My Rating System!

Soooo sometimes, people question my reviews.

Duh. My reviews are opinions.
But a lot of people, when they grade a film or video game or book or whatever, usually just throw a number or letter grade at it and leave it at that.

Well, I'd just like to point out that my grading system actually does make sense. While I might not take the time to mathematically add, subtract, multiply, or bestow certain equations to certain parts of my review process, I do have a basically simple numbering system that is as follows:

10 - A masterpiece. A really rare score I'll give, or any other reviewer will give. Examples of films I'd give a 10 to would be Pulp Fiction, Slumdog Millionaire, The Lion King.

9.5 - Extraordinary. As close to perfection as a film can get. It may not certify itself as a "masterpiece" or critically important film, but it was close enough to it to earn extremely high praise and affection (at least from me). Examples include Tarantino's latest Inglourious Basterds, Wall-E, District 9

9.0 - Fantastic. A fantastic film by all means; just short of solidifying itself within my all-time favorites or highest recommendation, but certainly a movie most will enjoy emphatically, i.e. Star Trek, Iron Man, Moulin Rouge

8.5 - Amazing. A film I thoroughly enjoy and would recommend to anyone. It struck my attention in one way or another and certainly rose above my expectations, but perhaps just not quite high enough.

8.0 - Great. Awesomely enjoyable and worthy of commendation. Probably met my expectations, depending on the film. Definitely a film I'd recommend, but wouldn't go out of my way to.

7.5 - Good. Executed with enough talent and expertise for me to actually give a f*$% about, but not quite as good as it was made out to be. Probably had high ambition with little execution.

7.0 - Decent. Not bad...yet not quite "good." A film with about a 7.0 deserves to be seen if you're somewhat interested in its specific genre, otherwise, it could be passed over pretty easy.

6.5 - Average. Not terrible, but it disappoints. Not quite the award-winning film, but it doesn't suck. I'd probably only recommend it to specific people.

6.0 - Shoddy. Basically, the best "bad" you can get. Needs an exorbitant amount of work for any kind of recommendation from me. Then again, not the worst kind of movie you'll find.

5.5 - Below Average. Pretty hackneyed and, probably, pretty gimmicky. Awarded to films that just didn't really try hard enough.

5.0 and lower - Bad. Basically, if I give a film a 5 or lower, I really wasn't a fan. Chances are, it's probably a hit-or-miss type of film, striking certain audiences it appeals to (like adaptations to the original's fans) and completely flying over the heads of audiences it didn't care about. Also, it could probably just be plain bad.

I hope I didn't sound condescending or like I'm Roger Ebert or anything, because I'm not. I'm an amateur movie reviewer at best, but for anyone who actually does read the reviews I publish, I wanted to give a finalized grading system that made sense; hopefully, it'll give you an idea of what I pretty much thought overall of any given film.

Tadaa!