bogen.org

Rather than post long winded, self-important movie reviews that I doubt anyone reads, I use a minimalist system.

The “Thumb’s Up; Thumb’s Down” system sounds like it might be nice, but in reality, it’s binary nature leads to unncessary praise and criticism for movies. Some movies are watchable, but not necessarily good. Does that mean they get a thumbs up or a thumbs down? For instance, I would rather spend my time taking in a watchable movie than be bored for two hours on a plane without a good book. Or, if I’m in the mood to just vegetate in front of the television for two hours, a watchable movie is certainly better than infomercials or reruns.

With that in mind, I’m going to use the following three classifications for movies:

• See It – You should make an effort to see this movie. For whatever reason, you will not be disappointed.
• Skip It – Don’t waste your time with this turkey.
• Slack It – The movie is watchable. It isn’t good. It isn’t bad. Don’t make any extraordinary effort to see it. If you have some slack time, and this movie is in front of your face, then watch it. If you just need to veg out, and this movie is available, you could do worse.