Movie Review Index

Welcome to Anomalous Material! Here I will explain how I review movies as well as clarify my grading scale. Before I get started, a short disclaimer, my movie reviews are only my opinion on a piece of film-making.  Watching a movie is entirely an objective experience and there is nothing more valuable than to make your own opinion by actually watching the movies yourself. Nevertheless, time and money are only a finite resource so that’s where I come into play

There is three big things that I tend to focus when I watch a movie. In order of importance, they are:

• Acting performances: Nothing annoys me more than mediocre acting especially from actors who are paid the big bucks. After all, all we are doing is watching people pretending to be some imaginary characters. If any one of them is not very good at pretending, then our suspension of disbelief is gone and the whole thing falls apart. On the other hand, nothing is better than acting that sweeps you off your feet. More often that not, a great lead performance is enough to save any movie from mediocrity but at the same time, it’s always sad to see an actor act his heart out on a sinking ship. Some of the question I try to answer are: How believable are the actors, individually and together? How difficult is the part? Is the actor performing at a high level despite an underwritten character? Has the actor been playing the same variation of the character before? Is the actor fully involved in the character or just going through the motions? Is the interpretation coherent with the direction of the movie?
• The ability from the film-makers to tell the story: This all starts with the director, who is the captain of the ship, but also include screenplay/plot/dialogue and editing. Story-telling is simply the ability from the people who made the movie to convey a story and emotionally engage the viewer as if he/she was part of the movie. The best story-tellers allow our imaginations to wander long after the movie is over. Some additional things I tend to ask myself are: Is the director clearly expressing his interpretation and is he conveying that effectively? Does he extract the best performances from his actors that are consistent with his concept? Does the screenplay have dead weight like underdeveloped characters or scenes that don’t advance the movie? Is the film well edited?
• Production value: Those are all the little things that add to the movie experience such as photography, cinematography, costumes, set design, CGI, sound, and musical soundtrack. Those only need to be good enough unless it’s a big expensive mainstream production in which case, the expectations are through the roof.

I don’t review every movie I see, hence you will probably not see a ton of grades in the D and F range simply because there is no reason for me to review bad movies. I like to stray off the beaten path and try to focus on less mainstream films but I do review those big Hollywood production when I feel like it. Finally, I despise reading reviews that don’t offer any constructive criticism and are basically veiled (or not) insults at the people who made the movie. I will try my best to avoid that.

• A+: This grade will never be used. I have yet to see a movie that warrants an A+. It would have be mindbogglingly perfect and blow my mind away not for a few hours or days but my entire life.
• A: A masterpiece. Drop everything and see it now
• A-: A near-masterpiece. A must-see
• B+: Very good movie. Highly recommended
• B: Good movie but some minor flaws. Still highly recommended
• B-: Pretty good movie but some flaws make it less than satisfactory
• C+: Slightly above average movie. Some frustrating flaws but definitely worth a watch
• C: Average movie. Intermittently entertaining and worth a watch when bored
• C-: Mediocre movie. Has some things going for it but has some major flaws hamper the viewing experience
• D: Bad movie! Avoid at all cost
• F: Worst movie ever made. A total disaster. Significant danger of getting a stroke while watching said movie

MOVIE	YEAR	REVIEW DATE	CASTOR	RED
(500) Days of Summer	2009	12/23/2009	A-
3:10 to Yuma:	2007	2/24/2008	A-
4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days:	2007	8/09/2009	A-
Across the Universe:	2007	2/19/2008	B
Adventureland	2009	12/14/2009	C+
After the Wedding	2006	11/29/2009	A-
All About Steve	2009	02/05/2010	D-
All the Real Girls	2003	02/24/2010	B-
Amelie	2001	02/09/2010	A-
American Gangster:	2007	3/17/2008	B+
Antichrist	2009	01/23/2010	C+	A-
A Serious Man	2009	02/18/2010	B-
Avatar	2009	12/18/2009	B+
Away from Her	2006	07/25/2009	B+
Battle Royale	2000	11/17/2009	A
Body of Lies:	2008	5/5/2009	B-
Breach	2007	9/9/2009	B
Cache	2005	12/23/2009	B+
Casablanca	1942	02/11/2010	A
City of God	2002	11/09/2009	A
Cloverfield:	2008	1/21/2008	B+
Crazy Heart	2009	01/12/2010	B+
Deliverance	1972	01/27/2010	B+
Doubt	2008	09/07/2009	B+
District 9	2009	8/18/2009	B+
Eagle Eye:	2008	5/23/2009	C-
Enchanted	2007	12/4/2007	B+
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind	2004	02/08/2010	A
Extract	2009	02/15/2010	B
Food, Inc	2008	11/18/2009	A-
Funny People	2009	12/3/2009	C+
GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra	2009	11/10/2009	C
Gone Baby Gone	2007	11/22/2007	A-
Gran Torino	2008	5/23/2009	A-
Hancock	2008	1/7/2009	C+
Happy Go Lucky	2008	6/13/2009	B
I am Legend	2007	12/21/2007	A-
I Love You, Man	2009	10/20/2009	B-
Inglorious Basterds	2009	8/26/2009	A
In Search of a Midnight Kiss	2007	11/23/2009	B
Into the Wild	2007	12/05/2009	B
Ironman	2008	5/6/2008	A-
Julie & Julia	2009	12/15/2009	A-
Junebug	2005	10/21/2009	B
Juno	2007	1/2/2008	A
Kinsey	2004	10/19/2009	B
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang	2005	10/17/2009	B+
Kissing Jessica Stein	2001	10/19/2009	B-
Lakeview Terrace	2008	5/23/2009	B-
Lars and the Real Girl	2007	02/20/2010	A-
Love Actually	2003	02/07/2010	C+
Married Life:	2007	5/26/2009	B
Me and You and Everyone We Know	2008	11/23/2009	B+
Mongol	2007	11/24/2009	A-
Mulholland Dr.	2001	12/04/2009	A
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian	2009	12/20/2009	C
No Country for Old Men:	2007	3/14/2008	A-
Nothing but the Truth:	2008	5/23/2009	B
Oldboy	2003	12/10/2009	A-
Once	2006	7/27/2009	A
One Hour Photo	2002	11/26/2009	B-
Pan’s Labyrinth	2006	7/31/2009	A
Paul Blart: Mall Cop	2009	11/01/2009	C
Rabbit-Proof Fence	2002	11/19/2009	A-
Public Enemies	2009	12/17/2009	B
Rachel getting Married	2008	10/28/2009	A-
Rendition:	2007	11/22/2007	C+
Sherlock Holmes	2009	12/25/2009	B+
Slumdog Millionaire	2008	3/7/2009	A-
Snatch	2000	12/16/2009	B+
Spirited Away	2001	11/20/2009	A
Star Trek	2009	5/9/2009	B+
State of Play	2009	9/9/2009	B+
Sunshine Cleaning	2008	10/18/2009	B
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance	2005	11/24/2009	B+
Taken:	2008	3/10/2009	C
Taking Chance	2009	01/23/2010	A
Tell no One:	2006	5/23/2009	B+
Terminator Salvation	2009	12/14/2009	B-
The Counterfeiters	2007	11/25/2009	A
The Dark Knight:	2008	7/23/2008	A
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard	2009	12/09/2009	C
The Hangover	2009	12/16/2009	B+
The Hurt Locker	2009	01/12/2010	B+
The Last of the Mohicans	1992	11/20/2009	A
The Lives of Others	2006	7/21/2009	A
The Lucky Ones:	2008	4/10/2009	B
The Merry Gentleman	2009	10/20/2009	B-
The Namesake	2007	02/23/2010	B+
The Notebook	2004	02/12/2010	B+
The Quiet American	2002	11/19/2009	B
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3	2009	10/16/2009	C+
The Time Traveler’s Wife	2009	8/16/2009	B
The Visitor	2007	10/31/2009	A-
There will be Blood	2007	10/29/2009	A-
Timecrimes	2007	12/10/2009	B+
Titanic	1997	02/08/2010	B
Top Gun	1986	02/18/2010	C+
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen:	2009	6/28/2009	C-
Twilight	2008	11/27/2009	D+
Wall-E	2008	12/07/2009	B
Whip It	2009	02/03/2010	B
Youth in Revolt	2010	01/12/2010	B
Zach and Miri make a Porno:	2008	5/23/2009	B-
Zombieland	2009	10/12/2009	B-