Time for Double Decimals?

It seems I have seen and rated most of the good movies on my lists and avoided the bad ones, so now the movies I have been watching and rating here are in the marginal 2.9 to 2.7 range (60% of the last 100 movies rated here). Adding a decimal to my ratings has allowed more accurate measurement than the Netflix five star system, but sometimes it seems hard to decide whether, for example, a movie is a 2.8 or a 2.7. Going to double decimals would allow a 2.75 in that case.

One problem with making such a change would be backward incompatibility whenever a combined list of all rated movies is published; a movie rated 2.8 before the change might have only been a 2.75 after, so it is not necessarily better, even though it has a higher rating. Supposedly that issue could be addressed by rating all movies after the change in double decimals, such as 2.80. Then on publication of a combined list it could be explained that the double decimal was a later adoption and should be considered more accurate. For that reason, 2.80 movies would be listed before 2.8 movies. I doubt if I will make such a change though, because it seems like too much work and confusion to differentiate one marginal movie from another; and with such a fine degree of separation, the vagaries of mood at the time of viewing could be a bigger factor.

Here is what I have watched since I posted my last list. The ratings I give are on my own number system which is explained at the link on the sidebar.

The movies on this list streamed via Netflix were:

Bramwell (Season Two) [Stream availability expired 8/15/2013]

House of Cards

Raw Faith

Hitler’s Children

Sing Your Song

The Hedgehog

Bramwell (Season Two) – 1996 (3.2). The British series about a young female doctor running a charitable medical clinic in 1890s London continues with the same central cast as the doctor encounters various social issues behind the medical conditions she treats. A new character is introduced, a young up and coming male doctor at the local hospital, with whom our heroine clashes; but then a mutual attraction draws them together, even as we join her father in wanting her to drop him. More developments occur in the lives and families of others at the clinic. Excellent acting and good scripts more than make up for second tier video quality.

House of Cards – 2013 (3.0). This Netflix original American version of the BBC series from the 1990s is an impressive production and quite well acted. The writing is sharp and the story arc stays on track, though in mid-season as the sex and drugs become more prevalent it gets a little precarious. The spurned and power driven House Majority Whip and his wife are ruthlessly focused on their usually mutual goals, which are not entirely clear at first but then become more apparent as the season progresses. Cynical about any actual policy or even ideology, the scripts focus on power plays, back stabbing, alliances and exploitation – all the things that make me keep watching Survivor. The symbiosis of politicians and journalists plays a significant role and having the key reporter be a female neophyte willing to use sex to get ahead, which at first seems a titillation, turns out to be more significant. This is good enough to justify watching in expectation of the inevitable collapse.

Raw Faith – 2010 (3.0). This documentary closely follows Marilyn Sewell, Minister of a Unitarian church in Portland, Oregon, as she openly and honestly shares through the movie her struggles with a retirement age transition in her life. She loves her work ministering to her congregation and they obviously love and are quite touched by her, but as she examines her unhappy childhood, failed marriage and lack of closeness to her two sons, she begins to realize what is missing in her life and what she wants to do next.

Lincoln – 2012 (2.9). Spielberg gives his Hollywood treatment to the man on the penny. From a Doris Kearns Goodwin book, the original script was of miniseries length, but Spielberg chose to concentrate on the last four months of Lincoln’s life, centering on the political maneuvering to get the 13^th Amendment passed to abolish slavery and the negotiating attempts to try to bring the Civil War to its inevitable conclusion. Daniel Day-Lewis does his expected super job as Abe and Sally Fields matches him as Mary, though her part in a story about politics and war negotiations is necessarily more peripheral. To those not schooled in the details of this phase of history, much of the political maneuvering may have been a bit confusing. The African-American characters in the script had no depth and were way too 21^st Century, especially the soldier from Massachusetts who challenged the President in the opening scene. Some of the Hollywood touches are falsely iconic, such as the scene near the end where Lincoln slowly rides his horse through a body strewn battlefield right by a pristine rebel flag still flying proudly in the breeze.

Hitler’s Children – 2011 (2.9). The descendants of members of Hitler’s inner circle have to figure out how to deal with the guilt and shame of carrying on such infamous names. This thought provoking documentary uses interviews with the descendants, some archival footage and film of their interactions with young German students, holocaust survivors and their descendants (which is quite moving) to show how they are handling the matter in various ways. While watching and thinking about the aftermath of what the Nazis in twelve years did to Jewish people, I could not help but think about what many of our American ancestors over almost two and a half centuries did to African people.

Sing Your Song – 2011 (2.9). Harry Belafonte has been a pioneer in race relations and an icon of the struggle for social justice for so many decades that we may have taken his involvement for granted or even forgotten most of it. This documentary is a good reminder, proceeding chronologically through the decades, using interviews with Harry and others who joined in the struggle, archival footage and narration. Some of his personal life is shown, including interviews with his second wife and his children, but the focus is primarily on the causes with which he has been involved.

The Hedgehog – 2009 (2.9).  Young French filmmaker Mona Achache shows promise in this gentle story of an artistic and intelligently introspective eleven year old girl who is bored with her life and family in their luxury apartment in Paris. She decides to commit suicide before her next birthday and uses her home movie camera and drawing talent to explore and address her feelings. The hedgehog is the grumpy and frumpy female superintendent of the apartment building, who is actually a highly literate and avid reader behind her closed door. The girl, the hedgehog and a new apartment resident, an elegant widowed Japanese man, are kindred spirits who begin to develop friendships, as the birthday of the girl draws near. Interesting camera techniques involving the home movie camera are effectively utilized as are close ups of the art work being drawn by the girl and animations of her drawings. There is something said in this movie, with a typical French closing, but it is the style of the telling that is most impressive.

Bramwell (Season Three) – 1997 (2.9). The disapproved pending marriage of the heroine was the cliffhanger ending of season two continues into season three but quickly takes a dramatic change which lingers through the season, perhaps a bit too much. The work of the clinic continues as before and the senior Doctor Bramwell finds a love interest of his own, culminating in his marriage and relocation, which impacts the operation of the clinic. Drama continues in the lives of the clinic staff and young Doctor Bramwell and her clinic colleague are drawn together as this season ends. The script quality tapers off a little this season as the love life issues become more melodramatic.

Rust and Bone – 2012 (2.7). He is a virile, brutish wanderer with a sometimes sensitive side, showing up on the doorstep of his sister with his five year old son after a three year absence. The woman he meets as a bouncer at a club has been roughed up and he takes her home and offers his phone number if she needs further help. She is happy in her work as an Orca trainer in marine shows, but unhappy in her personal life. After a few months, an accident at work leaves her even unhappier and she calls him. Their resulting relationship is atypical and confusing to her, though he does not give it much thought, until an accident also happens in his life. This is an interesting exploration, but falls a bit short because we never get to know much about the background of these two people in order to better understand who they are and to make us care more for them.

Bully – 2011 (2.7). The subject of bullying in schools deserves a better movie than this amateurish documentary which disjointedly follows parts of the stories of several victimized middle school students who live in small town locations from Iowa to Georgia. School authorities are mostly shown to be clueless about the problem while parents are understandably upset, particularly in the cases with the most egregious results. Noticeably absent are interviews with the bullies themselves or peer discussions of the topic. Finally near the end the film shows some parents taking action to arouse community attention to the problem, but otherwise there is no indication of what can and should be done by our communities and schools to address the subject.

Quartet – 2012 (2.4). Not a comedy or a drama, this poorly written script wastes a wonderful cast in a muddled and bare story of a retirement home for old singers and musicians, three of whom want to reunite in a singing quartet performance while the fourth does not. The movie gives no indication whatsoever that Dustin Hoffman has any particular talent as a film director. Billy Connolly provides a little comic relief. Maggie Smith being persuaded to deliver the “f” word for the first time was a shameful idea that fittingly fell flat.

Bramwell (Season Four) – 1998 (2.2). What happened here? Two long episodes comprise the fourth season, in which the senior Doctor Bramwell and his new wife are barely mentioned, other supporting cast members disappear without explanation, a new love interest for the heroine is plopped in, her clinic doctor colleague is painted in an inconsistently different light, the heroine turns into an hysterical twit and the whole disjointed mess ends with an implausibly lousy supposedly happy scene. There was a Season Five of at least one episode in 2000, which nobody seems to have cared about, which is quite understandable.