How I Rate Movies
The main goal of this site is to inform you, the reader, about media that I think is worth your time. While most reviews come with a short description of what I did and didn't like, I also make sure to include a star rating to help you quickly understand how I felt about a movie.
My rating is a grade between 4 and 1 stars. A high score indicates a strong recommendation, the middle two are "yes but" and "no but" respectively, and the lowest is reserved for movies I absolutely couldn't stand.
Rating movies with this method can be tricky. There are plenty of popular movies that don't do it for me, or widely panned movies that I love. It's important to remember that my rating is not a measure of something's objective goodness; it's whether I thought it was worthwhile and think people with similar tastes will as well.
It's also worth noting that my ratings skew high: I get to choose what I watch and I tend to choose things I think I'll enjoy. Keep that in mind when you see how many things earn a 4. It's a very different grade than a perfect 10 on something like IGN's rating system.
With that out of the way, let's go through what exactly each score means and provide some concrete examples!
: Yes!
A 4 star rating is both my highest and my most common score. Movies in this bracket can be recommended emphatically. They may not be perfect, but I never felt bored while watching them. A 4 usually means that a movie excelled in multiple areas and the result is more than the sum of its parts. Another way to earn a 4 is to succeed so highly in a specific area (such as performances or direction) that any concerns are dropped by the wayside; they didn't stop my enjoyment.
If you want to see the absolute cream of the movie crop, you can check my list of movies that were been the best thing I watched that year
Here are some recent movies that earned 4 stars:
Black Bag
A spy thriller with little action, mostly dialogue. Great cast, with a good mix of stars and lesser known folks. Tense, but engaging. Has just enough spy tech that it's interesting, but not so much that the plot really relies on it. Fun to unravel who's behind it all.
A spy thriller with little action, mostly dialogue. Great cast, with a good mix of stars and lesser known folks. Tense, but engaging. Has just enough spy tech that it's interesting, but not so much that the plot really relies on it. Fun to unravel who's behind it all.
50 First Dates
There are definitely some rough edges, but it's much more charming than I expected. How much they care about each other really got me in the end. You do need to look past some dated jokes though
There are definitely some rough edges, but it's much more charming than I expected. How much they care about each other really got me in the end. You do need to look past some dated jokes though
The Thin Man
Old timey and charming. A little tough to tell some of the characters apart and the stunts are pretty dated, but the cast is good and the mystery is fun. The leads have good chemistry. Whole thing was much funnier than I expected it to be, too. I can see why it started a series!
Old timey and charming. A little tough to tell some of the characters apart and the stunts are pretty dated, but the cast is good and the mystery is fun. The leads have good chemistry. Whole thing was much funnier than I expected it to be, too. I can see why it started a series!
: Yes, but...
Most movies that earn a 3 could have been a 4, but something held them back. Maybe it was a plot that didn't quite line up, poor pacing, or too many jokes that didn't land. Whatever it was I was annoyed enough about its shortcomings that I have to qualify this recommendation with a "I liked it, but wish they hadn't done XYZ".
Here are some recent movies that earned 3 stars:
Hundreds of Beavers
Utterly original execution. Hijinks that really pick up steam after the first third of the movie. Runs a little long, but goes to some truly unexpected places. I think some of what makes Looney Tunes so perfect is their short duration. This is a ton of them stacked together, which loses some of that brevity. Still a cool time though.
Utterly original execution. Hijinks that really pick up steam after the first third of the movie. Runs a little long, but goes to some truly unexpected places. I think some of what makes Looney Tunes so perfect is their short duration. This is a ton of them stacked together, which loses some of that brevity. Still a cool time though.
Giants Rising
A nicely done documentary about the importance of the Coast Redwood. Does a good job justifying why the trees are important to their ecosystem and the people (both native and otherwise) of California. I liked the information about the history of the trees and how their parks came to be. Has some good interviews with subject matter experts, but leans a little heavily into people forming emotional connections with the trees themselves (which is fine for them, but made for a less convincing argument). There's also some interesting social science around these trees and the effect of Awe, which was neat, but maybe hard to replicate.
A nicely done documentary about the importance of the Coast Redwood. Does a good job justifying why the trees are important to their ecosystem and the people (both native and otherwise) of California. I liked the information about the history of the trees and how their parks came to be. Has some good interviews with subject matter experts, but leans a little heavily into people forming emotional connections with the trees themselves (which is fine for them, but made for a less convincing argument). There's also some interesting social science around these trees and the effect of Awe, which was neat, but maybe hard to replicate.
The Net
It’s mostly a schlocky 90s action computer thriller, but it does make some precient points about how much of "truth" lives in computers and how badly that can go if they start lying. Ther eare better hacker movies and Sandra Bullock never really plays it convincingly, but it had its tense moments.
It’s mostly a schlocky 90s action computer thriller, but it does make some precient points about how much of "truth" lives in computers and how badly that can go if they start lying. Ther eare better hacker movies and Sandra Bullock never really plays it convincingly, but it had its tense moments.
: No, but...
Welcome to the bottom half! Movies that earn a 2 have more hits than misses, but there are redeeming qualities. It can also mean I would have scored it higher, but I was so put off by something (such as plot holes or distracting performances) that I couldn't rate it higher. If you're a fan of this genre you might still find the movie worthwhile, but I'd start elsewhere.
Here are some recent movies that earned 2 stars:
Deep Blue Sea
Plot wise, it’s like a really wet Jurassic Park? I didn’t love the really slow first half and unremarkable characters. Some good action pieces and some good cast members though.
Plot wise, it’s like a really wet Jurassic Park? I didn’t love the really slow first half and unremarkable characters. Some good action pieces and some good cast members though.
Our Little Secret
A decent premise that was never quite fun enough to be truly fun. Wasn’t much christmas magic. Chenoweth is great as always and it’s nice to see Lohan doing things again.
A decent premise that was never quite fun enough to be truly fun. Wasn’t much christmas magic. Chenoweth is great as always and it’s nice to see Lohan doing things again.
Fame
Exhausting theater kid energy. Had some interesting perspectives on everyone's journey through their art and the paths that can take. But, felt disjoint, with too many characters. It also just seemes like drama for drama's sake- they just kept throwing bad things at these kids and everyone seemed miserable. It's ending was especially unsatisfying- it's a song where the ensemble pretends like everyone is fine when all evidence from the film points to the exact opposite. Whole thing was a real slog.
Exhausting theater kid energy. Had some interesting perspectives on everyone's journey through their art and the paths that can take. But, felt disjoint, with too many characters. It also just seemes like drama for drama's sake- they just kept throwing bad things at these kids and everyone seemed miserable. It's ending was especially unsatisfying- it's a song where the ensemble pretends like everyone is fine when all evidence from the film points to the exact opposite. Whole thing was a real slog.
: No!
The lowly 1 is my rarest rating. Because I mostly watch things I (hope to) enjoy, for something to earn a 1 it's got to really fail across multiple areas. As long as a movie has reasonable plot, cast, or artistic direction, I'll usually find enough to like about it that it earns a 2. Earning a 1 means I feel bad for having spent time on this movie at all.
Here are some recent movies that earned 1 stars:
Hot Frosty
It's a fun premise and a decent cast, but the lack of chemistry and an odd but not-fun performance out of Milligan left us out in the cold.
It's a fun premise and a decent cast, but the lack of chemistry and an odd but not-fun performance out of Milligan left us out in the cold.
Freelance
The most remarkable thing this movie did was star both John Cena and Alison Brie yet be so boring and un-funny. The dictator was sort of the emotional core of the whole thing, which leads to some complicated messaging.
The most remarkable thing this movie did was star both John Cena and Alison Brie yet be so boring and un-funny. The dictator was sort of the emotional core of the whole thing, which leads to some complicated messaging.
Holiday in the Wild
Not very christmas-y. Some nice elephant protection messaging, but remarkably lacking in any further charisma or interesting (or even funny) plot
Not very christmas-y. Some nice elephant protection messaging, but remarkably lacking in any further charisma or interesting (or even funny) plot