Giving Movies a Rating

This has been the case for quite a significant time, and I can't seem to find a proper solution for it. I hate giving movies a rating.

The viewing of the movie is obviously the most important aspect, but after I finish the experience, I'm not only inclined to leave a trace of me watching said film, but also the level of my liking for it. I'm a very organised person, and I recognise that I'm almost compulsive in that aspect, but I can't help it...so after submitting countless films on whatever social network (letterboxd, IMDB...), a movie will surely come that won't fit any rating. This is the point where I go nuts! I know it's petty and laughable, but once this kind of situation happens, I start rearranging my previous hundreds of ratings, now everything becomes disordered, no grade has a meaning any more, but my anxiety certainly does.

I've tried many solutions. I tried abandoning the stupid concept of grading films, but I found out I was long addicted. I tried turning a new page, and starting out fresh, but the situation occurs at one point or another. Basically, I always dread the end of a movie, because it always means the start of another contribution to the problem, and now it has become more frustrating than ever, especially with the summer and all of the free time.

I hate the day my brain was introduced to this concept, because films to me, are much much much much MUCH more, than a little stupid harmless rating or a grade.

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"A film has to be a dialogue, not a monologue — a dialogue to provoke in the viewer his own thoughts, his own feelings. And if a film is a dialogue, then it’s a good film; if it’s not a dialogue, it’s a bad film."

- Michael "Gloomy Old Fart" Haneke

I do ratings as a community thing . Then again if you hate giving ratings, I don't see any "slamming a hand on the table and spouting an edict".

At the same time, my ratings are not based on one standard, but a case by case basis.

I would rate

Predator

Drive

FnL

because they are my favorites for that type of movie.

I get the thing about the brain, but I don't think they are stupid. This medium is devoid of vocal tone, body language and visual cues. The rating for me, helps in expression. I never cared for emojis, until I cared to make sure people understood my tone.

Yeah I agree with this. Mostly. I find that if I rate a movie as a 7 on the day I watched it, then scroll through my letterbox ratings and find that one I voted a 7.5 was no way better than the one I voted as a 7. Basically, I have to 're-rate' all the movies I have ever watched after watching the latest movie I just watched.

I rate them anyway as it's sometimes interesting to compare the film to others' rating of it. But it is hugely objective and not always consistent.

I also hate the 4 or 5 point rating system. (Sorry Yoda). I find that I need at least half points out of 10. I have no idea how Roger Ebert was satisfied with a scale of 1 to 4. That would do my nut in.

I used to freak out about rating movies, too. Especially since I have been very lenient with my ratings. But I don't care anymore. Everything I rate or more is Ｌ　Ｅ　Ｇ　Ｉ　Ｔ. There are indeed films that end up somewhere between 4 and 4.5 (or any other two ratings for that matter), but I mostly just go with the higher rating. Problem = SOLVED.



PS: I rate this thread . Oh wait... I think a is okay... No, no, no! !

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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.

On the same subject I despair a little when I see so many 10 out of 10 ratings. Or 5 out of 5. For me those should be reserved for the very, very best movies on the planet. Flawless, impeccable, perfect movies. I've personally only seen about 11 or 12 of these.

If you rate the latest Mission Impossible as a 10 out of 10, then your giving the same rating to a true great like a Tarkovsky or a Billy Wilder or a Hitchcock or a Kubrick or whatever floats your boat at the top of the scale. Are they really of the same quality?

You just perfectly described everyday of my life

Since this is what I see you using, do you partake in a a site that has a .5/10 system? I think that would immensely help me hahaha.

Hopefully, I reach that state soon enough.

I have 177 10/10s and they indeed are reserved for the best movies. HATERS GONNA HATE!

I don't think there are any really.

There is a decent site that ranks 1 to 10 called Trakt.tv that I use to integrate with my Home Cinema system (Once I watch the movie or tv show on my tv I get asked to rate it, and it syncs with the online site). This isn't for everybody though and there is little to no interaction on the site. Just a catalogue of what you are watching every day.

I agree and disagree. The 10/10s for me (for now), are basically a list of my favourite films. They don't have to be flawless, they're not the best movies on the planet, and they're far from perfect...they simply fit in the category of being my favourites.

To be fair that's probably because you've watched 16.09 times more movies than I have!

Hmmm. I'm currently making a list of my top 100 movies. They're a mixture of my favourite ones that I can watch over and over, and ones that I just think are a hugely amazing piece of film-making. So I have to make a distinction between the likes of 'Come and See' and 'When Harry met Sally'. I adore them both, for very different reasons, but 'Come and See' is clearly better than 'When Harry Met Sally'. So I can't rate them both 10 out of 10.

I've only seen about 6000.

I rest my case.

Why not? Who says you have to reach for an objective scale? I mean, I'm not gonna rate a film that I recognize to be great but still couldn't care less about, above one that I recognize to be heavily flawed but still love. (Not saying this is the case for you with Come and See and When Harry Met Sally)

Not too add to the problem, but rating specific elements of a movie may be better. For example, I remember thinking this about Ready Player One.

Entertainment Value:
Replayability:

Well this is where it's subjective. I rate one higher than the other, yet I love both.

This is where the age old argument that I have all the time with friends comes in...that is...the difference between "favourite" and "best".

If we're being honest, the best films ever, would probably be the pioneering classics that gave birth to modern film-making. If this is the criteria, then my top 100 would be filled with 1one hundred films from only the likes of Bergman, Goddard, Bresson, Lang, Kurosawa, Kobayashi, Kieslowski, Tarkovsky etc etc etc.

But it's not, it's filled with a few of those plus war films, romantic comedies, mind**** movies, horror movies etc etc. Because there has to be a space for the films you get sentimental about. The ones that created a special moment for you that you'll never forget when you watched it first. And sometimes those aren't 10 out of 10 movies. Because as much as you absolutely love that movie, it's just not as much of an accomploishment as The Hidden Fortress.

I actually tried this, but I gave up after only hours of practise.

Those are directors of some of the best movies ever and those films are also my favourites.



PS: Godard.

Well we're all different. I'm aiming to put my top 100 on here soon. I just need to see about 15 - 20 more films and I'll do it.

Guaranteed it will change on a daily basis thereafter though.