Many people tell me that I'd make a great film critic. After all, I love films, and I love to write. But I think I'd be a terrible critic, and here's why: I enjoy almost every film I see. Anyway, Here's the lowdown on my 4-star system.

	I only give four stars to the very best... This goes beyond merely good acting or directing or scriptwriting--all of that can be perfect and the film will still get only three and half stars. No, to get four stars, the film has to pull me into its reality. It has to be so good that I am carried away with it. Being a film-addict, I think there are an awful lot of four-star films out there!
	Films with three and a half stars were excellent, but lacked some small thing to keep it from really shining as one of the best. "Iris" is a good example of a three-and-a-half-star film: It was excellent--Dame Judi Dench gave a chillilng performance--but there was a little bit of a flatness, a dullness that kept me from completely falling into the film.
	A three-star film is a great film, just not quite excellent. I gave this rating to "The Royal Tenenbaums." It was strange and fun, but just a little scattered.
	A two-and-a-half-star film is good, but not great. I gave this rating to "Lantana." It was good--I'd see it again some time--but it didn't quite give that extra push toward greatness.
	If I give a film two stars, I enjoyed it but didn't love it. For example, "The Rookie" was a heart-warming little piece of fluff that made you smile, but it wasn't what I'd call "fine craft." The script was well done, the acting was okay--it was just so fluffy!
	One and a half stars means that the film wasn't bad, but I wouldn't call it good either. As I look back through my past ratings, I see that this designation is usually given to the sappy little romantic comedies that fell flat on their faces but scored a little bit in the cute-factor; like "Bounce."
	A film with just one star was basically a pretty bad film, but it had something about it that still shone through. Maybe the acting was terrible but the script was good. For example, I gave only one star to "I Am Sam." Sean Penn did a great job, and that little girl was awesome. But the script, the story, and the other actors were pretty dismal. It was a lousy film with two good actors. The hint of a possible romance made this potentially so-so film bad.
	Half a star means that the film was pretty awful, but not the worst film I've ever seen. I gave half a star to "Zoolander" because while it was completely inane and boring, I got a few laughs from Ben Stiller.
	I reserve the "no-star" designation for truly awful films. To date, I've only given this rating to one film: "1999 Madeline"--a French film. Maybe I'm just too American, but I simply hated that film!