"Movie Ratings Explained"

by Matthew C.
1999.00.00

I was once asked to explain the ratings scale for the movie reviews.

"...I was on the web site the other day ... I couldn't figure how the rating system worked out..."

The ratings scale is VERY easy.  There isn't one.

I didn't include a ratings system in the movie reviews because I simply felt that would not be accurate or appropriate.  Let me explain:

If a horror fan saw a comedy movie, they may not give it the best review, because they just don't appreciate the genre.  In that collection, only horror movies would get good reviews.  To avoid that, I recommend movies to specific audiences.  If it's a good horror movie, I'll recommend it to horror fans.  If it's a good comedy movie, I'll recommend it to comedy fans.

I believe this system of recommending movies is much more fair to the movies and the audiences that watch them.


2005.05.13

Due to popular demand, We have instituted a rough guide as to whether the reviewer loved or hated the material. You still can't take anything "at face value". And we highly recommend reading the review to determine the degree of love/hate.

However you can now immediately tell (before reading) if the reviewer thought the material was good or bad.

There are three main stages for each review. They are "Positive", "Neutral", and "Negative". Each can be determined by the icon by the reviewer's name. For example:

means "Positive",
means "Neutral",
means "Negative".

We hope this helps.

p.s.
There may be other icons to denote personal favorites...