{"id":993,"date":"2012-07-11T18:48:55","date_gmt":"2012-07-11T22:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.davidmswitzer.com\/blog\/?page_id=993"},"modified":"2021-12-17T16:41:45","modified_gmt":"2021-12-17T21:41:45","slug":"notes-on-reviews","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.davidmswitzer.com\/blog\/notes-on-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"Notes on reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

I rate movies (and TV shows and books) on how much the story grabs me \u2014 on this particular occasion. I\u2019m not rating movies based on their influence on the history of cinema or anything like that. It can have great special effects, great music, great actors, but if it doesn\u2019t have a great story then it\u2019s not a great movie.<\/p>\n

I review movies out of 5. Sometimes my rating for a movie will change when I see it a second time. Some movies are only worth watching once, and I sometimes can\u2019t tell the first time if it\u2019s one of those. Movies that grabbed me the first time but not the second include Paycheck<\/strong>, S1m0ne<\/strong>, and Sliding Doors<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The value of a movie that\u2019s only worth watching once lies in its novelty. Movies that are worth watching more than once have more than novelty.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not a big fan of old movies. One thing that often annoys me about old movies is their depiction of women. Old movies that I do like include Metropolis<\/strong> (1927), Harvey<\/strong>, and It\u2019s a Wonderful Life<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a fan of science fiction and fantasy, but I also like good old could-happen-in-real-life comedies and dramas.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unlikely I will review many bad movies. My philosophy is that if the first half of the movie is bad then the second half will be bad \u2014 so I stop watching.<\/p>\n

I’m reviewing movies for adults. If you want to know if a movie is good for kids, I’m not the person to ask.<\/p>\n

If you decide that your taste is close to mine I hope to introduce you to great movies you didn\u2019t know about and steer you away from horrible movies you don\u2019t want to watch.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my rating scheme, with examples:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
5<\/td>\nBrilliant \u2014 one of my favourites.<\/td>\nThe Truman Show<\/a><\/td>\nBeing John Malkovich<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4.5<\/td>\nGreat.<\/td>\nMinority Report<\/a><\/td>\nThe Croods<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\nVery good.<\/td>\nCargo<\/a><\/td>\nMr. Magorium\u2019s Wonder Emporium<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3.5<\/td>\nGood.<\/td>\nCoherence<\/a><\/td>\nThe Huntsman: Winter\u2019s War<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\nWorth watching once.<\/td>\nThe Thirteenth Floor<\/a><\/td>\nRio<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2.5<\/td>\nAlmost worth watching.<\/td>\nTime Trap<\/a><\/td>\nCoraline<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nBad.<\/td>\nJupiter Ascending<\/a><\/td>\nDragonheart<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1.5<\/td>\nEmbarrassingly bad.<\/td>\nUnder the Skin<\/a><\/td>\nJumanji<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\nShockingly bad.<\/td>\nTotal Recall<\/td>\nHighlander<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
0.5<\/td>\nVirtually no redeeming features.<\/td>\nStar Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith<\/td>\nPirates of the Caribbean: At World\u2019s End<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

I use this scheme for TV shows and books too. Here\u2019s my rating scheme, with book examples:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
5<\/td>\nBrilliant \u2014 one of my favourites.<\/td>\nThe Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet<\/a><\/td>\nThe Last Light of the Sun<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4.5<\/td>\nGreat.<\/td>\nThe Postman<\/a><\/td>\nThe Last Dragonlord<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\nVery good.<\/td>\nGrass<\/a><\/td>\nThe Neverending Story<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3.5<\/td>\nGood.<\/td>\nLord of Light<\/td>\nThe Colour of Magic<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\nWorth reading once.<\/td>\nNova<\/a><\/td>\nDragons of Autumn Twilight<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nBad.<\/td>\nStar Trek: Spock Must Die!<\/a><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my rating scheme, with TV show examples:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
5<\/td>\nBrilliant \u2014 one of my favourites.<\/td>\nStar Trek: The Next Generation<\/a><\/td>\nThe Good Place<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4.5<\/td>\nGreat.<\/td>\nStargate Universe<\/a><\/td>\nPushing Daisies<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\nVery good.<\/td>\nTerra Nova<\/a><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3.5<\/td>\nGood.<\/td>\nFarscape<\/a><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\nWorth watching once.<\/td>\nPlanet of the Apes<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2.5<\/td>\nAlmost worth watching.<\/td>\nStar Trek: The Animated Series<\/a><\/td>\nThe Greatest American Hero<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nBad.<\/td>\nReturn to the Planet of the Apes<\/a><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I rate movies (and TV shows and books) on how much the story grabs me \u2014 on this particular occasion. I\u2019m not rating movies based on their influence on the history of cinema or anything like that. It can have great special effects, great music, great actors, but if it doesn\u2019t have a great story […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-993","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidmswitzer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidmswitzer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidmswitzer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidmswitzer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidmswitzer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=993"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidmswitzer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18231,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidmswitzer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/993\/revisions\/18231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidmswitzer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}