Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Random Rant: My movie rating style

"Overall Verdict" <----this indicates the overall rating of a show on a scale of 1 to 10. 10/10 is NOT the prefect movie. The perfect movie would be 11/10 which would never ever be achieved. When i give a movie 10/10 it indicates that the movie is a near masterpiece for its time and its genre. however i do acknowledge that there is no such thing as a perfect movie and thus, i never expect one. Should a movie fully reach my 10/10 expectations, it gets a 10/10.

Exceeding that expectations would be attaining perfection, hence an 11/10. So a good enough movie that excels in all aspects of story, entertainment value, replay value, characters, "heart", "brains", acting (in the case of animation, voice work, animation and art) and it succeeds in conveying what the director intended, it gets the honor of a 10/10 rating. 1/10 is the ultimatum. It is a rating i only reserve for the worst of movies, the kind filmed on some noob's cell phone and gets posted on youtube or some college student's adobe Flash animation project. If a professionally made movie or animation reaches that dismal level, then let it be labled with a 1/10 *****************************

Movies and animations are evaluated while taking into consideration 2 main factors
1) age (not fair comparing a 1970 film with a 2007 film and saying the special effects were trash)
2) genre (i do not put a independent romance film on the same scale as a summer blockbuster)
So i usually compare movies that come out within the past 2 to 3 years and within the same genre. That being said, i try to regulate the "exchange rate" as much as possible by refering back to "all time greats"(movies that constantly recieve critical acclaim) as a point of reference.

HOWEVER
Language and country of origin is NOT a factor.
In other words a china made fantasy film like Storm Warriors will be put on the same scale as Lord of the Rings. An american or french made animated series will be put on the same scale as a japanese or korean series.

I always say, "I do not like japanese anime or western animation. I like GOOD animation"

Movies, animated shows and animated series are all reviewed comparatively within their medium.
In other words, all animated series are compared together and all anime movies are compared together.

An "A" grade anime series among all the shows would not be a "A" grade when compared to anime movies as the two were compared on entirely different standards and viewing methods.
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Entertainment
: - the "enjoy" factor. A, B, C, D and F. How satisfied i feel by the overall experience of the film. How often i got bored watching the show. Those are two main factors affecting entertainment value.

Story: - coherance, natural "flow" of events as well as apparent plot holes affect this rating. Novelty factor also is a small booost (need not be novelty in story narrative itself, but novelty in excecution of said narrative)

Acting: - kinda obvious right? how well do the actors convey and channel the characters. Emoting, body language that sort of thing. Too over-the-top is also not good.

Characters: - the "heart" factor. how likable or easy to relate to are the characters? How strong Is the emotional connection of the characters to the viewer? How natural are the characters' interactions within the story

Replay value
: how worth it is this movie on DVD or blu-ray which you can watch over and over again. How willing am i to watch it again

"Brains"
: underlying themes, clever allusions, morals etc. things that require one to think about.

Animation: movement of the on screen characters. Fluidity and composition with the background art affect this score greatly

Art
: consistency of design style. Level of detail also factors in but is not as importatnt.

Voice work
: similar to acting
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