Movies are metaphors for
life. They are the most powerful medium
for relating the human story yet devised. We laugh, we cower, we cry, we
fail, we rage, we weep, we love, we whimper, we die,
we conquer all in the few hours hunkered in the darkness of our local
Cineplex. The dramatized lives of heroes and heroines loom larger than ours as examples of
what we can achieve and what we must avoid.
Are movies spectacles of action and
sound? Often, yes. Do they too often cheat to achieve their power by exploiting
pornography and gore? Unfortunately, yes. But no matter how spectacular or tawdry, they
are more, fortunately, much more. They both guide and reflect the deeper issues bubbling
up from our modern lives.
Personally for us, our lives, romance,
marriage, and our conversation are deeply affected by the movies we experience. Most
reviews we read suffer from superficiality. They just don’t seem to get the heart and
soul of the cinematic story.
At CinemaSense
™, we offer
reviews that seek a perspective most sympathetic to appreciating a film’s meaning and
significance. Sure, we will discuss the faults and gee whiz stuff. Yes, we will remark on
the directors, writers, actors, and the like, but primarily, we want to share what we
get out of the films. You may disagree. You may agree. We hope, though, that you will leave
our site with a greater appreciation for the films themselves.
We would like you to treat our
thoughts as though we were your friends who love and study movies as important sources of
entertainment as well as reflection about our life and times. For the purposes of our
conversation, we will refer to ourselves as Craig and Anna-Maria.
The length of our
reviews vary depending on how deeply a movie touched us.
We aim to protect surprises in the
movies, but if we find giving something away essential to our discussion, we’ll warn
you with "SPOILER". You may want to avoid the spoiler sections and rejoin
us after you’ve seen the film.
If a movie is not
listed, we haven't seen it.
We use a preciousness system.
Movies that meet our standard for recommendation for your viewing are Gem,
Gold, Silver, and Copper. Movies we consider unworthy of your attention receive
a rating of Tin or Rust.
When we list our reviews with
the Online Film Critics Society, we correlate their star rating system with our
system. The table that follows illustrates how. For our listings with
Rotten Tomatoes, we rate movies from Copper to Gem as Fresh and those rated Tin and
Rust as Rotten.
|
Cinema-
Sense™
|
Meaning
|
OFCS
Stars
|
Rotten
Tomatoes
|
|
*G*E*M*
|
A Superior
Movie.
Worthy of Oscar Nomination. We highly recommend it to our friends. Gems
have that special sparkle that dazzles the eye and sets the heart pounding. |
4 |
Fresh |
| *GOLD*
|
A Valuable
Movie.
Worthy of Serious Interest. We seriously recommend to our friends. Gold is the stuff of fine film crafting. |
3.5 |
Fresh |
| *SILVER
|
A Worthwhile
Movie.
Worthy of interest, particularly if you like the type of film. We
recommend this film to our friends. Silver exemplifies workmanlike
crafting. |
3 |
Fresh |
| COPPER
|
A Questionable
Movie.
Not wholly discountable if some aspect is really attractive to you. We
caution our friends. Copper can be well crafted to satisfy some tastes, but
it is also an industrial metal not worthy of discriminating interest. |
2.5 |
Fresh |
| Tin |
A Poor
Movie. So
seriously flawed that we would not want a friend to see it. We know
of no precious use for tin. |
2 & 1.5 |
Rotten |
| Rust |
A wholly unworthy film.
Rust as oxidized iron is best used as a supplement to fertilizer. |
1 & .5 |
Rotten |
