Four Years Ago: Movies Meet Their Match

Hello, all you movie fans!

Guess what day it is. I know you know, but why is it important to me? Well, it turns out that I've been blogging for four years! On July 19th, 2016 I started this little space for book and movie rants. As I have found this year, time is a lie. There is no way that much time could have passed!

Am I going crazy or is it the voice of Doom calling?

So, yes, it is my blogoversary! How are we going to celebrate this time around? Like we always do, by looking at the changes I've made! Every year my posts are the same, but if you want, you can check out these celebrations from previous years: Hello book and movie fans (Original first post), One Year Ago (2017), Two Years Ago (2018), & Three Years Ago (2019). (Note to self, find a better name for the titles of these posts).

Stats:

Followers: 62 (Whoop whoop! You are all awesome!)

You are truly marvelous!

All time page views: 57,014 (Wowza!)

Viewed by:

United States - 28080, France - 4149, Russia - 3515, Canada - 3385, Ukraine - 1984. Plus a ton of others that are too many to count!

Posts: 362 (this is the 363rd!)

Top 3 most popular posts: 100 Books the BBC think most people haven't read more than 6 of, Imaginary Review: a later Wizard Of Oz (1941), & Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes (2009).

My 5 favorite posts:

1. Movie Review: Gosford Park (2001)

2. Why Jimmy Stewart is My Favorite Actor

3. Movie Review: Hercules (1997)

4. Movie Review: Knives Out (2019)

5. Movie Review: The Grapes of Wrath (1940) [Yes, I just published this two days ago, so I am self promoting. Actually, all of this is self promoting. Anyway, I really liked how this turned out so I recommend that you go read it!]

My boy Jimmy is definitely in there! Lately I've also been into Cary Grant, but that's for another day...

Changes:

Each year I become a better blogger, so let's see what I've improved.

(Original will be in black, 2016-17's changes are in green, 2017-18's changes are in blue, 2018-19's changes are in maroon/purple, and this years changes will be in orange (if there are any!).

MOVIE EXAMPLE: Everything is either 1-10. 10 is the best.

Disclaimer (Guarantee)

Some kind of movie.

Based on:

(I also might have some history on the movie or book.) The movie plot.

Genre:

Length:

Costumes: 6

Costumes by: (Only if I can find who designed them).

My favorite:

Script: 4

Crew: Directed by: Produced by: (I added this in 2017, but took it out in 2018) Written by: (This year I condensed this. Going for simpler, ya know?)

Actors: (Starring:) 9

Cinematography:

Cinematography by:

Music:

Music by:

Notes:

(If I think there could be better actors I will put them here.) (*laughing* This never happens! I completely forgot about it)

Good Quotes: "And I keyn't stan' 'em." (Sorry, I couldn't find any other way to get the accent right.)

Oscars won:

Storyline: Content: 2 ( I really like it to be original or if they are doing something based on a book, I will rate it on how close to the book it is.)

Originality: (I split these categories in two do it was easier to understand).

Good For:

Age Range: (I added this because of Kara's post).

Overall Score:

Bonus thoughts: (This is my favorite that I added in 2018, because I actually get to tell you my [spoiler free] thoughts! Can you believe that I didn't do that for so long?)

And for books pretty much the same but with:

BOOK EXAMPLE: 1-10. 10 is the best.

Disclaimer (Guarantee)

Book name.

Plot

Genre:

Characters: 7

(I will probably list my favorite)

Words: 3

(I like authors who use lots of words.)

Quotes:

Awards:

Storyline: Content: 9

Originality:

(This is completely based on how I liked it. Tell me your opinion too!)

Good For:

Age Range:

Overall Score:

Bonus thoughts:

Pretty much the same.

This is me yelling at all the confusing versions of myself.

As you can see, my review system has taken awhile to get a solid format. It isn't even there yet! When I first started reviewing things I thought that my reviews were decent (spoiler alert: They were really cringy). I was super picky about what I wanted to see in a review, though, weirdly enough, I never read other reviews because I was scared that I'd read spoilers. I just wanted warnings on content, but I didn't actually want to know what the story was about because there could be a spoiler in there! Oh the horror! In these last few years I've read a lot of reviews and I now know what I like in there. I'm allowing myself to be a little more loose with it and just say how awesome it is sometimes (Like when I talked about This Beautiful Fantastic (2017) and Seventh Heaven (1937)) while still staying spoiler free. I've learned that I can have an opinion in addition to just talking about the "cleanliness" of the films. It's been a wild ride so far, and I have some ideas for improvements in the future! Any suggestions?

Pondering what the future holds.

Currently about me:

I am reading: Prairie Lotus - by Linda Sue Park.
I am watching: Only films between 1934 and 1954 this month because July is #CleanMovieMonth2020!

My Top 5 Favorite Books:

Anne of Green Gables - by L. M. Montgomery

Holes - by Louis Sachar

North & South - by Elisabeth Gaskell

Pride & Prejudice - by Jane Austen

The Hobbit - by J. R. R. Tolkien

My Top 5 Favorite Movies:

Singin' in the Rain (1952)

STAR WARS IV: A New Hope (1977)

STAR WARS VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)

Amazing Grace (2006)

Cinderella (2015)

(Both of these lists tend to change, so keep an eye on the My Favorites page for all the recent updates)

Just me laughing at how sneaky I am. Who knows why I do these things?

And that about wraps up this post! Thank you so much to all of you who have stuck around for years as well as anyone who is new around here! I hope that you continue to enjoy my reviews and find a lot of books to read and movies to watch!

MovieCritic