Ratings
*****: Masterpiece
****: Extraordinary
***: Recommended, a strong film
**: Worth Seeing
*: Moments of interest
0 : Skip it!
The listing of films follows this format: Movie title (year, aspect ratio, director)
What is the difference between the ratings? A masterpiece is a film that I consider being able to survive multiple viewings and analysis and be an essential contribution to the language and history of cinema. An extraordinary film is one that falls just outside of being a major contribution to cinema, but still has incredible style and form. A film that is recommended is a good film, but structural or conceptual flaws slightly mar it. Worth seeing indicates a that film that has a collection of ideas or scenes that bring it above average, while a film rated moments of interest only contains a few ideas or scenes within an otherwise weak film. As for skip it, this is a film that has no redeeming value: in the area of style, form or content. It should be noted that the rating given to a particular film may change sometime in the future, such as when a colleague recommends that I reconsider my opinion of a film or a repeated viewing reveals either weaknesses or strengths. I find it very hard to surmise a film in one viewing, and almost all the films reviewed have been watched two or three times in order to arrive to a point where I believe I can write on them.
