NathanBates

Bio: My personal web site is at
https://sites.google.com/site/nathanbatesfilms/index
(I keep a "Greatest Films" list there, as I'm trying to watch most -- if not all -- of the 1001+ Movies You Must See Before You Die and the Criterion Collection)

I generally rate movies 1-5, so I just multiply that out on the 100 scale:
5/100: Excellent, well worth watching again and again
4/80: Pretty good
3/60: Average [general rating]
2/40: Pretty bad, maybe some redeeming characteristics
1/20: Terrible; not worth watching ever again

Top 10 Movies:
1. Citizen Kane
2. Throne of Blood
3. Star Wars: A New Hope
4. Le Samourai
5. The Magicians
6. Stagecoach
7. Los Olvidados
8. Rear Window
9. The Third Man
10. North by Northwest

Comfort Movies:
1. Camp Nowhere
2. Midnight Madness
3. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
4. Tremors
5. Rat Race

Worst Movies I've Seen:
1. The Five (2010)
2. Percy Jackson II: Sea of Monsters
3. Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief
4. Radioland Murders
5. Into the Storm

Recent Ratings

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60 _37%

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) - Rated 05 Nov 2026

I've never really loved these episodic whole-school-year movies. This one, of course, introduces some unforgettable characters: I thought Spicoli was hilarious when I first watched this; in my older years, I think Mr Hand has the better performance. And the soundtrack helps bump up the score as well.

60 _37%

Never Let Me Go (1953) - Rated 04 Nov 2026

A Romeo and Juliet for the Cold War, if you'll excuse the fact that Gable looks like he could be Tierney's father. This film seems a lot longer than it is, perhaps because it tends to hit all the beats of a romantic melodrama and we're just waiting for it to play out.

40 _4%

City of Angels (1998) - Rated 03 Nov 2026

I said it in another review, but why would you cast a guy known for his exuberance and make him a stoic for two hours? There's not a lot that survives in this remake of Wings of Desire (except the very overused perched-high-above shots); it turns out that the angels would rather read and hang out at the beach than assist puny humans. The romance feels manufactured and the ending felt manipulative. Wasted soundtrack, too.

60 _37%

The Hitcher (1986) - Rated 31 Oct 2026

I'm starting to realize that horror movies would be a lot shorter if people did normal things instead of the preposterous things they wind up doing. Perhaps if I met this Hauer I'd be scared out of my wits too, as he puts in a very strong performance. It's just that he suddenly appears in so many inexplicable places that it's hard to take any of this seriously.

60 _37%

El fantasma del convento (1934) - Rated 30 Oct 2026

Enjoyable early creepy film where three friends go out for a walk (in full business suits), get lost, and find a mysterious monastery filled with more questions than answers (plus a morality tale). I expected to see Shadow one more time at the end. If you're looking for "beginner-level" horror films, it's pretty atmospheric with a basic story.

60 _37%

Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965) - Rated 29 Oct 2026

There's a lot of head-scratching in this movie, like (spoiler-ish) why at the end the military just leaves behind two monsters and a towering inferno without trying to be of more assistance. The "burrowing creature" is weirdly cute (glowing nose horn!) although the wrestling match with teenage Frankenstein isn't particularly thrilling. Perhaps better might have been a spin-off where that still-growing detached hand invades Tokyo....

60 _37%

The Burial of Kojo (2018) - Rated 28 Oct 2026

This Afrocentric mystical realism tale came close to hitting all the right spots for me, but it kept just missing. It's a ponderous tale of a man dealing with his past, as told by his daughter. The imagery was always fascinating and the soundtrack usually quite good, but it felt like it was deliberately being too slow -- even for an 80-minute film -- to get to an ending that wasn't much of a surprise.

60 _37%

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth (1997) - Rated 27 Oct 2026

Have you heard of this 24-episode TV show called NGE that most people think is pretty confusing? Why not cram in the highlights into an hour so that "normal" people can watch it too -- what could go wrong? It's too fast with too many characters on top of an already convoluted plot. Having just watched the series, I was still a bit confused. (I also think I'm in the wrong movie: I saw E: Death (True)^2 which seems to be merged here, but doesn't match the time.)

60 _37%

Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997) - Rated 26 Oct 2026

This certainly addresses my complaints about the original ending episodes of the series: there's much more action, there's a lot more of the mumbo-jumbo pseudo-religious stuff (how many spears did Longinus have anyway?), and they even threw in an awkward amount of teenage nudity, all to point out that one shouldn't be an introvert.

60 _37%

The Omen (1976) - Rated 24 Oct 2026

I got a little hung up on the first few minutes, wondering how Robert could hide going to DC for his Senate confirmation to become (a new) ambassador without his wife knowing it. But that sets a precedent as he jet-sets around Europe on his own personal business. The story is pretty calm until a surprising number of deaths start to occur (and none of them are of the creepy dogs). I'm not complaining, but it was a bit more shocking (plate glass) than scary.