I rate movies based on how much I enjoyed them, and how well I believe they were made, not based on how good they are FOR THEIR TIME. One reason I rate older movies lower than other people is that I believe most things get better with time, and in my opinion the movie industry is no exception. I don't think that most movies get better with time, as they just sit there, unchanging, as all of us grow, learning from them, and learning from ourselves(some movies do get better with time because they are so much ahead of their age that it takes us a while to catch on). Another reason I think older movies are usually not as good, is that they rushed movies compared to today. Some actors could pump out 10 starring roles in a year, which is impossible today, at least among mainstream American films. Through time, movie making has become much more careful and extensive. If I rated movies based on how good they are for their time period, I would probably have Inherit the Wind as a 10, because I think it was not only a great movie for any era, but was extremely bold and evolutionary in 1960. I realize that my rating style sometimes ignores the importance old movies have in the world of cinema, and perhaps one day I will change my mind and decide to rate movies differently. Since I don't want what I consider to be the best movies of all time penalized for being new, I might not change anything and instead write a long list of movies in an article and give them a rating with their time period factored in. I believe that movies of today are in the childhood phase of movie making and that they will continue to get better for a long time. I love movies, but I see significant flaws in ALL of them and think there is a ton of room for vastly superior films compared to what we currently have. Ok, that's all. I hope I didn't babble too much.
Jeremy Barger
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/firegodsmovieclub
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