How I Rate The Movies I Review

August 15th, 2008

I think some explanation is in order for the star system I use to rate the movies I review on the blog.

Basically, I use a 5 star system, which I’m rather systematic about. After watching a movie, I basically write up a list of “Good” and “Bad” aspects and then tally up the ratio of both, which then drives the star rating. But here’s some overall guiding criteria:

• 5 stars: Essentially perfect. I had no or just one complaint. Highly recommended to see in the theater, I’d consider owning, and want to see it again. Examples: The Departed, A Fish Called Wanda, Once, Juno.
  
• 4 stars: A movie I enjoyed, but a few things bugged me — say, an unsatisfying ending, or silly casting. But still worth seeing, in the theater if possible, and highly recommended as a rental. Examples: Borat, Grey Gardens, Sicko, Superbad.
• 3 stars: I have several gripes, but still “rental worthy.” A lot of flicks fall into this category of not awesome, but not awful. This would be a flick I’d be annoyed at paying ten bucks to see in the theater but would be fine dropping a few bucks as a rental. Essentially, “wait for the video.” Examples: The Bucket List, Incubus, Ocean’s Twelve.
• 2 stars: Not recommended as a rental, but still has a few redeeming qualities. The type of flick I’d only watch if forced, say on an airplane, while highly inebriated, or in exchange for a personal favor. Examples: No Reservations, Scoop, August Rush.
• 1 star: Don’t bother. Made me angry. The review is a public service to avoid wasting money or brain damage. Examples: Aeon Flux, The Island Of Dr. Moreau, Rocky V.
• 0 stars: Absolutely terrible; not sure why this movie was even made. Need to take a cold shower afterward, and dread writing a review, because it means reliving the horror of the initial viewing. Examples: Soul Plane, Superman IV: The Quest For Peace.

There are a few flicks that cross over into so-bad-it’s-good territory, where I start laughing at the unintentionally funny. Those movies wrap beyond 0 stars and become entertaining again. A few titles have negative star ratings indicating as such. Examples: Battlefield Earth, Freddy Got Fingered, Mommie Dearest, Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (which I loved; it’s so horrid).

I did a bit of math to see if I was being unfair to the movies as a whole. So far, I’ve written proper reviews of 245 movies. Here’s the number of flicks with each rating:

• 5 stars = 35 (14%)
• 4 stars = 79 (32%)
• 3 stars = 60 (24%)
• 2 stars = 40 (16%)
• 1 star = 17 (7%)
• 0 stars = 2 (1%)
• below 0 stars = 12 (5%)

And here’s a chart so you can get a visual of how things have broken down so far:

Basically, if you add up 5 and 4 star movies that’s 46% — nearly half the movies are recommended, and then another 25% are 3 stars, or decent rentals. That means nearly 3/4 of the reviews are positive in my mind (3 stars and above) — despite my occasional rantings as to why they suck. So I think I’ve been pretty generous with the reviews — much to my surprise.

But remember, this whole movie-rating thing is totally subjective — my opinions are hardly gospel. I’m sure I’ll look back at some of these reviews in the future and wonder what I was thinking. And every post has comments so you can tell me how right / wrong I am.