Movie Rating System

As it turns out, I do happen to have a movie rating system!

Now, it's based on several different criteria.

Characters

Key Questions:

1. Do you fall in love with them (or love to hate them)?
2. Are they believable?
3. Do they draw you into the story?
4. Are they hot? (Yes, I know. But sometimes it's just nice to watch Brad Pitt)

Plot

Key Questions:

1. Is it too predictable?
2. Is it too hard to follow?
3. Does it have some sort of great twist?

Music

Key Questions:

1. Does it add to the movie or take away from it?
2. Did James Horner compose it? (Ok, I'm a little biased)
3. Does the music help a key scene in the movie?

Now, we take these elements and rank the movies on the following scale:

• See it in the theaters (value: $10.00)
• Wait for it to come out on DVD and rent it (value: $5.00)
• Wait for a friend to rent it (value: a couple bucks for pizza)
• Wait for it to come out on HBO (free, still relatively close to the time of original release)
• Wait for it to come out on PBS (free, but you see it years after the original release)
• Don't bother (priceless... you don't have to sit through an agonizingly horrible movie)

Allow me to rank a few so that you might understand.

My all time favorite movie is Swing Kids. I would rank this a "See it in the theatres". It has absolutely amazing music that you end up singing long after you've watched the movie. The plot is great - it covers the time period in Nazi Germany when teens rebelled by listening and dancing to "the devil's music". The characters are also great - you learn to love each one and really feel their triumphs and heartaches.

Just a few days ago I saw "Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind". This I would rank a "Wait for it to come out on PBS". I wouldn't have wanted to miss it because it got so much hype. I admit, you kind of feel for the characters, but the plot is so freaking confusing that you spend most of the movie trying to figure out what's happening. Sometimes that's a good thing; in this case, it's not.

So, Eva, to answer your question, I would rate "The Manchurian Candidate" in the "Wait for it to come out on DVD" category. Definitely worth renting and watching. Good plot, cool twist, awesome characters.

And Denzel Washington is not so hard on the eyes. :)

One more disclaimer - sometimes these ratings vary depending on your mood when watching the movie. When ranking I will make sure to let you know if there are any mood barriers.

Eva, I love the idea of a movie section. I'm going to work on that. Give me a few days (maybe the weekend when I have a little more time). Once I have it posted I expect full participation. :)

Hope you all have a great night!