Wed, January 30, 2008
Ratings Shuffle—11:53 PM
Not a big deal, but I bumped up the score on No Country for Old Men a tad on the second viewing. (I actually bumped it up a few points after seeing There Will Be Blood because it's frankly a more satisfying film, and if There Will Be Blood is the supposed cream of this year's crop – not counting Atonement, which, again, I don't – then No Country for Old Men deserves even more recognition for besting it.)
If this adjustment causes any panic, I apologize. It does happen from time to time; as much as I prefer that the ratings reflect my opinion directly after seeing a movie, sometimes that opinion is unjustly skewed. In the case of Smokin' Aces it was way too high because I'd had a fun time – upon further consideration, it wasn't a top-echelon movie. No Country for Old Men was underrated because of a) Coen-based expectations and b) seeing it with Joe who wasn't bowled over by it. I'm immune to the reactions of most moviegoing companions, but his can still be a little contagious. (Not his fault.)
On the bright side, the result of this adjustment is that the ranking of last year's films is possibly the most accurate list I've ever created (if, for instance, someone asked me to rank my top 30 movies of 2007). So, I must finally be growing into my own ratings system. (It probably helps that last year I programmed a new automated comparison tool which assists me in refining my 0-100 point scores for new reviews.)
