About the Mini-Reviews
I watch a lot of movies. So a lot of people ask me what I thought about them. And it's almost never easy to give a straight answer because, while we teach film in colleges and there are quasi-unanimously approved 'best of' lists, movie-goers do not necessarily care about that. Some want to have fun. So they're not looking for the Citizen Kane of 2004. How about the Spiderman or Chronicles of Riddick? They're not likely to make the American Film Institute top 100 list. (Actually Chronicles of Riddick might just make the bottom 10 list...). But Spiderman is fun although still flawed.
So the first rule of thumb is to compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. Well, I can do that, but... how about plums? I really don't like plums... (Plum jam is fine though). So the second and last rule is - everything that I say here is simply my opinion about that movie. When it's more than that I will point out other supporting evidence, but... movies are a personal experience so even if I hated a movie, you might love it, or viceversa.
So there we go. The Casual Critic is just a guy that watches lots of movies. And speaks his mind about them. There are usually no spoilers on this site, but reviewing a movie does sometime force me to talk about the story or the characters. It is my firm belief that a good movie cannot be spoiled by a review. There is much more to it than just a twist in the story, although I will obviously refrain from revealing plot twists.
The rating system on the site is basically on a ***** scale, including 1/2 stars. The usual meaning of the ratings is as follows:
* = don't get me started. In this category are the movies that I personally disliked most. Not necessarily the worst movie ever made, but perhaps very manipulative, possibly over-hyped, etc.
*1/2 = we all laughed when the hero died. These are probably terrible movies anyway you look at them.
** = bad. They miss the mark on most levels and although weren't necessarily doomed apriori to be bad, they just don't have enough redeeming qualities in my eyes.
**1/2 = which one was that? Average movie. Usually forgettable, they are not terrible, but do not manage to stand out in any special way.
*** = fun if you're in the mood They're fun if you're in the mood or you might consider them a ** otherwise.
***1/2 = good There's not "smart" description in this category. It's either a fun and well made unpretentious movie, or a potentially great one that doesn't go all the way, or a good one but on a topic that I cannot identify with sufficiently, etc.
**** = people's choice Usually the movies in this category have great critical acclaim, or great viewer ratings, or both. I obviously also think highly of them but they did not quite make it in my very top tier.
****1/2 = wow! These are just very good movies. A lot of my personal favorites will be here, those that I couldn't bring myself to give the highest grade for reasons that I cannot usually specify.
***** = don't get me started :). These are, obviously my favourite movies. They are not necessarily universally acclaimed masterpieces and perhaps not even all my friends would like them. But they just worked for me.