Reader advisory

I’ve been hither and yon lately, but I assure you I have no intention of abandoning Cinema Salon. On the contrary, I am planning new features. So please bookmark the site and please come back.

And please contact me with comments and/or suggestions (or even heckling) at: ssatullo@clarkart.edu. I am eager to make the site more useful and appealing. Now that Google has improved the Blogger search function, I urge you to use the search box at the top of the page, for ready access to my commentary on a given film or director or actor, to compare opinions or seek recommendations.

I am curious whether other features would make Cinema Salon more attractive. The name was supposed to betoken a discussion website, but I turned the comment feature off when it filled with spam. Now I have seen a number of sites where threaded commentary works well, and I wonder whether a moderated discussion by registered users would be worthwhile? Technical simpleton that I am, I am also contemplating late adoption of another common blog feature, in making a live link from the Metacritic rating I append to most reviews.

As for my own rating system, I will restate my rationale. My 10-point ranking compares neatly with Metacritic’s 100-point scale, though arrived at quite differently. Without pretense to collective objectivity, my ratings are unabashedly subjective, though I like to think they are offered with an informed subjectivity. But I don’t imagine that I am assigning some objective value to a film, but rather my particular response to a particular screening in a particular situation. It might alter considerably upon re-viewing. I wish only to share my enthusiasms and offer my caveats. So here’s what my scale implies:

*5* = B-. Anything less should be taken as a warning, since life is too short to spend on the less than good.

*6* = B. Definitely worth seeing, if you have the time and interest and opportunity.

*7* = B+. Recommended viewing, worth looking for.

*8* = A-. Among the best films of any given year, worth seeking out.

*9* = A. Among the best films of all time, must viewing.

*10* = A+. Go and see this, then come and talk to me about the art of film.