Cinema Static's Review Scale - How It Works, Comparing Popcorn to Drama

Originally publish Nov 10th, 2013, revived today.

If you visit this site enough, you've probably seen my movie reviews and how I tend to mention that I rate it on a popcorn or dramatic scale.

I started this new scale back in 2010. It seems to be more reflective of a movie, within its own genre. And when you see me talk about a critic's disconnect with the fans, this is what I'm talking about.

Popcorn vs. Dramatic

Basically put, I can never truly say that The Avengers or Transformers can be put on the same movie review scale as such movies as The King's Speech, or the most attended movie ever, Gone with the Wind and the like.  That seems crazy to me.

If I give The Avengers a 10, I feel it's misleading a bit if I also give a movie like The King's Speech a 10.  These films are on different scales of the movie enjoyment spectrum for sure. One kind of film you will come out of the theater thinking heavily about how that story evolved and ended and how things transpired for the characters. You are almost in a self-reflective mood. But for other kinds of movies, you come out hyped up, irrationally happy, and associating your fantasy desires from the film... like dang, I wish I was like that or had those toys!

As you can see from my example above, different kind of genres tend to tap into different levels of film appreciation and enjoyment.

I like to keep my fantasy/sci-fi review pieces separate from good dramatic stories.  And in this way, when I give a fantasy piece a number, it's in comparison to the rest of the fantasy realm.  It was a grinning good ride, where as a drama movie is something that makes me think and reflect.

The 1 to 10 Scale

If you wonder why I use a 1 to 10 scale rather than a 1 to 5 scale, it's pretty simple really. I eliminate the half point scores. What's the point?  (Seriously, that was not a pun!) If someone uses a "3 1/2" point system, that's a 7 on my scale.  A "4 1/2": 9. I mean, really, why?

In other words, I commit to a number and I let you be the judge from there.

The only movie scale points out there that I never question are like under IMDb, when they're doing real math to tally up users scores.

The Money Factor

One other aspect I usually toss in, and that no matter what the review scale number, I tend to always mention if it was worth the price of admission, purchase or rental, or even your time.

I don't want to see you wasting your time or your money. 

- - -

My Popcorn Vs Dramatic Scores Scale

Check out my scale below… and you can see how I think the two scales compare:

	Dramatic Scale			Popcorn Scale
10	Excellent
9	Outstanding
8	Very Good		10	Excellent
7	Good		9	Outstanding
6	Good, Not Great		8	Very Good
5	Fair		7	Good
4	Moderate		6	Good, Not Great
3	Poor		5	Fair
2	Weak		4	Moderate
1	Crap		3	Poor
			2	Weak
			1	Crap

-

Each scale technically sits alone in its own realm of numbers, but since I have pointed out that some films just don't match up with the same numbers, this is how I see it. Remember, this is all fairly subjective on how sober I ... I mean how I see a film.

Every now and then, popcorn flicks (AKA, sci-fi, fantasy) can transcend their scale, and when they do, I say so.

As always, anything I say here is subjective and only my opinion.  But I'd like to know... do you think I'm being too harsh on "popcorn" movies?  Should I move a P10 to be on par with a dramatic 9?  Or lower?

Let me know in the comments below!  I'd like to know what you think! Really, I do. I'd love this to be a community, not a lone voice, because sometimes, I might be thinking one thing about a movie, but suddenly someone will say something about an aspect of a film I had not thought of, and it could change how I see it, or even score it.

Thanks everyone!

-Bruce

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

You can follow Cinema Static on
 Google+, - Facebook, or Twitter.

-