The most obvious, and somewhat distasteful, aspect of the essays is the score, which terminates each review. The scale goes from one to five stars, which are given using a confusing yet necessary system. Although one is of course the bottom of the trash heap, with five likewise being the crème de la crème; scores can’t necessarily be compared amongst each other. This leads to the puzzling circumstance of a three star movie being admittedly better than a four star, while still receiving a lower score. The simplest explanation is that the scale against which each is weighed is not absolute; for different genres I am interested in different qualities. Another reason is that I consider each film or book in light of its goal, a movie which succeeds at achieving a simple goal will often be rewarded with more stars than an ambitious one which fails at reaching a more laudable goal.

The criteria by which I judge both movies and books are straightforward, and of course often unique to each area. For both groups I’m looking for one of two things, or in extraordinary cases both at once: emotional involvement and intellectual stimulation. In the former, some qualities I search for are: Plot structure; critical points in a story hinge on narrative arc, pacing, dénouement, etc. A misguided change of path often ruins other virtues. Empathy; do I care about the lives of the characters, or are they artificial and forced? Aesthetic beauty; am I pleased or repulsed by what I see and hear? That ranges from the cinematography and soundtrack of movies to the adjectives chosen in descriptive passages of literature. Applicability; will the questions raised be useful to me? Theoretical is acceptable, but only insofar as it extends to material areas. Rationality; does the logical structure stand against counterarguments? A correct conclusion taken for granted weighs heavily on a story’s effort convince me. Completion; are loose ends tied up, or am I left in doubt? Ambiguous endings can be positive, but only when they further spike my interest.

Lastly, you might notice that the majority of my reviews are positive; the four and five stars significantly outweigh the one and two stars. Although I’m hoping for every one of these works to succeed, and I would rather write a positive review than a negative one; I still think I can claim to be mostly unbiased; the reason for the imbalance is the way I pick works to study. Even though I could search out failures to lambast, I believe you enjoy the successes more, I certainly do. The reason I include both is that they achieve meaning only through their differences. Those that try but don’t succeed give greater glory to the ones which do.

Mercury