Through
the end of 2015, I have rated 3323 movies and TV shows I have watched
on DVD, streaming and live TV, mostly in the last few years, but some from
memory of earlier viewings. I rated them, to help me remember what I have
watched and how I liked it. My rating system is built around the Netflix five
star system, but starting a couple years ago, I began adding decimals to make
it more accurate. It essentially has evolved into a four star system. A 2.7 or
lower movie is one I would probably not bother ever watching again. Ratings of
2.8 and 2.9 are marginal or reasonably satisfactory, so I might consider
watching again someday. From 3 to 3.2 are probably worth watching again.
From 3.3 on up are definitely worth seeing again. Several of the older ratings
were done before I started using decimals, and they are identified on the lists
as "no decimal" and should be taken with a grain of salt, since a 2.7
and 3.3 movie would both have been rated three stars. Some movies are
rated DNF, meaning I did not finish the movie and decided that, even though it
was not good enough to hold my attention, I should not give it a low rating
without seeing it all.
The Netflix star system is designed to make three of the five stars positive ratings (and thus encourage rentals). My reaction to that tactic was to hold my ratings down to mostly three stars (liked it), with a few four stars (really liked it) and a rare 5 star (loved it). From memory of viewings many years ago, I have rated some movies at Netflix, mainly for the purpose of helping the Netflix predictions of what I will like and to help me keep track of what I have already seen. At the end of 2012, I decided to add those to the ratings lists, with an indication the rating is from memory. During the year I also posted my ratings to my account at the Internet Movie Database, using their 10 star system.
The Netflix star system is designed to make three of the five stars positive ratings (and thus encourage rentals). My reaction to that tactic was to hold my ratings down to mostly three stars (liked it), with a few four stars (really liked it) and a rare 5 star (loved it). From memory of viewings many years ago, I have rated some movies at Netflix, mainly for the purpose of helping the Netflix predictions of what I will like and to help me keep track of what I have already seen. At the end of 2012, I decided to add those to the ratings lists, with an indication the rating is from memory. During the year I also posted my ratings to my account at the Internet Movie Database, using their 10 star system.
References
to seasons or disk numbers are not meaningful unless more than one rating is
made for that title. In the case of a TV series, sometimes the series is rated
as a whole and sometimes the individual seasons are rated. All of the movies
include the year of release, but various sources might report the year of
release as one year earlier or later. Sometimes movies of the same title are
released around the same date, in which case I have tried to distinguish which
one I rated, usually by indicating a country of origin. Other than for that
reason, I have not indicated the country or language of a movie, since I want
to discourage people from avoiding non-English language films.
Remember, these ratings had been my current opinions of what I want Netflix to recommend to me, based on my most recent viewing of the movie, and also on my mood of that day. In years past I may have rated a movie higher, but recent viewing reduced my opinion. I am not rating based on the historical merit of the movie as of the time it was released. I have tried to mostly pick movies to watch that I did not remember seeing and that I thought would at least be marginally acceptable (2.8). Of the movies listed through 2012, I rated 86% at 2.8 or above. I think the toning down of my ratings at Netflix a few years back had enabled the Netflix prediction algorithm, which was calculated to one decimal, to more accurately guide my choice of what to watch. However, during 2014 the Netflix predictions became unusable, as they claim that practically every movie I will be rating five stars. Calls to Netflix customer service made it clear they could care less if the algorithms are not working. In fact they told me they do not think people actually pay attention to the predictions.
My
movie ratings lists are now updated through December 31, 2015, and are linked
to in the blog side bar, both alphabetically and from high to low rated. I will
try to update the lists every year. Direct any requests for clarification
to me, Tom Blake.
[NOTE: Since this post is intended to be an ongoing resource, it will not accept any comments. If you want to post a comment about this resource or about anything else, you can do it under a different post.]
