Not-So-Mith'd Opportunity: Random Banter # 222

[Anonymouswizard]

The answer depends entirely on what sort of Pride it is.

The bent kind, clearly.

[LaZodiac]

The bent kind, clearly.

Yeah but I mean like if you're gay, then definitely don't shave, but if you're something else do. That sorta thing.

[Bartmanhomer]

How can I be a good movie critic? I feel like I'm being too easy when it comes to certain movies that are very average.

[Honest Tiefling]

Yeah but I mean like if you're gay, then definitely don't shave, but if you're something else do. That sorta thing.

Probably late, but plenty of ladies don't mind a beard. I think it should come down to if you think you look better in a beard, do YOU want a beard, and if a beard would be comfortable.

[SZbNAhL]

Now I just need to steer the conversation towards bank branches and our mothers' maiden names.

PUBBY.

It's my aunt's new dog, a King Cavalier Spainel, named NUGGET.

Reminds me of my first dog, Rex. What did everyone else call their first pets? Don't actually answer that, or my joke will become an actual phishing post and I'll get banned.

[Mystic Muse]

How can I be a good movie critic? I feel like I'm being too easy when it comes to certain movies that are very average.

What do you mean a good movie critic? Why is that a thing you desire to be?

[Bartmanhomer]

What do you mean a good movie critic? Why is that a thing you desire to be?

Being a fair critic. Sometimes I'm being too easy for giving bad movies a 3 out of 5 stars.

[Mystic Muse]

Being a fair critic. Sometimes I'm being too easy for giving bad movies a 3 out of 5 stars.

Do you have any particular examples of bad movies you've ranked higher than you should?

I can give you more advice the more detail you give.

[Anonymouswizard]

Yeah but I mean like if you're gay, then definitely don't shave, but if you're something else do. That sorta thing.

What if my answer to 'what gender aye you into' is 'yes'.

What do you mean a good movie critic? Why is that a thing you desire to be?

Yes,that's almost as strange as wanting to be a positive version of Yahtzee.

On an unrelated note I might write a review of Planescape: Torment once I've finished it.

[Bartmanhomer]

Do you have any particular examples of bad movies you've ranked higher than you should?

I can give you more advice the more detail you give.

A Dog's Journey was one bad movie, I fell asleep for almost the whole movie and I rated 3.5 out of 5 stars.

[LaZodiac]

Probably late, but plenty of ladies don't mind a beard. I think it should come down to if you think you look better in a beard, do YOU want a beard, and if a beard would be comfortable.

This is true.

What if my answer to 'what gender aye you into' is 'yes'.

Right, sorry. I'm ****ing bi myself and I forgot that was an option for a second. I feel like I was probably trying to set up something funny but I completely lost train of thought.

I say go with it if you think you look good in it.

[Mystic Muse]

A Dog's Journey was one bad movie, I fell asleep for almost the whole movie and I rated 3.5 out of 5 stars.

...Okay.

First off, just do a 1 to 10 scale. It's functionally the same thing.

Second, the numbers on your scale have to have meaning, and that meaning should be intuitive.

5, the midpoint of the scale, should be a strictly average movie.

Anything between 1 and 4 is actively worse in some way. I'd say 0-2 is the range for "I fell asleep." 0 is either slept through pretty much anything, or you walked out.

6-9 is better than average to varying degrees.6 is slightly better, 7 is something you would watch more than once, ETC.

10 is, in your opinion, a movie that is as perfect as it can be, with nothing you would change at all.

You don't EXACTLY have to go by this (I pretty much stole it from JelloApocalypse), but it's a good starting point.

[Honest Tiefling]

Right, sorry. I'm ****ing bi myself and I forgot that was an option for a second. I feel like I was probably trying to set up something funny but I completely lost train of thought.

Eh. I'd just chalk it up to it being somewhat awkward to ask 'What gender or genders are you into' and just accept 'both' or 'all' as answers. This is fashion talk, not a formalized paper.

[Algeh]

Being a fair critic. Sometimes I'm being too easy for giving bad movies a 3 out of 5 stars.

I don't read or write movie reviews, but I do grade a lot of student work, and one thing that helps me to be fair is to use a rubric. Instead of trying to give one overall score of "all of my feelings about how well you did at this assignment" I break it into specific categories like "accuracy" and "process shown clearly" and then grade and comment on each of those things. You can see this same idea if you ever look into the various competition threads in the D&D 3.x forum here - they score on specific things like Originality and Elegance.

I suggest thinking of 2-5 specific things you'd like to score movies based on (there are a LOT of different things you could choose, so pick ones that you'd like to pay attention to specifically rather than just copy a list from somewhere else blindly) and then rate movies on those things specifically. For example, here are some different things you could focus on:

• How well the movie matched the expectations set by the trailer(s)
• Pacing (did the movie seem too long, too short, or just right? Did it have parts that seemed to go on too long or not long enough?)
• Humor (was the movie funny? was it supposed to be?)
• Special effects
• Realism within the story
• Quality of costumes

There are many, many other things you could use as criteria as well, and obviously it does not make sense to use all of the criteria I listed for all movies. (Particularly, you probably don't want to spend a lot of time talking about special effects if you mostly like to go to romantic comedies and so on. Your criteria should make sense as things that someone else considering that movie might want to know about.)

This lets you use more thoughtful details in your review as well. Rather than just saying "such-and-such movie was kind of interesting but not the best movie I've seen this month", you can say things like "while such-and-such movie had well-made costumes and good use of humor, many of the scenes dragged on too long and the movie overall didn't seem to have enough going on to sustain its run time." This helps take your reviews out of the category of "a list of stuff that I do and do not like" and into the category of "providing information that other people can use to guess if they'll like it."

[LaZodiac]

Eh. I'd just chalk it up to it being somewhat awkward to ask 'What gender or genders are you into' and just accept 'both' or 'all' as answers. This is fashion talk, not a formalized paper.

Aah.

Also speaking of movies, I'm reminded that I walked out of the Tom Cruise Mummy movie.

I was watching it on TV.

[Honest Tiefling]

Also speaking of movies, I'm reminded that I walked out of the Tom Cruise Mummy movie.

I was watching it on TV.

Yeah, I don't blame you. Were others watching you, or did you leave it on simply to spite the technology that brought it to you?

[Mith]

What if my answer to 'what gender aye you into' is 'yes'.

My general fashion sense is "Do I like this look on other people? If yes, then steal". I greatly prefer beards on men, so I sport on myself.

So with beard style, I say trim it in the style of what catches your eye in men and what looks good in the mirror, and go with it!

I know this probably seems like stupidly obvious advice, but I look at it as "If you think it looks good, it's probably good to go." That's the line between looking good and just not caring.

[Honest Tiefling]

I think better advice is to steal ideas from dudes you like the look of, and who look like you. Stealing hair styles from different people for instance, doesn't work at all if you are fighting your hair or face type. And probably better to steal from one particular look or style, else you might look like a weird mish-mash.

And when in doubt, focus on what you like while being acceptably groomed. At that point, you can get by with confidence or not caring.

[Mith]

I think better advice is to steal ideas from dudes you like the look of, and who look like you. Stealing hair styles from different people for instance, doesn't work at all if you are fighting your hair or face type. And probably better to steal from one particular look or style, else you might look like a weird mish-mash.

And when in doubt, focus on what you like while being acceptably groomed. At that point, you can get by with confidence or not caring.

That is a fair caveat.

[Caerulea]

Reminds me of my first dog, Rex. What did everyone else call their first pets?

Antimaya Max, shortened to Maxy. No, I have no idea what it means. (I was two). She was a cat.

[DataNinja]

Eh. I'd just chalk it up to it being somewhat awkward to ask 'What gender or genders are you into' and just accept 'both' or 'all' as answers. This is fashion talk, not a formalized paper.

Well, darn. I was looking forwards to the thesis that was to come.

[Tvtyrant]

My phone has been exciting the last few days. Over the last few months its battery life has dropped from days to hours, then yesterday it called emergency services while locked in my pocket (and having turned off the ringer by itself somehow) several times in a row. Today it fell a short distance and shattered for no apparent reason, so onto a new phone!

I am also awaiting a very important call from an attorney, so the timing of it dying was perfect.

[Honest Tiefling]

Any chance of shooting that attorney an e-mail to explain the situation? This can't be the first time they've heard it.

I personally use a heavy-duty phone case. I've dropped it on the tile floor of my bathroom several times and it still functions.

[Anonymouswizard]

Right, sorry. I'm ****ing bi myself and I forgot that was an option for a second. I feel like I was probably trying to set up something funny but I completely lost train of thought.

I say go with it if you think you look good in it.

Don't worry, it happens to all of us.

I'm just going to get it trimmed so it's shorter.

[Tvtyrant]

Any chance of shooting that attorney an e-mail to explain the situation? This can't be the first time they've heard it.

I personally use a heavy-duty phone case. I've dropped it on the tile floor of my bathroom several times and it still functions.

TBH the phone is years old and has survived worse falls without a scratch, I was totally amazed it broke the way it did.

Oh well, I got a new one for $4 a month so it wasn't exactly expensive, just annoying.

[LaZodiac]

Yeah, I don't blame you. Were others watching you, or did you leave it on simply to spite the technology that brought it to you?

There were other people in the house but not watching it. I just walked on out and sat on the porch a bit.

[enderlord99]

MY oldest dog (around 17) coughs a lot and has sore ears.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Today it fell a short distance and shattered for no apparent reason

I honestly thought that this was an euphemism for you flinging it out a window until you clarified.

To be frank, I think I'll headcanon my original reading of it.

Grey Wolf

[Bartmanhomer]

Gay Pride was great yesterday. I went with my job for the parade. It was very frustrating to wait for a few hours to start marching but it was worth it.

[Peelee]

Been going to the hospital fairly frequently over the last few months (not for myself, before anyone gets worried). Once they had a band playing in the north pavilion lobby. Now in one of the clinic lobbies they have a full orchestra. Not something I ever thought I'd experience in a hospital.