Homework 2.

4 Criteria and Scenes

Criteria for the Evaluation. The criteria of a review are the concepts you will use
to judge it. For an action movie, one of your criteria might be “special effects,” but
you would not use the same criteria for a dramatic movie. For a fast-food joint,
“speed of service” might be a criterion, but it would not be at an elegant restaurant.

List some criteria that you might use to review each of the following:

A fancy restaurant A hotel on the beach A science fiction movie

service location special effects
wine list Landscapes music
presentation of food Proximity to the sea Photography
Music on the restaurant Security Colors
Cleaning Game spaces Plot
Ambient Pools Performances

An animated kids’ A Mexican restaurant A playstation game

movie
humor Authenticity controls
voice acting service Replay-ability
Smart Jokes Ambient Music
Dubbing Music Colors
Plot Food Originality
Animation Home feeling Cost

A Well-Supported Evaluation The evaluation is the heart of the review, the

single most important piece of information you can include. It is your judgment of
the product or service. It is nothing without support, however. Consider the
following two reviews from Amazon of Blood Ceremony’s 2016 album Lord of
Misrule:

Review #1: “I honestly wasn't sure if this band would be able to top Living With The Ancients for
me... I think they just did.”

Review #2: “There is nothing better than bands that stay true to their roots but branch out to
keep it interesting. I highly recommend BC because they combine great musicianship with
interesting lyrics, and summon up many great bands from the 70's. The Devil's Widow is the first
and longest song, and it is a rocker. There is a subtle lead-in, instrumental reintroduction, and
Alia O'Brien nailing the vocals with sneering confidence. My personal favorite song is the
crushingly sinister Rogues Lot, which is classic a BC style tune. The next great cut is Lord Of
Misrule, and you will want to sing along with the creepy chorus, another gem. I also loved the
heavy 60's sound of Flower Phantoms, a good example of the branching out in style. Old Fires is
another interesting piece that has a bit of progressive rock styling to it. The album ends with the
quieter, yet brilliant, Things Present, Things Past, which is great for the acoustic guitar, lilting
 flute, and thoughtful yet somber lyrics. All the songs are really good and makes for a great
addition to their growing catalog.”

Both of these reviews are positive in terms of the writers’ evaluation of the album.
What does review #1 include, and what does it leave out?

Review #1 contains the writer's evaluation but omits details such as the songs and
his feeling for them.

What sort of detail and support does review #2 include?

In the second review, the author includes his feelings regarding several songs on
the album, his surprise that the band brought him and the reasons why he would
recommend the album.

Review #2 is obviously more helpful. Why?

Because we can empathize with the author, we put ourselves in his place and
experience the songs as if we had already heard them.

Criteria and scenes

Criteria is directly linked to supporting evidence. In the case of movie reviews,

you’ll be describing scenes to support your criteria and evaluation. For example, if
one of your criteria is ‘directing,’ you’ll need to describe a well-directed scene. For
your review, you will need three paragraphs for this section, each containing a
criterion, a scene, and connections linking the two which will function as an
evaluation.

Here is an example from my review of The Thing. Note that in this case, the
criterion is directing (specifically pacing). My evaluation is positive, so I have
described a spoiler free scene which, for me, clearly illustrates how well paced the
movie is. Watch the scene (“The blood test”) on D2L and then read the following:

Carpenter is a master of pacing, and nowhere is this more evident than in The Thing. He follows
a pattern of sorts: scenes gradually build tension before (sometimes) exploding into action. In
one scene, the scientists and staff have determined that the monster walks among them, having
taken human form. The question is, who? Our hero, helicopter pilot R.J. Macready (played with
the usual intensity by Kurt Russel) believes he has found a test which will separate the humans
from the “things.” The scene unfolds in excruciating slowness, with close-ups of the faces of the
men at the station and long periods of silence. Yet when the scene finally does explode into
action, it does so at an unexpected moment, catching Macready (and the audience) by surprise.
The action builds from there, culminating with the unforgettable image of a flaming figure
running off into the frigid Antarctic night.

For your movie, choose three criteria and three scenes which illustrate them. Fill in
the blanks below and then write the three paragraphs. Good criteria for movies may
include acting, directing, soundtrack, special effects, animation, voice acting,
message, tension, scariness, humor and much more.
Criteria #1: Photography

Scene for criteria #1: Intro scene, where Charlie (Adam Driver) talks about his wife
Nicole (Scarlett Johansson)

Criteria #2: Acting

Scene for criteria #2: Fight scene between Nicole and Charlie.

Criteria #3: Message

Scene for criteria #3: Scene where Nicole talks to her lawyer Nora (Laura Dern).
And scene where Charlie spends time with his son Henry (Azhy Robertson).

Write three criteria paragraphs here about your movie, include solid,
spoiler-free descriptions. These will eventually form the body of your review.
Each of your paragraphs should have a clear criterion, a clearly described scene,
and a connection between the two (in other words, how does the scene illustrate
the criterion?).

Paragraph #1: Photography

Noah Baumbach was always a director motivated to show shots where we can meet
the main characters in a more natural way, as in the opening scene, where Charlie
Barber, played by Adam Driver, describes the reasons why he fell in love with his
wife Nicole Barber, played by Scarlett Johansson; along with this off-screen
dialogue, the director shows us the daily life of the family made up of three,
especially the scene where Nicole cuts her son and husband's hair, the photography
in this scene is clear, it has natural light and it is such a melancholic scene that the
photography couldn’t be any other. In each sequence shot we begin to care for
each character, wanting to see more shots like that.

Paragraph #2: Acting

A very difficult scene to forget and for which most of the audience remembers the
film, is the famous scene where Charlie and Nicole argue; It’s an unforgettable
sequence and all the credit goes to the two great actors, Adam Driver, and Scarlett
Johansson. Who would think that Kylo Ren and Black Widow could have a high level
of acting. Every second of this scene is a delight, both make us empathize with
each other, in certain parts agreeing with Nicole and in others with Charlie.
Personally, this scene was very difficult to watch, I didn’t want the marriage to end
in the worst way when both are excellent parents. In this film they showed what
they can achieve.
Paragraph #3: Message

Together with the performances, we have the message that the film and the actors
want to leave us. At some point in the film, we all want the couple to be together
again, more for the illusion of seeing them as a family and for the mental health of
the little son, but deep down we knew that this was practically impossible, and
that's when we started to listen to the reasons of both parties. On the one hand in
the scene of Nicole talking to her lawyer, we understand the fair reasons why she
wants to divorce Henry, reaching a point of wanting this to happen as soon as
possible, here we put ourselves in a position next to Nicole deciding to see the story
from her eyes; but on the other hand there is Charlie's testimony and how he loves
his son above all things, we can see this in the Halloween scene where he spends
his son all night despite being tired from work, that's where we want Charlie be a
part of your child's life, and we take the opposite side of Nicole.