Sunday, July 31, 2011

Random Musings of the Month - July 2011

Random Notes of the Month 
July saw this blog's 300th post

Is it just me or did July seem to fly by?  It was a busy month but I still managed to watch quite a few films and keep up with my daily posts.  Speaking of which, I quietly passed my 300th post this month, and also noticed that Google kindly updated my toolbar Page Rank from zero to a PR3.  I know its mostly a meaningless indicator but it's still encouraging to see.

I also spent a bit of time tinkering with the blog design again, as you may have noticed a few new aesthetic tweaks to my template, and one not so obvious one as well.  I added a script that pops up the poster and screenshot images in a large floating box on top of the blog when they are clicked, instead of having them open up in a separate page.  The script also has a cool feature that lets you scroll through the screenshots with your mouse wheel.  Try it out in one of my recent posts and let me know what you think.

Lately I've been asked a few times about how I come up with my ratings, and the truth is I never really put a lot of thought into it.  When I started this blog it was pretty much just on a lark, and I really had no grand intentions for it. Just a simple diary to keep track of my recently watched films and maybe a list of my favorites to share with friends when they asked me for a recommendation.

Obviously it has grown to become a bit more than that, but I will save the blog history for a future post.  Initially the scores were chosen by going with a gut feeling and just winging it without following any set criteria, however I've realized that over time it has evolved into a reliable system that I can now pin down and explain.

Ratings Guide:

0.0 - 4.9  The worst of the worst, films I either stopped watching before they ended or fell asleep while watching.  Scores in this range reflect how much of the film I got through before stopping.
Examples: Battle Los Angeles, The Green Hornet, Insidious

5.0 - 5.9  Films I could tolerate till the end but were either utter disappointments or have no redeeming qualities.  I usually wont bother writing a post for films in this range or below, but will make exceptions for awards nominees, festival screenings, a part of a marathon/blogathon, or if I run out of better material.
Examples: We are What We Are, To Die like a Man, The Human Resources Manager, Trust

6.0 - 6.6 Average perhaps even entertaining films that are not complete wastes of time but have nothing special to offer either. 
Examples: Chloe, Julia's Eyes, Submarine, The Wildest Dream

6.7 - 7.4 Good but not quite great films.  They might feature a couple strong performances or have some unique artistic attributes but failed to blow me away.
Examples: Beginners, Cold Weather, Even the Rain, In a Better World

7.5 - 8.0 Very good films that I enjoyed immensely and would recommend to practically anyone. 
Examples: The Way, Neds, Certified Copy, Tuesday After Christmas

8.1 - 8.9 Excellent highly recommended films, including important and influential films, and potential all time classics.  New releases in this range and above receive a Best New Film tag.
Examples: Senna, The Tree of Life, Incendies, The Portuguese Nun

9.0 - 9.9 The best of the best, very few films will receive an initial score in this range.  This is the realm of personal favorites and cinematic masterpieces.
Examples: Mulholland Dr., Suspiria, Walkabout, The Double Life of Veronique

Random Links of the Month

I wasn't able to keep up with all the blogs I follow quite as closely as I normally do, but I still discovered a bunch of cool posts from a few blogs I haven't mentioned before.  Go and check them out!
Bonjour Tristesse

19 comments:

Bonjour Tristesse said...

My friends were watching it but I got bored of it quickly, its like the equivalent of watching someone play a first person shooter.  Fun for 10 minutes and then it gets old fast. 

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Thank you!

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Thanks D4. 

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Thanks Custard.  I think the hardest part is maintaining my post per day schedule.  I might have to scale that back in the coming months.

Amir Soltani said...

This is creepy. Maybe it's the same person asking both of us. haha
because I had an email from a regular reader of the blog about ratings on MY sidebar (that I give using letters, but essentially the same idea as yours and all other rating systems) and what I mean by B, C, etc. so I was just typing up a post about what I mean by those. and then I read this. haha
Great minds?

P.S. thanks for mentioning my article here.
P.P.S. Gotta love those movies you have as examples of 9.0-9.9. I haven't seen Suspiria yet, even thouhg the DVD's sat on my desk foreverrrr, but the other three do tell the tale.

moviesandsongs365 said...

I too have been wondering about your rating sytem, so nice to get an  explaination. Good to see a bit of Kieslowski in there as your best of the best, I'm contemplating reviewing Double life of Ver. soon for my  Kieslowski blogathon  ( :

Thanks buddy for the link to my top 100 songs of 2010, appreciated, maybe I should do the same and share some random links of the month?

Chuck Mac said...

I'ev actually been wanting to watch Battle of LA but if you think it's garbage, then I'll just have to pass.

d_4 said...

It did breeze by. I kinda wish it hadn't. 


Nice script, I wouldn't have noticed it but it's a neat little add on. Oh, and congrats on your page rank. It means more than what it should to us!

Hoi-Ming Ng said...

Congrats on the 300th post then, sir.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Nice coincidence. and you are welcome!

I'm  looking forward to further installments of A Good Year.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Thanks Lurker, for the comment and for being such a loyal reader.  Much appreciated.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Thanks Toby and you are welcome.  Its always nice to hear when my peculiar film tastes happen to overlap with another's, it happens so rarely in real life.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Pale Flower.  But I know what its like I also have unopened discs sitting here waiting to be watched. 

Bonjour Tristesse said...

I love The Double Life, I look forward to reading your thoughts on it.

You're welcome.  I hope it actually sends some traffic your way.  I think everyone should share their favorite links from time to time, its more effective than a blogroll and it's always good to discover new blogs to follow.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Thanks HR. 

I will move it to a page somewhere eventually.  Just have to figure out how I want to do it first.

Hermann Rorschach said...

Whoa, whoa, 300?  Nice.
Your blog has always looked nice to me.  I am envious.  Perhaps you could segregate a small area somewhere to link to your rating system?

FrontRoomCinema said...

300 posts is a real landmark!!

I am looking down the barrel of 200 now, it seem like yesterday that I was on 100!!

PR3 hey? I got that about a month a go too, and although it doesn't really mean much in real terms it certainly does make you feel special!!

Well done matey!!

blahblahblahtoby said...

another great blogger reaching a milestone today. nice one congrats. i must join amir is thanking you for highlighting some great movies i might have missed. my criterion dvd of pale flower looks so pretty and inviting on my shelf just begging to be watched.

thanks for the linkage too :D

The Angry Lurker said...

Congrats on the 300, your blog has opened my mind to movies I would never have known about , very well written reviews, need more action/horror reviews but that's just me, here's to 100's of more posts.

Amir said...

P.P.P.S. I feel so dumb about this, but everytime I comment here I fail to leave my name properly. That last comment was from Amir (of Amiresque).
:)

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