An Introduction

SO, what this is, is my opinion, OPINION, on media, i.e. music, film, plays, pictures, books, etc. It exists largely so I can look at what I think about stuff in a more analytic way, if I don't like something, WHY, if I do like something, WHY. Rather than a "this sux!! lmao" or "omg!! this rox!!" sort of mindless rant, the idea here is to give evidence to why. Why is The Godfather  such a great film, and why oh why is Plan 9 From Outer Space so truly awful, or are they?

That said quality and art are entirely subjective to paradigm. What I may hate others may love and the concave. Truly quality art, I would define, by the sincerity of the creator. Did the artist mean every word, every brush stroke, every note and every shot in the piece with sincerity? If so by all means it is quality as far as I am concerned, but not necessarily quality I'm interested in participating in. So ultimately this is a blog of my personal paradigm of various art/media projects and what I think about them and how I think they could. be better if at all.

So what qualifies me to have an opinion blog like this? Well not much, I'm a punk rocker from Salt Lake City. I'm Mormon. I took a couple film classes in college and in high school. I just got back from serving a two year mission in Los Angeles. I have a personal disdain for mainstream media. I love to read even though I'm slow at it sometimes. So this is just some guys opinion and you'll find your opinions either match up to mine or they do not and either way that's fine with me and we can still be friends.

So the form I'm planning to follow is a bit like this:

With music, I have a lot and get given a lot, both local and non-local. I'm probably just going to go through my iPod alphabetically(by album) because I have a TON of music and I haven't listened to a lot of it. I might go out of order if I get given something new, and I might not. So nothing on here is per-say going to be "new release" exclusively, in fact some stuff may be very very old.

I also find it unfair to just rate an album overall, in many cases there will be one or two good songs on the album, even if there are many other bad ones. Or one or two bad tracks mixed in with the rest of the good. Either way, I plan on listing the album track by track and talking about why I liked and didn't like each track. I listen to a lot of genres but most are affiliated with punk or ska or a subgenre therein. The idea here, as well as getting opinions out is to share new music you may or may not like so please! If you feel I'm missing something send me a link or some music, message me etc. and we can share! Listen to the artists reviewed. And I try really hard to be open minded so don't worry about sharing something new or something I've never heard of. I've learned there is at least one song in most genres that I like or can at least tolerate.

With film, there are many aspects of film. Editing, cinematography, acting, screenplay, directing etc etc. So I'm going to look at each aspect of film and talk about it individually So much of film involves expectations and whether or not the film met your expectations. If it did you're more likely to like the film and if it didn't, it either exceeded your expectations or disappointed you. So what my expectations were and if the film met them will be taken into account as well.

With books I look at character development, plot consistency, prose, symbolism/dual meanings, and comprehension. I've never thought much of books so arduous and complex no one can understand them or have the patience to read through them. But all of those aspects will be taken into account.

Plays will be similar to film, except with a few obvious differences. First and foremost, the director and company putting on the play may drastically change the quality of the play. For example, Les Miserable is one of the most loved and revered musicals of all time, any company putting it on is saying they can live up to the standard set for the play. Either they will succeed or not succeed in meeting audience expectations. That said there are many many plays I have never seen or heard of. So it will be possible for me to review the same play twice put on by different companies, but I will only review plot and script quality on the first review. Categories will include, acting, directing, set design, costuming, script,and plot.

Painted art and graphic design are the most complex to critique. I'm going to cut all of the "lighting, density, realism" stuff out and put simply whether I like it or do not like it and why. Surrealism cannot be held to the same standard as a Pre-Raphaelite piece, its simply unrealistic and equates to an apples and oranges comparison.

In all of the above, with the exception of paintings and graphic design(which I have just explained), I will use the following rating system.

F- :equates to the worst possible thing I have ever had to endure. The mere thought of the subject makes my stomach churn. Awful in every aspect and completely horrendous. It will be remembered for how horribly bad it was and is. This will be nearly impossible to attain and reserved only for a select few pieces that just really really suck.
*:bad, very forgettable and not worth mine or anyone else's time. Badly executed badly done and in bad taste.
**:poor, there's been worse that's for sure, but there has absolutely been better. Pretty poor use of my time and a poor piece over all.
***:ok, it was alright or mediocre  I'll probably forget about it in a couple of days, it was good mindless entertainment that brought nothing new or significant to my life. A good waste of time when I have time to waste
****:good, it was good! Really good, I was entertained and felt like it was worth my time. I recommend it and am happy I got to participate
*****:spectacular! I don't understand my life before it, a stroke of genius, possibly perfect! Anyone and everyone who can see it should see it! The best of the best, an instant classic and something that can't be ignored.

The other key exception will documentary films. I feel like it is hard to put a quality stamp on them and you are either interested during the documentary or you become bored and stop watching it. Documentary films will be categorized in either "Interesting" or "Boring" for review purposes. There will also be an in between category known as "Lost it's Steam" for ones that started strong but got boring or where boring that ended strong.

Overall its gonna be a fun journey. I aim to be fair and open-minded and present good evidence to things I say, I 'd ask you to do the same in your comments and I hope you enjoy reading!