find most of the songs annoying and ineffective. And the musical numbers are pretty boring. But John Williams and Isaac Stern do an excellent job with the instrumental stuff. C
Enjoyment: Slow, and doesn't make me care about it. It's too serious to be any fun, too much a musical to be serious. It's not a bad movie; there's some nice enough stuff here and there. But I can think of about a million other things I'd rather do with three hours. C

GPA: 2.3/4

X-Men: Days of Future Past

X-Men: Days of Future Past, 2014. Time-traveling Wolverine tries to stop the rise of evil robots.

Directed by Bryan Singer. Written by Simon Kinberg; story by Jane Goldman, Kinberg, & Matthew Vaughn. Starring Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, & Jennifer Lawrence, with Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Evan Peters, & Patrick Stewart.

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: It's a wonderful thing when a movie is many times better than your expectations. I never would have thought an X-Men movie would make me cry. A

GPA: 3.0/4

Help!

Help!, 1965. A cult wants to sacrifice Ringo.

Directed by Richard Lester. Written by Marc Behm & Charles Wood; story by Behm. Starring George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr, with Leo McKern, Eleanor Bron, Victor Spinetti & Roy Kinnear.

Concept: C
Story: F
Characters: D
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: D
Music: Yeah, okay, it's great music, obviously. But it's not incorporated into the story at all - they just stop to sing a song every now and then. B
Enjoyment: It's painless to watch, and interestingly bizarre. It's a lot like Monty Python, without the humor. C

GPA: 1.9/4

"Japoteurs"

"Japoteurs" (short), 1942. Superman vs. giant-bomber-plane hijackers.

Directed by Seymour Kneitel. Written by Bill Turner & Carl Meyer, based on characters by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. Starring Joan Alexander & Bud Collyer.

Concept: Wait, the people trying to get rid of the deadly super weapon are the badguys? D
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: D
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: D
Music: B
Enjoyment: If it weren't for the racism, this would be pretty good. But, you know, it's a film called "Japoteurs," so, yeah. C

GPA: 2.1/4

The Twilight Zone: Season One (wrap-up)

The Twilight Zone: Season One, 1959-1960. A collection of modern-day fairy tales.

[see individual episode posts for details]

Concept: Great idea for a show, although the episodes only occasionally have good ideas. A [episode-by-episode average: 2.89/4]
Story: I was surprised by how weak the stories are. I mean, they're mostly good, but I expected greatness. C [average: 2.39/4]
Characters: C [average: 2.14/4]
Dialog: B [average: 2.5/4]
Pacing: B [average: 2.67/4]
Cinematography: Great for early television. B [average: 2.69/4]
Special effects/design: B [average: 2.53/4]
Acting: B [average: 2.83/4]
Music: B [average: 2.89/4]
Enjoyment: I had extremely high expectations for this show - reinforced by the exceptional first episode - so maybe I'm not judging it fairly. But The Twilight Zone is not everything I'd hoped it would be. The few great episodes make up for a lot, though. And even when it doesn't work, they're at least constantly trying to do something different. B [average: 2.72/4]

GPA: 2.9/4 [episode-by-episode average: 2.63/4]

The Twilight Zone: "A World of His Own"

The Twilight Zone: "A World of His Own" (episode 36 of 36 from season one), 1960. A writer can create real people with his dictaphone.

Created by Rod Serling. Directed by Ralph Nelson. Written by Richard Matheson. Starring Keenan Wynn, with Phyllis Kirk & Mary LaRoche.

Concept: C
Story: B
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: C
Enjoyment: A mediocre episode for the most part, but it has some fun with itself - especially in the coda. B

GPA: 2.3/4

The Twilight Zone: "The Mighty Casey"

The Twilight Zone: "The Mighty Casey" (episode 35 of 36 from season one), 1960. A robot plays professional baseball.

Written & created by Rod Serling. Directed by Alvin Ganzer & Robert Parrish. Starring Jack Warden, with Abraham Sofaer & Robert Sorrells.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: C
Enjoyment: Maybe this would seem cute if you were a baseball fan? I can't imagine there are many people who aren't Rod Serling who love baseball and also like comedic fairy tales. C

GPA: 2.2/4

The Twilight Zone: "The After Hours"

The Twilight Zone: "The After Hours" (episode 34 of 36 from season one), 1960. A woman is taken to a non-existent floor of a department store.

Written & created by Rod Serling. Directed by Douglas Heyes. Starring Anne Francis.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C
Enjoyment: The basic idea here seems to be, as far as I can tell, that Rod Serling couldn't think up a story for this episode. But mannequins are creepy, right? C

GPA: 2.2/4

Godzilla

Godzilla, 2014. Giant monsters smash.

Directed by Gareth Edwards. Written by Max Borenstein; story by Dave Callaham. Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, & Elizabeth Olsen.

Concept: A
Story: C
Characters: D
Dialog: D
Pacing: C
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: A
Enjoyment: The focus is on the characters, which is great from the standpoint of teasing the monster, but also kind of awful since the characters are not even remotely interesting. It's a lot better than I expected it to be, though. Godzilla kicks ass, and the movie's a lot of fun whenever he's around. B

GPA: 2.7/4

The Twilight Zone: "Mr. Bevis"

The Twilight Zone: "Mr. Bevis" (episode 33 of 36 from season one), 1960. An eccentric man has a bad day and meets his guardian angel.

Written & created by Rod Serling. Directed by William Asher. Starring Orson Bean & Henry Jones.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: C
Enjoyment: Pleasantly sweet, but not paticularly interesting or half as fun as the premise should have made it. C

GPA: 2.3/4

Torchwood: Miracle Day

Torchwood: Miracle Day [Torchwood series 4], 2011. No one in the world is able to die.

Created by Russell T. Davies. Directed by Billy Gierhart (4 episodes), Guy Ferland (3), Gwyneth Horder-Payton (2), & Bharat Nalluri (1). Written by Jane Espenson (5 episodes), Davies (2), John Shiban (2), Doris Egan (1), Jim Gray (1), Ryan Scott (1), & John Fay (1). Starring John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Mekhi Phifer, Alexa Havins, & Kai Owen, with Bill Pullman & Lauren Ambrose.

Concept: B
Story: It's nice as it's going, but ultimately it's a mystery with nonsense for a solution. C
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: C
Enjoyment: It's no "Children of Earth" by a long shot (the fact that it's twice as long doesn't help). But it's entertaining and moderately suspenseful. Although, it's too insistent on teasing and holding things back when there isn't anything worth holding back - the J.J. Abrams school of writing. B

GPA: 2.6/4

The Twilight Zone: "A Passage for Trumpet"

The Twilight Zone: "A Passage for Trumpet" (episode 32 of 36 from season one), 1960. An alcoholic trumpet player commits suicide.

Written & created by Rod Serling. Directed by Don Medford. Starring Jack Klugman, with John Anderson & Frank Wolff.

Concept: C
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: Kind of cute. It's not a noteworthy episode, but it's executed well. B

GPA: 2.9/4

The Twilight Zone: "The Chaser"

The Twilight Zone: "The Chaser" (episode 31 of 36 from season one), 1960. A man buys a potion to make a woman love him.

Created by Rod Serling. Directed by Douglas Heyes. Written by Robert Presnell Jr., based on a story by John Collier. Starring John McIntire, Patricia Barry, & George Grizzard.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: Pure fairy tale. B

GPA: 2.7/4

The Twilight Zone: "A Stop at Willoughby"

The Twilight Zone: "A Stop at Willoughby" (episode 30 of 36 from season one), 1960. An ad executive dreams that his train stops at a peaceful town.

Written & created by Rod Serling. Directed by Robert Parrish. Starring James Daly.

Concept: D
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: D
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C
Enjoyment: A dumb idea, and a boring episode. D

GPA: 1.9/4

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

The Amazing Spider-Man 2, 2014. A parade of villains all have an inexplicable hatred of Spider-Man.

Directed by Marc Webb. Written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, & Jeff Pinkner; story by Kurtzman, Orci, Pinkner, & James Vanderbilt, based on books by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko. Starring Andrew Garfield & Emma Stone, with Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, & Sally Field.

Concept: C
Story: F
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: D
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: D
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: It has one good scene - where Electro turns from frightened to evil. The rest of the movie is crap. As a whole, it has no shape or direction. In the details, it makes no sense. D

GPA: 1.7/4

Angel: Season Two

Angel: Season Two, 2000-2001. The vampire detective is driven to alienate his friends.

Created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. Directed by James A. Contner (3 episodes), Greenwalt (2), Tim Minear (2), Fred Keller (2), Michael Lange (1), David Semel (1), Whedon (1), Krishna Rao (1), David Grossman (1), Bruce Seth Green (1), Michael Grossman (1), R.D. Price (1), Bill L. Norton (1), Scott McGinnis (1), James Whitmore, Jr. (1), Thomas J. Wright (1), & Turi Meyer (1). Written by Minear (7 episodes), Greenwalt (6), Shawn Ryan (5), Mere Smith (4), Whedon (2), Jim Kouf (2), Jane Espenson (1), Douglas Petrie (1), & David Fury (1). Starring David Boreanaz, with Charisma Carpenter, Alexis Denisof, & J. August Richards.

Concept: They acknowledge at one point that a show about someone who broods is not entertaining. It's still a show about someone who broods, though, so I don't know what to think about that. D
Story: They have some fun in the last few episodes, but most of the season's story is all about making someone who broods a lot brood more than usual. C
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: C
Music: D
Enjoyment: Much better than the first season, but that's not saying much. Once again, in the moments when it lets itself have fun, it's kind of nice. Those moments are much more frequent than season one, but still not enough. C

GPA: 2.0/4