"[C]riticism is not meant to be the Red Cross or the Salvation Army. To me it is proof of the uncultivatedness of this society that it boggles at severe criticism. The trouble is, the society is geared to blandness. Blandness is a curse, as I see it. It's shapeless, it's savorless, it's mindless, it's gutless."

John Simon

Greetings. My name is Matt and these are my capsule reviews. I do not get paid to write them, so I'm an amateur - and yes, being an amateur is radically different from being a professional writer who has to answer to editors and worry about complaints from advertisers, studio executives, producers and filmmakers and be concerned with backlash on social media.  As much as many of us would like to believe it's all about "the art," making movies is expensive and those invested in them want a positive return.  Since none of that is my concern, I can stick to my tiny corner of the Internet and speak freely and openly.

I watch a lot of the newer films around the time they're released (mostly via streaming ... and once in a while in the theatre), but the time between me seeing them, writing about them and finally posting them is easily three to six months. Why so long? I keep a queue, and movies get added at the very bottom of it as soon as I see them. When they are posted, they are taken out of the top, and the rest are moved up. This gives me plenty of time to re-write them, adjust the ratings, etc. I do consider it unfortunate that the capsules are so small - the films do deserve more - but the prospect of putting together a two-page review every day has never been practical for me. As an English teacher, I am disappointed by the number of grammatical issues and spelling mistakes I find among the reviews, so please consider these little pieces to be works in progress.  Typically, I have two or even three other people scanning my work for errors and such, but for these it's just me ... and I'm usually in a big hurry.

This is roughly how the grading system 'works' (from 0 to 4):

4.0 = The pinnacle of the medium (to me).  Very rare.
3.5 = One of the best films of its respective year.
3.0 = Good and worth your time.
2.5 = Above average.
2.0 = Average, sometimes leaning towards below average.
1.5 = Ranging from below average to bad.
1.0 = Very bad, but may have some positive component to it.
0.5 = Almost completely without merit.
0.0 = Totally insignificant.  Fairly rare.

Regarding public opinion: some people find a small amount of humor or maybe even - stop me if I'm going too far - a tiny bit of insight in my commentary ... while others think I'm an idiot. A few friends wanted me to get rid of this site post haste a long time ago and I was almost inclined to agree with them, but then I realized I truly enjoy doing this and kept at it with some technical assistance. "Why bother?" you ask. "Why not?" I respond. It continues....


Site Design/Programming by Valentyn Saik.
Cover Photo: Sydney Sweeney (2019 BAFTA Tea Party)