New Grading Scale!

So, over the last few weeks I decided to change my grading scale! I am going to show you how it works, and what the scores mean. I hope you enjoy it!

In order for me to grade a movie, I break it down into 5 aspects...


1. The Story

Is the story interesting? Is it something new? How does it propel the film from start
to finish?


2. The Characters

How are they used in the story? Does one of them not need to be there and the story stays the same?(not extras). How do they fit into the story?

3. The Acting

Is it good? Does it fit the character like a glove? How can it be changed or improved?

4. The Direction

How does the director use all of the components of a film to make something great? Is one component greater than the other? Can the direction be improved? How could something be changed to make it better?

5. The Enjoyment

Is it enjoyable? Does the film define its genre?

Then, I rate these aspects on a scale from 1 to 10. So let's say I was watching a movie and I thought it had a good story so I gave the story an 8. It had great characters so I gave the characters a 9. It had terrible acting performances so I gave that a 4. It had good direction so I gave that a 7.5. And finally, the enjoyment rating was a little above average so I gave it a 7.

Lastly, I add these scores up, which would be 37.5, and then divide that by 5, which would be a 7.5, and that would be your final score. If it was a 7.6, I would round that down to a 7.5, because honestly, what is the difference between a 7.5 and a 7.6?

Here is what the scores mean:

1-5: Terrible

5.5-7.5: Meh

8-8.5: Good

9: Great

9.5: Almost Perfect

10: Perfect (Rarely given)

That is how I will now grade movies! Have any suggestions or movie requests? Please write it down in the comment section!

See ya later!

In Summer... Movie Predictions!

I cannot wait for summer! Not only is it the biggest season of the year in film, but it has one of my favorite movies, blockbusters! So, let's get started!


1. Maleficent

Another re-imaging a children's tale. But unlike the other dark fairytale stories, I think Maleficent will actually be good. With the perfect casting, especially Angelina Jolie as Maleficent (I mean, come on! Who else would it be?) Maleficent will rise to the top of the box office, and people's favorite summer movie lists.

Prediction Rating:
A-

2. Edge of Tomorrow

When you combine Groundhog Day, with sci-fi, what's not to like? I mean sure it could get annoying and tedious, but with entertainment produced by seeing the outcome, you will be on the edge of your seat. I think this movie will do phenomenal in the box office, but maybe OK performances.

Prediction Rating:
B+

3. How To Train Your Dragon 2

With the first movie being outstanding, you might want to know if the Dragon series will decrease or increase in like-ability. Well, I think it will lose its heart, but be more imaginative. It will do great in the box office, since it is a sequel, and many children will be dying to see it.

Prediction Rating:
A-

4.Transformers: Age of Extinction

I have seen the other Transformer movies in the series, and I think that the like-ability has declined. And now, they replace Shia Lebeouf with Mark Wahlberg!? Many fans of the series loved him in the movies, and Mark's take on the lead role might get mixed results with fans and critics alike. While it will still be good in the box office, the new Transformers will leave fans unsatisfied.

Prediction Rating:
C


5. Earth to Echo

Here we go again... the producers need an idea. They go scrambling in the garbage can and they find Earth to Echo. The first time I saw the previews, I thought that this was a joke. I pinched myself, and it was still there. I don't know how the producers think they can live up to the other extra-terrestrial, sci-fi movies, such as E.T or Super 8.  I honestly think the film will be terrible in the box office, and be hated by moviegoers, but maybe not to some 9 year old kids.

Prediction Rating:
D

6. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Another sequel! Not that it's a bad thing, but seriously. Anyway, I have never seen any of the Planet of the Apes movies, but I have seen the trailer and it looks very interesting. I think the trailer gave me some hints that it is a blockbuster movie that should do very well in the box office, and should please moviegoers.

Prediction Rating:
B+


7. Planes: Fire and Rescue

I swear sequels will become a genre someday! Anyway, most sequels lose something that its predecessor had. But, Planes didn't really have anything. So.......

Prediction Rating:
F

8. Guardians of the Galaxy

Marvel has pleased me and surprised me too. But when I see the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy... Eh. It's basically a knockoff of Fantastic Four, with the aspect of the unlikely heroes join together and stuff. This film will do great in the box office but will not exactly bring Marvel fans on an adventure.

Prediction Rating:
B-


9. TMNT

Yay, another movie based on toys. After watching the trailer, I had a lot of questions. Who is the enemy of the Turtles that will be in this movie? What are they fighting for? Will the real-life acting performances suck? Oh, wait I know the answer. YES!

Prediction Rating:
D


10. The Giver

I'm glad this is turning into a movie. I haven't read the book, but I have heard great things about it and it's interesting dystopian storyline. I think the acting performances will be great, except for Jonas, played by Brenton Thwaites. This movie will do OK in the box office, but will still please those who read and didn't read the book.

Prediction Rating:
B+


Those are my 10 movie predictions! I hope you enjoyed them and I hope to see most of these films. Have a different opinion? Write it down in the comments! See ya later!

Million Dollar Arm is a Home Run!

With a sharp, slick feel to the production, but a touch of sweetness, Million Dollar Arm excels in its genre.

Usually, I'm not a big sports movie fan, but this one I enjoyed for a matter of reasons:

1. The Plot
As Million Dollar Arm being based on a true story, the plot is already interesting, being about turning cricket "bowlers", to baseball pitchers. But what I think was interesting, was how the writer added another layer to the character, JB Bernstein, played by Jon Hamm. JB works for a company that gives money to athletes when they hit a milestone in their career, such as having the most sacks in the NFL. However, the business is not doing so great. They lost their newest client, Popo Vanuatu, and are running out of clients. JB is down in the dumps, until one night when flipping through channels, he notices Cricket, and the performance of 'I Dreamed a Dream' by Susan Boyle, on Britain's Got Talent. Then,  JB gets the idea of holding a contest to see which two Indian boys can become MLB pitchers.

2. The Humor
When you think of a sports movie, there isn't a lot of laughs right? Wrong! In Million Dollar Arm, its humor source comes from the two Indian boys Rinku, played by Suraj Sharma, and Dinesh, played by Madhur Mittal, adapting to a US lifestyle, such as watching reality TV, or any TV, and eating pizza(no offense to Americans.) One of my favorite scenes was when Dinesh is stopping the elevator when he puts his hand through it, and finds it marvelous.

3. The Soundtrack

The film's composer, A.R Rahman, does a fantastic job! From pulsing South Asian score, do LA money-on-my-mind songs, its variety surprises me since most scores only focus on one theme.

Besides Amit, played by Pitobash, the supporting characters were okay. I especially didn't like Brenda Fenwick, played by Lake Bell. While Bell's performance was good, the character itself, didn't seem necessary, even though she was used to show JB that you have to be like family to Rinku and Dinesh, or being someone to relate to Rinku and Dinesh. Also, she didn't need to be JB's love interest. But that's just Disney going along with their stereotypes.

Overall, Million Dollar Arm will be liked by sports fans, and non-sports fans alike.

Rating:
B

3 Movies, 3 Predictions

These next three movies are headlining next month in film, and here are my predictions if they will be great or terrible.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I think this will do phenomenal in the box office, and will touch superhero fans all over the world. I am surprised that it is coming out next month and not in the summer, and I think that's saying something about the quality of the film. Overall, this movie will exceed the standards of a Marvel film and will be entertaining to watch.

Rio 2

I think this will touch children of all ages with its humor, characters, and color. I also think this will have a little more story than the first, but will be not as great as the first. Overall, it will be a home run for kids, but maybe not with other critics.

Transcendence

As this being Wally Pfister's directorial debut, I think we should give him some credit, and he might need it. I think this film will do decent in the box office, but will be half as complex and entertaining as a Christopher Nolan film. This also might not have the best actor performances. Johnny Depp headlines the cast and might have had hit low after the box office flop, The Lone Ranger, and could be on a streak. Overall, Transcendence might not have audiences thinking like they would if they were watching Inception, and might have terrible actor performances.

Divergent is an intense thriller!

While there are a few flaws, Divergent was still packed with an interesting plot, a great cast, and intense fight scenes. The plot was not exactly explained, but it had a twist on a dystopian society and viewers who have not read the book will be intrigued by the faction system that runs their city. The cast was incredible. From an evil Kate Winslet to newcomers like Shailene Woodley and Theo James, there were many great performances. The fight scenes were great. It is cool, if you read the book, that you can see these fight scenes come to life, all which were well choreographed. What I did not like about the movie was that the book and the movie were more different than I thought, story wise. I felt like they kept small parts of the book the same, but big parts of the book were tweaked. Overall, Divergent is an entertaining thriller that is recommended for teens and adults even if you haven't read the book

Rating: B+

Ender's Game is a sci-fi hit!

Despite it's underperformance in the box office, Ender's Game still has many things to offer, such as visual effects, a great cast, a well-written script, and many intense thrills. The visual effects just screamed ambition. From Zero Gravity battle rooms to high tech game pads, it was visually stunning. At first, I couldn't believe the cast, because there were so many talented and well known actors and actresses. All which played their role perfectly. The script I would say was ok. I mean, at some points I felt like it could've been tweaked, but overall it was good. The action scenes were well choreographed. From hand to hand combat, to freezing lasers, to battle simulations, they put you on the edge of your seat. The only thing that ticked me off, because I read the book, was that Valentine and Peter, Ender's older siblings, we're barely in it! In the book it came to some scenes back on Earth and it showed that they weren't minor characters. Overall, Ender's Game is a solid sci-fi film that is good for teens and adults. 

Rating:

B

The Lego Movie is animation done right!

Hello Internet! This is my first movie review on a blog and I can't wait to deliver you many more! I hope you enjoy my review of The Lego Movie…

If there's one large thing I have to say, it's that it could've been terrible. At first, I thought it was just going to be a large advertisement of the brand. However, it couldn't have been better! Although it did carry a message that advertises for Lego bricks by bulk, which is more expensive, it still had great qualities. The animation was beautiful, the characters were well developed, and it had a thoughtful story. And the humor… it was like a laugh a minute! I don't want to give that much away but my favorite humorous scene was where 1980's astronaut Benny, voiced by Charlie Day, doesn't get a chance to build his kind of spaceship, until, finally, he gets to build it and he bursts out in excitement! I also like the main character Emmet, voiced by Chris Pratt, is the chosen one to save the world, when he stumbles upon The Piece of Resistance. But, he is completely average and he does nothing but follow instructions, in contrast to Master Builders who can build anything they want by identifying Lego pieces. To have this skill, you must be above average, but Emmet is not. He joins a group of Master Builders, who plan to stop President Business from glueing the Lego universe together, so everything can stay perfect and not be creative. All of the Master Builders think that Emmet has a plan, but he doesn't, and he must unlearn how to be normal, in order to save the Lego universe. In, conclusion, this movie was terrific and it is the perfect movie for kids of all ages, and it might surprise adults too.

Rating:

A+