How to use this blog

In this blog, I plan to review movies and give them a sort of rating. But I don't grade like regular critics or like a school teacher; when I watch a movie, I am entertained by many different components of it. If I like a movie and I give it an A-, then you might decide to watch it, but that doesn't mean that you will like it. I want everyone to know why I like the movie, and from there, you know if you are interested or not. This will make a lot more sense after I begin reviewing movies, but here's a key to help you understand.

The first conclusion I make about the movie is called the "Census." I will grade several components of the movie on a scale of 1 to 10 (obviously, 1 being the worst and 10 being the best). The Census looks like this:

"James Cameron's Avatar"

Story: 6

Acting: 5

Special Effects: 9

Cinematography: 9

Conclusion: 7.25

Everything is rated for different reasons. Does the story pull you in, does it captivate the mind? Is the acting very good? Are the characters' roles pretty believable? Is the movie filmed very well, or do you feel like you are watching a play in your backyard with a giant painting of another planet behind you? The "Conclusion" grade at the end is an average, or overall score of all the components of the movie. Note, it is important to look at each specific grade, because all movies are different. For example, most people will go to see Avatar because of all the special effects and CGI rather than a good story. Even though it could be debated that the story of Avatar is just as good as the special effects... That's another conversation for another time.

The other grade I give is my own personal grade. It's how much I like the movie personally, even if I gave it a very low census score. This grade is called the Fringe.

Since you're all probably wondering, I give Avatar a Fringe grade of C-.

So, that's pretty much what to look for in the future. Remember that these are simply my opinions and do not apply to everybody. I decided to write about movies because I love movies and I love writing about them.