About My Movie Grading System

I received a comment not long ago in regards to a grade I gave some movies, claiming the movies were far superior than what I graded them as.

So, I thought I'd elaborate a bit on how and why I grade the movies in the manner I do. There are rarely times after I view a film, where I just say to myself, "That was a complete waste of 90 minutes right there" or "That had to of been one of the worst movies ever." Most every film I see, I find something to like about it. There are some exceptions, such as "Gone Fishin'," "Dude, Where's My Car?," and "Next Stop Wonderland," but, even in those films, I attempted to enjoy them as much as I could. So, rarely will you ever see me give a grade of 0 to 2 out of a possible 10. But, I also rarely watch a movie and see it as a masterpiece, one that shook me up so much, I had lingering thoughts regarding the film for an entire week after viewing it. So, only on very rare occasions will I grade a film anywhere from 9 to 10 out of a possible 10. There are only two films I've seen that I will award with a grade of 10: "Songs From the Second Floor" (Swedish) and "American Beauty." They moved and stayed with me far more than any other film I've seen.

So, the majority of my grades will be anywhere from 2.5 to 8.5, heck, 3 to 8. If I grade a film anywhere from 7 on up, then I hold that film in high regards. If it's in the 6's, I see the film as pretty solid, but not quite in the must-watch class. If the film is in the 5's, it's decent and watchable, but probably nothing I'd want to see again. If I grade a film below 5, then that's usually when you can assume I didn't care much for the picture, but only then. If I grade a movie anywhere from 5 to 10, that means, from my point-of-view, the film was watchable and enjoyable to an extent.

So, please, no one be alarmed or offended if I grade a film you love in the 7's or 8's. That's a very good rating in my book. If my grade for the film is below a 5, then you can start wondering why in the heck I didn't care for the movie. But, I'm usually easily pleased, so there aren't too many films that I grade below a 5.