The Great MovieFest Survey
Results
Part Two
Part One
In Part Two we're going to take a look at the breakdowns based on who was responsible for selecting which film followed by a study of which genres did best and worst.
I did not include Mr. Fischer or Group picks, so don't expect these totals to be perfect.
KEY:
TS = Total Selections for all nine years
T3 PTS = Total points for films on a year-by-year basis
B3 PTS = Total points for films on a year-by-year basis
TT PTS = Top Ten Points
BT PTS = Bottom Ten Points
TOTAL = (T3 PTS) + (B3 PTS) + (TT PTS) + (BT PTS)
AVERAGE = TOTAL / TS
POS TOT = T3 PTS + TT PTS
NEG TOT = B3 PTS + BT PTS
Total Points By Member
| |
TS |
T3 PTS |
B3 PTS |
TT PTS |
BT PTS |
TOTAL |
AVERAGE |
TOT POS |
TOT NEG |
| 1.) The Man |
29 |
+51.75 |
-31.25 |
+49.35 |
-13.90 |
55.95 |
01.929 |
101.1 |
-45.15 |
| 2.) Snobhunter |
11 |
+19.25 |
-08.75 |
+07.85 |
-02.40 |
15.95 |
01.450 |
27.1 |
-11.15 |
| 3.) Alaay |
22 |
+28.50 |
-17.00 |
+16.35 |
-09.60 |
18.25 |
00.830 |
44.85 |
-26.6 |
| 4.) TheBluePlayer |
10 |
+10.25 |
-09.50 |
+09.70 |
-04.20 |
06.25 |
00.625 |
19.95 |
-13.7 |
| 5.) Eladamri |
20 |
+25.25 |
-16.00 |
+18.80 |
-15.70 |
12.35 |
00.618 |
34.05 |
-31.7 |
| 6.) Houdini |
6 |
+02.50 |
-01.00 |
+02.20 |
-00.00 |
03.70 |
00.617 |
4.7 |
-1.0 |
| 7.) Phil |
17 |
+11.50 |
-21.25 |
+05.50 |
-10.70 |
-14.95 |
-00.879 |
17 |
-31.95 |
| 8.) MagicManZach |
15 |
+03.25 |
-38.25 |
+02.40 |
-44.55 |
-77.15 |
-05.143 |
5.65 |
-82.8 |
A quick note: the final rankings were determined by average rather than point total. With MMZ acting as Galactus swallowing all of the negative points in the universe, all anyone else had to do was propose a lot of films and they'd be gauranteed to generate positive points. Average, then, forces people to be judged on the quality of each pick rather than overall quantity.
1.) The Man
I believe the words you're looking for are: "holy fuck." TM is so far in the green, he's almost the equivalent of Alaay, Eladamri, and Snobhunter combined with points, and even in averages he has a healthy lead, with the implication being that his films are routinely twice as good as mine and three times as good as BluePlayer's. You shouldn't really be so surprised by the high points totals, though, given that he has a staggering seven of the top ten films: #3 From Dusk Till Dawn (12.05), #5 The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (10.95), #6 Donnie Darko (9.85), #7 Cube (9.3), #8 Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (9), and #10 Crank (8.4). Throw in five more films on the top twenty-five and it's clear that The Man rules the MovieFest cream of the crop, including being credited as the proposer for the Film of the Year in Years One, Three, Five, Eight, and Nine.
That doesn't mean we should just surrender the mantel of MovieFest King to The Man without a fight, though. Don't forget that this guy has an impressive -51.15 in total negative points to his name, the second-highest amount of any member (MMZ obviously holds that distinction). The Man is all over the tail end of the rankings with #129 Brazil (-8.1), #124 Cat Ballou (-6.45), and #122 Repo! (-5.1), among others. Eleven of his twenty-nine proposals are in the red, assuring that a little over 1/3rd of his films will be real stinkers. There's still plenty of illwill where The Man is involved, but no one can argue that he has a habit of repeatedly picking out some of MovieFest's finest.
2.) Snobhunter
Surprised? With an average above 01.00, you probably shouldn't be. Snobhunter survives thanks to The Virgin Suicides (12.4) making a staggering five Top Ten lists, enough to secure it the (probably undeserved) second greatest film overall. His next highest film isn't until Mysterious Skin (3) in the #26 position, though he does have four other films in the green for a total +4.5 bump. With only eleven films to his credit, even the smallest bit of positive points can lead to a healthy average.
Snobhunter stays alive by virtue of selecting very few films and so far coming nowhere close to a stinker. The worse film he's got is #95 The Gingerdead Man (-1.5), barely a scratch off of his points total, though #45 Oldboy (1.00) technically received his largest negative points at -3.20 (with a +4.20 putting it at 1.00 overall). Whether he's a one-trick pony or capable of pulling another blockbuster out of his hat remains to be seen, but so far Snobhunter has stayed out of the red, has gained a decent amount of points with only eleven films, and has parlayed his record into the #2 overall spot.
3.) Alaay
I'm honestly a bit surprised to find myself in the #3 spot, and even more so in that I have the second-highest point total. I've had some reasonable hits –– #9 11:14 (8.45), #17 Run Lola Run (4.85), #18 Let the Right One In (4.7), and #20 PCU (4.5) –– but I really saw myself more as a breakeven candidate, perhaps slightly above average. The way this ranking system works, the more films you have, the higher your point total should be, and that's exactly what I have when you put me against Elad, who has twenty-two films to my twenty and only +34.05 positive points to my +44.85. I had always thought of Elad having more favorite films, but when you look at the Top Ten lists, I'm the second-most represented with +16.35 positive points (far, far below The Man's +49.35). So while Elad might be even with me when you look at the year-by-year lists, it's in the Top and Bottom Tens were I take the edge.
Of course I'm not without my own stinkers, but they simply didn't generate the same amount of negative points as other people. Aside from #121 Ronin (-4.95), #112 Wrath of Khan (-3.25), and #111 Everyone Says I Love You (-2.7), none of my red-zone films generated more than -1.75. Those three films all factored into Bottom Ten lists (Snobby had Ronin and Wrath, Phil had Everyone Says), which gives some credence to the suggestion that this ranking system is too heavily influenced by and Top and Bottom Ten lists. To be fair, those are the Cream of the Crop and should have some weight.
Bottom line, Alaay is dependable with a few flashy choices, oftentimes managing to find the second-best film of the year but never the best. And while he might not have the greatest films, he can usually avoid picking out the Worse Film of the Year winner, which is apparently all you need for third place.
4.) TheBluePlayer
Here's an odd #4. Now he may have fewer points than Elad, but I'm doing these rankings based on averages, since someone with 50 points over 400 hundred selections is actually doing really poorly. The Blue Player manages to put up reasonable numbers with only ten picks, but that's not hard to do when you've taken home the #1 film of all time in Battle Royale (14.2). Aside from that one film, TBP only generated 5.75 more positive points to -13.70 negative; take away Royale and BluePlayer might even drop below Phil.
Most of those red points are a bit undeserved, however, coming from #123 Who Made the Potato Salad? (-5.95) and #116 Saving Private Ryan (-3.5), films that frankly don't deserve to be as savaged as they were given Potato's chaos game status and Ryan intentionally being turned off after twenty fairly pleasant minutes. (I'm a SPR advocate, what can I say?)
The Blue Player's girl films didn't factor in much, perhaps a few ++ points. Everything hinged on Battle Royale. Like the Risk League of old, someone could technically have one six-point win and sit on the #1 spot through average alone, also known as the Bobbin Nemo strategy. That's what we're seeing here with BluePlayer taking fourth.
5.) Eladamri
What went wrong with Eladamri that pulled him into the middle of the pack? He has nearly double TBP's point total, but he also has twice as many films proposed so he should have more points than him. So how'd he fall so low?
When you look at the top films, Eladamri is certainly represented with #4 Lep in the Hood (11.25), #11 Elephant (7.55), and #12 Pieces of April (7.2). On the other side of the list comes #130 Weeping Camel (-8.4) and #128 Lep: Back 2 tha Hood (-7.95) canceling out much of the good he's done. With nine films in the red and six other films generating less than 2.00 a piece, Elad's big films weren't enough to wash away the bad. When you select twenty movies you have to stay above the pack; Elad, sadly, spent too much time floundering.
Still, don't be fooled by the fifth-place finisher. Elad is capable of producing some of MovieFest's finest films, even if you do have to sit through the occasional trainwreck and a few films that simply don't go anywhere. If I have to go through Lep Back 2 tha Hood to get to Lep in the Hood, then that's a trade I'll take every time.
6.) Houdini
Not much to say on Houdini's end. His average is dangerously close to eclipsing Elad, but that's because he hasn't selected enough films where he needs to generate points. He has #73 Material Girls (-0.50) and #73 Bandidas (-0.50) in the red –– and that's it. Figure in #28 South Park (2.7) and Houdini is guaranteed to do well average-wise. With so few films to his credit, all it'll take is one big winner for him to skyrocket up the charts, obviously undeservedly.
7.) Phil
One of only two people in the negatives, Phil would probably have been much lower if he didn't use his entire survey to boost his own films. Phil kept #41 Blackball (1.25), #88 How High (-1), #114 Malibooty (-3.3), #105 Malibu's Most Wanted (-2.2), and #40 The Big Hit (1.45) from falling farther down the list where they frankly deserved to be. (Fun fact: of the +5.50 positive points that Phil generate from Top Ten lists, +3.80 of them came from his own.)
On the flip side, however, #35 Dorm Days 2 (1.5) and #48 Dorian Blues (0.50) did much worse than they should have, so it's not to say Phil should necessarily be dropping down the charts.
Phil's best film was #16 Man of the House (5.3), the only one to have a respectable standing (keeping in mind I allowed the 2.1 points he gave to the film despite not seeing it during the fest –– without that boost, Man of the House would plummet all the way to a tie for #24 with Mysterious Skin). I've already talked about the unfair savaging of #112 Fronterz (-3.25), but let's not forget Phil also has #131 Out On Parole (-9.75) on his record, so he deserves a decent amount the mud on his face.
Take Phil's answers out of the survey and everyone would fair differently, most of all Phil, who would only plummet farther into the red. But since he's free to vote as he likes, Phil manages to keep himself above the dreaded -1.00 average line even with a staggering seventeen films to his credit, very few of them hits.
8.) MagicManZach
What can I say? At least we have a number to put to the phenomena. MMZ's staggering -77.15 points all but ensured that everyone else wound up in the green, so I suppose we can thank our local pariah for that much. With only fifteen films to his credit, that means he averaged roughly -05.143 per film. Ronin, to put that in perspective, clocks in at #121 with -4.95 points and is Alaay's worse film on the list, meaning that the MagicMan averages a film as bad as the third-place vote-getters worse selection.
MMZ's best film is #29 2 Days In Paris (2.6), so you can see already why he's done so poorly; his best film barely cracked the top thirty. The same can be said of Houdini –– his highest is #28 South Park (2.7) –– but among the many differences is that Houdini has nine fewer films to his credit (helping his average) and (wait for it) -81.8 fewer negative points than the MagicMan. MMZ only generated +5.65 positive points overall; or, to put that in perspective, 95.45 fewer than The Man. Yikes.
Among MMZ's disasters are the bottom four films –– #135 Gia (-17.6), #134 Coffee and Cigarettes (-12.85), #133 Farce of the Penguins, and #132 Divorce: Italian Style (-9.9) –– as well as #126 Fear and Loathing (-7.05), #125 Urbania (-6.6), #120 Tampopo (-4.9), and #119 SLC! Punk (-4.25). Double yikes.
But there is a silver lining. The last two years haven't been terrible for MMZ by his regular standards. After factoring out Tampopo, MMZ's worst film was #102 Expelled (-1.9) followed by #82 Chungking Express (-0.75) –– which, to be fair, was basically my film. If his numbers continue to smooth out, we could easily come to a time when the MagicMan might actually have a film somewhere in the year's top three instead of the bottom.
But for now, all we can do is pray.
* * * * *
Now that we've studied individual output, let's take a look at genres. Not all movies fit into one particular genre, of course, so I took the major ones that applied. (South Park, for instance, is both a Comedy and a Musical whereas The Fall –– which has comedic elements –– is more appropriately a Drama and a Surreal.)
Generally most films only fell under one or two genres. And while there were a few exceptions, I feel I decided genres reasonably.
Lastly, you should anticipate higher point totals because certain films overlap genres. Red Dawn, for instance, is both Action and a Drama, so all of its positive and negative points are added to both genres.
Total Points By Genre
(Movies are organized by Total Selection)
| |
TS |
T3 PTS |
B3 PTS |
TT PTS |
BT PTS |
TOTAL |
AVERAGE |
TOT POS |
TOT NEG |
| Drama |
48 |
+76.75 |
-60.00 |
+52.45 |
-54.05 |
15.15 |
0.316 |
+129.20 |
-114.05 |
| Comedy |
47 |
+44.25 |
-52.25 |
+30.65 |
-28.00 |
-5.35 |
0.114 |
+74.90 |
-80.25 |
| Action |
25 |
+37.50 |
-26.50 |
+29.95 |
-14.55 |
26.40 |
1.056 |
+67.45 |
-41.05 |
| Foreign |
16 |
+24.00 |
-19.25 |
+23.10 |
-19.90 |
7.95 |
0.497 |
+47.10 |
-39.15 |
| Horror/Suspense |
10 |
+8.75 |
-5.25 |
+8.95 |
0 |
12.45 |
1.245 |
+17.70 |
-5.25 |
| Surreal |
9 |
+11.25 |
-18.75 |
+19.55 |
-11.65 |
0.40 |
0.044 |
+30.80 |
-30.40 |
| Black Film |
7 |
+3.75 |
-19.00 |
+8.50 |
-19.75 |
-26.50 |
-3.786 |
+12.25 |
-38.75 |
| Musical |
7 |
+12.00 |
-3.25 |
+10.25 |
-5.80 |
13.20 |
1.886 |
+22.25 |
-9.05 |
| Girl Film |
6 |
+3.00 |
-0.50 |
0 |
0 |
2.50 |
0.417 |
+3.00 |
-0.50 |
| Documentary |
5 |
+2.00 |
-4.75 |
+1.50 |
-8.60 |
-9.85 |
-1.970 |
+3.50 |
-13.35 |
| Romance |
4 |
+3.75 |
-2.00 |
+1.70 |
0 |
3.45 |
0.863 |
+5.45 |
-2.00 |
| Animated |
4 |
+5.75 |
-1.75 |
+8.70 |
-1.95 |
10.75 |
2.688 |
+14.45 |
-3.70 |
| Gay Film |
2 |
+1.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.00 |
0.500 |
+1.00 |
0 |
I'm extremely hesitant to go about ranking these and declaring winners because as it stands, Animated would take the winning category despite only having four films on the list. You really need to look at all of the data to get a decent idea of what each genre brings to and takes away from the table.
Even then, however, things aren't so black and white. Take Leprechaun in the Hood, for instance, a Black Film and a Comedy. As we all know, Lep is the fourth overall film with an impressive 11.25 points to its name, yet it factors into two genres both in the red. (Lep nearly constitutes all of the Black Film genre's positive points.) Good films can exist in bad genres and bad ones in good –– these results aren't aiming to discount that in the slightest. All they offer is a rough idea of which Genres have been the most promising and which have been the most irksome, though I wouldn't take what's written here as Gospel.
Drama
Some might look at Drama's 15.15 total and consider it a solid lock in the favorable without factoring in the horrifying -114.05 negative points, the most of any genre by a decent margin. With forty-eight films on the list, Drama is going to produce a reasonable amount of points in both directions, with top ten hits such as #2 The Virgin Suicides (12.4), #5 Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (10.95), #6 Donnie Darko (9.85), #9 11:14 (8.45) and a bunch more. On the other side of the coin is #135 Gia (-17.6), #134 Coffee and Cigarettes (-12.85), #132 Divorce: Italian Style (-9.9), and, likewise, the list continues.
Drama is a Genre that cuts both ways. The good films are usually the quiet & reflective gems that stick with you for years. The bad films linger forever with no hope of end. Dramas were the most represented Genre on the Top and Bottom Ten lists, demonstrating their ability to stand out whether for good or ill.
I'm a little surprised with that 0.316 average, but with forty-eight selections there's no surprise that the good films really have to stand out to pull the numbers up. Dramas obviously aren't going anywhere, but with over 100 points in the Top Ten alone it's clear that we have to be at our most judicious when selecting Dramas, as they're the ones that generate the strongest response.
Comedy
Comedy being in the red isn't so surprising, nor is the fact that it trails Dramas in both positive and negative points despite only having one fewer film to its credit. There are certainly some bad Comedies –– #133 Farce of the Penguins (-10.55), #127 I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (-7.55) –– at least it was supposed to be one ––, and #124 Cat Ballou (-6.45) –– as well as some good ones –– #4 Leprechaun in the Hood (11.25), #8 Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (9), and #16 Man of the House (5.3). But what you immediately see is that neither end of the spectrum comes as close to the top and bottom films as Dramas. When it came to either praising or condemning these selections, Comedies just didn't have the same emphasis.
That isn't to say they escaped the radar, either. Looking at Top Ten lists, Comedies gained +30.65 positive points and -28.00 negative points, which is a sizable chunk of the voting total. This was mostly a personal thing; TBP, for instance, only had one Comedy in his Top Ten (Lep) while Phil's was littered with them (7 of 9). Like Dramas, it can often be hard to tell which Comedy will hit the right mark, though certain films –– Farce of the Penguins, for instance –– should have been easier to spot. The concept of the "Bad Comedy" can sometimes work, but often leaves us with disappointing, time-wasting films, thus ensuring a Genre that always offers a gamble.
Action
Tell me I wasn't the only one to be surprised at seeing Action that far in the green. It's 26.40 total point difference between positive and negative is the most of any genre, and its 1.056 average is wildly higher than Drama (over three times), though Action does have nearly half the amount of films (and the fewer films, the easier it is to get a higher average).
Stand-out Action films include #1 Battle Royale (14.2), #3 From Dusk Til Dawn (12.05), #10 Crank (8.4), and #17 Run Lola Run (4.85). Right off the bat the careful reader should be vigilant. Does Run Lola Run really count as Action? Wouldn't FDTD be better as Horror/Suspense (despite not being scary or suspenseful)? Doesn't Cube fit into Action? I'll admit, with the Horror/Suspense Genre factored in, I found it extremely difficult to differentiate between it and Action. Things got complicated further with the Action/Dramas like Ronin and The Way of the Gun, but I simply put them in both categories. It essentially came down to a gut decision / me checking imdb to see what they used. Sorry if it bugs you; you're not alone.
Bad Action films include #127 I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (-7.55), #121 Ronin (-4.95), #116 Saving Private Ryan (-3.5), and various other scrubs. Again, Brazil is Surreal rather than Action.
What you can tell by looking at the survey results in that Action is as positive a category as Comedy, but not nearly as irksome. Action's +67.45 positive points isn't that far behind Comedy's +74.90 (despite Comedy having 22 more films), whereas Action's -41.05 negative points is nowhere close to Comedy's -80.25. Foreign, which has nine fewer films than Action, had more negative points in Top Ten voting. What should be immediately evident is that even though there are bad action films, they usually don't result in the same hatred as other bad genres.
Does this mean we should lift the stranglehold on Action films? Debunk the notion that Action simply doesn't work for MovieFest? Perhaps. The Spirit (0.00) certainly wasn't a bomb by anyone's standards, and Crank was the standout film of 2008. The Action to avoid are the slower ones –– Ronin and Way of the Gun (-1.00) immediately come to mind –– the Action/Dramas that don't deserve the attention of a serious Drama. More mindless shoot-'em-ups like Smokin' Aces (1.5) –– while not necessarily contenders for Film of the Year –– could be reasonable time fillers in future Festivals, with a surprise hit always possible.
Foreign
We shouldn't be too surprised by Foreign being in the green, though keep in mind that this is one of those Genres that absolutely has to blend into another genre (such as Animated). It's either a Foreign Drama or a Foreign Action or a Foreign Surreal –– there is no plain "Foreign".
Leading the way for Foreign is #1 Battle Royale (14.2), followed by a distant #15 Y Tu Mama Tambien (6.45) and #18 Let the Right One In (4.7). What we have right there is the demonstration of Foreign's viability, offering an Action, a Drama, and Horror; we wisely stay away from Foreign Comedies, as I can count the good ones I've seen on... a single finger (8 Women). Bad foreign films include #132 Divorce: Italian Style (-9.9), #130 The Story of the Weeping Camel (-8.4), and #120 Tampopo (-4.9) –– and let's be clear, that's a lot of bad films. Foreign has virtually as many negative points as the Black Film genre, the turgid waste of space that is MovieFest. While it managed to edge out other competition, I think a lot of that had to do with our previous decision not to use subtitles on English-language films; I honestly think it gave Foreign films an edge, since we could understand what was happening over the MagicMan's endless chatter / TheBluePlayer & Elad's impromptu college basketball talk / my whining. If the switch in Year Nine to use subtitles on a permanent basis continues, I have a good feeling that Foreign could easily lose its edge and dwindle closer to a break-even average.
Horror / Suspense
Now we start to get into genres that simply don't have enough films to generate a reasonable sample size. Horror/Suspense has two big films in #7 Cube (9.3) and #18 Let the Right One In (4.7) followed by a bunch of scrubs. Part of this came with my decision to omit all the Leprechaun films from Horror except for the first (face it, the others weren't trying to scare anybody). This is essentially a silly category given the bleadover between it and Action, but what should be clear by the paltry ten films on its side is that we really haven't given either Horror or Suspense films a decent go. We usually try to find Dramas or Actions with a Suspense element or Comedies with a Horror element, but never films that primarily rely on thrills like, say, Alien (Horror Sci-Fi) or Rosemary's Baby (Horror Drama) or Drag Me to Hell (plain Horror) or anything by Hitchcock. This isn't necessarily a bad decision –– films with a Suspense element are generally slower in pace, which is something we try to avoid as much as possible for obvious reasons. Bottom line is that Horror and Suspense are all fine and dandy so long as they have a short run length, and, frankly, are a secondary genre. (And let's face it, Let the Right One In is a borderline Drama as is, so even the one success of the Horror genre should be taken with a grain of salt.)
Surreal
Another nebulous sort of genre, Surreal's positives include #6 Donnie Darko (9.85), #13 Dark City (7.1), and #14 Yellow Submarine (6.8) –– which is a hell of an output for a genre with only nine films to its credit. Unfortunately for the surrealist aficionados, it also has a bundle of stinkers in #129 Brazil (-8.1), #126 Fear and Loathing (-7.05), and #120 Tampopo (-4.9), essentially why the genre manages to break even.
What's clear is that the Surreal films generate a strong reaction, which is to be expected given their unusual logical cohesion and unorthodox directing style. Notice that those top three films came in the Year One and Two, so it's been a long time since we've had a Surreal film that was a big hit. Like Suspense, this is a slower-paced genre, which accounts for the negative reaction and lack of representation. Also like Suspense, I don't necessarily feel that we rush out to find more films in this genre, but simply take what comes naturally and be very cautious not to get another 2+ hour mess like Brazil or the Tampopo imbroglio.
Black Film
This is the real reason I added genres to the results. LOOK AT THOSE FUCKING NUMBERS. The only reason the Black Film genre is saved from complete embarrassment is because of Leprechaun in the Hood; otherwise, it is a disastrous mess that deserves to be expunged from the fest forever.
The other six films in this genre are #131 Out On Parole (-9.75), #128 Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood (-7.95), #127 I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (-7.55), #123 Who Made the Potato Salad? (-5.95), #114 Malibooty (-3.3), and Fonterz (-3.25) –– a virtual strangehold on some of the worse films in MovieFest history. It's -3.786 average is almost as bad as MMZ's, to give you some perspective. There is absolutely no reason to continue bringing down the Fest –– especially by knowingly grabbing the Black Films that have no chance of being even remotely good –– by continually selecting this embarrassing genre.
Just stop it. Please. Stop it.
Musical
And here comes the genre with the second-best average (1.886 points per film). That's not saying much when you realize there have only been seven musicals: #8 Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (9), #14 Yellow Submarine (6.8), #28 South Park (2.7), #41 Once (1.25), #41 Rock 'n' Roll High School (1.25), #111 Everyone Says I Love You (-2.7), and #122 Repo! The Genetic Opera (-5.1). Phil's out-of-nowhere hatred of Everyone brought the genre down a bit, but it's clear that there have been some fantastic films here; not surprisingly, since most musicals have the peppy attitude that we're looking for in the fests. They're short and have a quick pace –– even the Romance Once went by like a breeze and frankly was much better than its 1.25 points indicate. Bottom line: more musicals could be the way to go.
Girl Film
Not much to say here. #33 Chasing Liberty (2) somehow pulled in two points, but otherwise this is a forgettable genre. The Girl Films didn't generate a single point on either a Top or Bottom Ten list, so obviously they're not the highlights of the fest. That being said, you can't exactly wag your finger at films that no one seems to have any problem with. If we should go a year without one I doubt it'll be a calamity, but TheBluePlayer's perennial pick seems safe for now.
Documentary
Yeah, Documentary is technically in the red thanks to #130 Weeping Camel (-8.4) –– and last year's Expelled (-1.9) didn't do it any favors –– but otherwise there's not much illwill to be found. And OK, #27 This Is Spinal Tap (2.75) is better factored in as a comedy, but personally the change in pace offered by a Documentary is a welcome thing so long as you time it properly. The break-even One Day In September (0) and the Snobby-despised #107 Genesis (-2.3) had the right idea by leading off the Fest, but slip too far and this category is a bad penny. Selecting a Documentary is fine so long as we resign ourselves to the notion that if it gets to the early morning hours then we might have to say so long to that year's Documentary. (You know, like when it makes infinitely more sense to use the 1am slot on the Gothic vampire film.)
Romance
A bit surprising –––– knowing our penchant for sappy/bad films –– that there haven't been more romances. #22 Sad Movie (3.7) and #41 Once (1.25) were a delight. On the other hand, it's a good idea to stay away from overly sentimental romance films like #82 Passionada (-0.75), #82 and Chungking Express (-0.75). Does it say something that three of these four films were all Alaay's? A genre to keep in the back of the mind.
Animated
We've only had four, but the animated genre takes away the best average at a whopping 2.688. Films include #14 Yellow Submarine (6.8), #28 South Park (2.7), #35 Lil' Pimp (1.5), and #69 Princess Mononoke (-0.25). It says something about the animated genre when Mononoke with +3.45 positive points is the lowest-ranking film of the genre. For the most part this sample size is too small to make any sort of reasonable proclamation, but on the other hand an all-animated MovieFest for 2010 couldn't possibly fail. Numbers prove it.
Gay Film
There have only been two. I can't possibly have any insight. (The two are the delightful Dorian Blues and the passable Eating Out.)
* * * * *
I have nothing else to say.
Results --> done.
-Alaay-