Post by drystyx on Sept 9, 2017 18:27:50 GMT
An example of each rating for films 1-10 out of 10. And explanations, although they really don't need explanations.
1/10-JURASSIC WORLD The entire series never gave the guys any eye candy, not one brunette, but care was taken to never kill a female, so long as they were blond. This is because women identify only with blond females, and most women are jealous of brunettes, and the woman usually decides which movie to see. So here we get the first brunette, and the big name producer preaches his Nazi ideology by killing the only brunette, and leaving us with the plain women. But that isn't all that ruins this. It ruins it for men, sure, and makes it depressing and dull. But it gets worse. Two of the four protagonist characters are so hateful and abusive, we can't be satisfied when they're still alive at the end (the heroine and the older boy). They go beyond any possible compassion with their self righteousness and complete sadism. The hero isn't much better. Thinks he's an alpha to two creatures that can rip him apart in seconds. This is an ordeal meant for the sheep. Like most 1/10 movies, it is a big budget movie. I can almost forgive a low budget movie for being bad, but it's unforgivable for tons of resources to be wasted on hate and demons.
2/10-ALIEN 3-Clearly the worst of the entire series. It wasn't just because it went off course from the first two movies, and lets be honest, those weren't "loving movies". Most of the characters met horrible ends. Only a very few came out to live another day. The bad guys won most of the time. Alien 3 tried to be "no respecter of persons", but the problem was that it looked completely contrived all the way through to "preach" a point. Being contrived means poor writing. At least Alien 4 let the chips fall where they may, and didn't have a contrived look. That's why it succeeded where this one failed. Of course, the sheep who like to feel comfortable in a contrived environment, fall for this, but not mature people who live in the real world.
3/10-SOME LIKE IT HOT-Hard to think up titles for this one, as it's usually for those movies that aren't bad, just boring enough to make one fall asleep. They aren't depressing, just empty. This one tries to be a comedy, but fails. I'm not sure there is one "laugh" in the movie. The situation is even a bit trite, though perhaps not as trite in the year it was made. Still, it's just a bit too dull to even watch on the treadmill.
4/10-NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION-The difference between 3 and 4 is that 4/10 movies are okay to watch on the treadmill (or in my case, the elliptical). They're kind of bland, with okay moments, just enough liveliness to keep you from falling asleep.
5/10-BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S. Now, what separates 4 from 5? 5/10 is close to mediocre. You can have a decent experience. In the case of TIFFANY we have mostly a dull movie about a pair of dull people. They try to be likable, but seriously the woman is a creep made more attractive because Audrey plays her, and because of the clever use of a nice song. It's the ending that saves this movie. It's the ending that makes this movie, but until then it's really low level. The cat does salvage a lot.
6/10-PALE RIDER-Sort of a mixture of remakes. A low level remake of SHANE, but a superior remake of HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER. In all, it's one of Eastwood's better movies. It's about his 5th best movie (yes, I agree with rest of you that his four best are HANG EM HIGH, TARANTULA, DIRTY HARRY, and JOE KIDD), but honestly you have to admit that isn't saying much, since he's done more crap movies than almost anyone. Still, this one has credible characters in an incredible situation, and that makes it his fifth best film However, while the plot is good, the direction isn't. It plods along too much. Whereas SHANE rolled along, this one crawls due to poor use of cameras. The desire of the director to show the mud overwhelmed the need to make this cinema.
7/10-ANZIO-The overall message is great, and the acting is stellar in this war film. Where it stumbles a bit is the "contrived nature" of the survival of some, the death of others. And some questionable motivation.
8/10-BURY ME AN ANGEL-There is a similarity between this and Tiffany in that this is one that relies mostly on a great ending, but the difference is that this one doesn't try to legitimatize demonic possession as "cool", and it moves along at a better pace. While we don't like the main character, nor her "number 2", the "number 3" shows signs of humanity that we can relate to, and which gives a hint as to the true nature of the message of the film. This is a hidden gem film because of the message. The intriguing part is that is really succeeds where many movies fail. This one will turn you at the end. The dorks who like the three hoodlums throughout the film and think the three hoodlums are cool will be disappointed at the end, but the mature audiences will appreciate it. A real twist movie.
9/10-THIS IS NOT A TEST-Another of the low budget hidden gems. This one is much like BURY ME AN ANGEL in the twists. Like Angel, the twists are mostly in the characters. We learn that the authority figure is a lunatic. We wonder whether he always was one, or whether he degenerates. The characters make this a classic, even today. The two survivors of the nuclear attack survive by credible means. First, by help from another character, and second, by using logic. Lots of lessons to learn in this one.
10/10-SEVEN SAMURAI-Not sure I even have to explain this one, but I'll say a little bit. Like most people, I saw the American remake first, and I think Mag 7 is a top notch film, maybe even 8/10, but what SEVEN SAMURAI has is complete characterizations of the farmers. A more appropriate title would be 4 FARMERS, as the film subtly explains the politics of the village, the struggle of the right wing majority of cowards led by Manzo (personified by his top follower Yohei) and the more forward thinking left wing thinkers led by Mosuke (personified by his top follower, Rikiki). Strangely, even though it is the right wingers Manzo and Yohei who have booty from killing samurai on the run, the samurai seem to like these right wingers more than the more honorable minority faction. There is so much going for this film that it boggles the mind.
1/10-JURASSIC WORLD The entire series never gave the guys any eye candy, not one brunette, but care was taken to never kill a female, so long as they were blond. This is because women identify only with blond females, and most women are jealous of brunettes, and the woman usually decides which movie to see. So here we get the first brunette, and the big name producer preaches his Nazi ideology by killing the only brunette, and leaving us with the plain women. But that isn't all that ruins this. It ruins it for men, sure, and makes it depressing and dull. But it gets worse. Two of the four protagonist characters are so hateful and abusive, we can't be satisfied when they're still alive at the end (the heroine and the older boy). They go beyond any possible compassion with their self righteousness and complete sadism. The hero isn't much better. Thinks he's an alpha to two creatures that can rip him apart in seconds. This is an ordeal meant for the sheep. Like most 1/10 movies, it is a big budget movie. I can almost forgive a low budget movie for being bad, but it's unforgivable for tons of resources to be wasted on hate and demons.
2/10-ALIEN 3-Clearly the worst of the entire series. It wasn't just because it went off course from the first two movies, and lets be honest, those weren't "loving movies". Most of the characters met horrible ends. Only a very few came out to live another day. The bad guys won most of the time. Alien 3 tried to be "no respecter of persons", but the problem was that it looked completely contrived all the way through to "preach" a point. Being contrived means poor writing. At least Alien 4 let the chips fall where they may, and didn't have a contrived look. That's why it succeeded where this one failed. Of course, the sheep who like to feel comfortable in a contrived environment, fall for this, but not mature people who live in the real world.
3/10-SOME LIKE IT HOT-Hard to think up titles for this one, as it's usually for those movies that aren't bad, just boring enough to make one fall asleep. They aren't depressing, just empty. This one tries to be a comedy, but fails. I'm not sure there is one "laugh" in the movie. The situation is even a bit trite, though perhaps not as trite in the year it was made. Still, it's just a bit too dull to even watch on the treadmill.
4/10-NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION-The difference between 3 and 4 is that 4/10 movies are okay to watch on the treadmill (or in my case, the elliptical). They're kind of bland, with okay moments, just enough liveliness to keep you from falling asleep.
5/10-BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S. Now, what separates 4 from 5? 5/10 is close to mediocre. You can have a decent experience. In the case of TIFFANY we have mostly a dull movie about a pair of dull people. They try to be likable, but seriously the woman is a creep made more attractive because Audrey plays her, and because of the clever use of a nice song. It's the ending that saves this movie. It's the ending that makes this movie, but until then it's really low level. The cat does salvage a lot.
6/10-PALE RIDER-Sort of a mixture of remakes. A low level remake of SHANE, but a superior remake of HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER. In all, it's one of Eastwood's better movies. It's about his 5th best movie (yes, I agree with rest of you that his four best are HANG EM HIGH, TARANTULA, DIRTY HARRY, and JOE KIDD), but honestly you have to admit that isn't saying much, since he's done more crap movies than almost anyone. Still, this one has credible characters in an incredible situation, and that makes it his fifth best film However, while the plot is good, the direction isn't. It plods along too much. Whereas SHANE rolled along, this one crawls due to poor use of cameras. The desire of the director to show the mud overwhelmed the need to make this cinema.
7/10-ANZIO-The overall message is great, and the acting is stellar in this war film. Where it stumbles a bit is the "contrived nature" of the survival of some, the death of others. And some questionable motivation.
8/10-BURY ME AN ANGEL-There is a similarity between this and Tiffany in that this is one that relies mostly on a great ending, but the difference is that this one doesn't try to legitimatize demonic possession as "cool", and it moves along at a better pace. While we don't like the main character, nor her "number 2", the "number 3" shows signs of humanity that we can relate to, and which gives a hint as to the true nature of the message of the film. This is a hidden gem film because of the message. The intriguing part is that is really succeeds where many movies fail. This one will turn you at the end. The dorks who like the three hoodlums throughout the film and think the three hoodlums are cool will be disappointed at the end, but the mature audiences will appreciate it. A real twist movie.
9/10-THIS IS NOT A TEST-Another of the low budget hidden gems. This one is much like BURY ME AN ANGEL in the twists. Like Angel, the twists are mostly in the characters. We learn that the authority figure is a lunatic. We wonder whether he always was one, or whether he degenerates. The characters make this a classic, even today. The two survivors of the nuclear attack survive by credible means. First, by help from another character, and second, by using logic. Lots of lessons to learn in this one.
10/10-SEVEN SAMURAI-Not sure I even have to explain this one, but I'll say a little bit. Like most people, I saw the American remake first, and I think Mag 7 is a top notch film, maybe even 8/10, but what SEVEN SAMURAI has is complete characterizations of the farmers. A more appropriate title would be 4 FARMERS, as the film subtly explains the politics of the village, the struggle of the right wing majority of cowards led by Manzo (personified by his top follower Yohei) and the more forward thinking left wing thinkers led by Mosuke (personified by his top follower, Rikiki). Strangely, even though it is the right wingers Manzo and Yohei who have booty from killing samurai on the run, the samurai seem to like these right wingers more than the more honorable minority faction. There is so much going for this film that it boggles the mind.
