Rankings. How Do They Work?

Time to lay it all out. Thus far not one film has earned lower than a 2 or higher than a 4. Why? Why do so many films get a 3? What's with those half marks? Well, let me explain it all as best I can.

5 Star Ranking.

- Rare to see. These 5 Star films are the cream of the crop, the tip of the top and it's where we stop. Pardon the references, but a 5 Star ranking has to feel perfectly perfect in every way to me. Which is where the debate will begin, because SOMEONE out there may not agree with everything I say, think, or feel. Which is fine. A 5 Star film, to me, is one that I really, really enjoy and love to watch. I love the characters, the songs (if there are any), the story etc.

4 Star Ranking:

- Not as rare as 5's, but still elusive. These are films that almost had it in my mind. The ones that are almost 'perfect' and might have a few minor flaws that I still overlook because the rest of the film just works so well.

3 Star Ranking:

- The most common ranking there will be. This is the "Happy Middle Ground" for me. While there are flaws to keep it from a 4 or 5 Star ranking, they are still quite enjoyable to me and might be considered "Fun, fluffy popcorn flicks" by others. There's a very good chance a lot of films might be here where other people go "OH NO that is NOT a 3 Star film." To which I say, "Not to you. To me, however, it is."

2 Star Ranking:

- Guilty pleasures abound. Not great films, but not terrible enough for me to say "Oh dear god avoid it." These films have too many flaws, or too big of flaws to really warrant a higher rating at all, but, I will still watch them and get some form of enjoyment out of it.

1 Star Ranking:

- Terrible. Just....terrible. Not even as a guilty pleasure. I pray that this ranking is never needed.


Half Stars:

- These are for films where I waver on it. I want to say it's one mark higher, but also feel it might be one mark lower. Since I waver so much, it's easier just to put it a little bit in between two rankings. This also suggests that with a little tweak it could have been a bit higher but just fell a tiny bit short.


So. What do I consider when I rank films? Any of the following:

- Story
- Characters - Is there character growth? Do I even like the characters?
- Villain/Antagonist - Are they a good villain or are they just terrible?
- Songs - For the musical oriented films, are the songs memorable? Do enough of them stand out?
- Animation - Is the animation any good? Does it look bad? How pretty is it?
- The Climax - Did I get enjoyment out of the ending?

So there you have it. A basic idea of what goes on in my head when I put down these rankings.