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NathanBates

nathanbates
Celluloid Junkie
# Film Ratings: 2838
Member Since: 09 Jul 2017
Location: Virginia, USA
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

60 36%
Countdown (1968) - Rated 17 Sep 2025
"As a fan of the space race era (which was mostly ending as I was being born), I do like that they tried to be moderately realistic when they could be, even though it led to some very dry sequences. When they try to make a "better" story, though, it becomes laughably bad (which includes the ending). Skip this and watch The Right Stuff instead."
60 36%
Little Man Tate (1991) - Rated 16 Sep 2025
"Decent-enough film but I felt like there was something missing in it. Interestingly, I was thinking throughout that this had some parallels with Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (which also had Foster in it), this time focusing on the kid rather than the down-and-out mom."
60 36%
A Prairie Home Companion (2006) - Rated 15 Sep 2025
"I suspect this would have been a lot better if I had known more about the original radio program (which, honestly, I seem to have confused with the Grand Ole Opry). A lot of characters all doing their own thing, somehow held together by the barest wisp of a plot. It has a decent amount of humor, but it didn't click for me."
60 36%
China Moon (1994) - Rated 13 Sep 2025
"There's something a bit comfortable with the opening of this neo-noir: we've seen the too-good cop, the wife who wants out, and even a somewhat unlikely romance between the two. And then we're pretty sure we'll be taken for a ride to investigate the house of cards that seems to be falling down. This one, though, doesn't feel like it does much of anything different, making it hard to distinguish from all the others. And the last three minutes are just so improbable."
60 36%
City of Ghosts (2002) - Rated 12 Sep 2025
"Perhaps not the film the Cambodian travel agents were hoping for. It's a pretty standard revenge drama that feels like it's always telegraphing what's about to happen next (and that's not even because the subtitles kept appearing five seconds before anyone spoke). I can't tell if this would have been better with a bit more character background for Jimmy as drama, or to have more mindless action scenes; by trying to do both, it wound up being mediocre at each."
60 36%
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976) - Rated 11 Sep 2025
"By now, I guess I should be used to Altman's "big picture" films that always seem to leave more out of the story than in it. With the strong cast and the thousands of things happening (and speaking) on the screen, it's tough to figure out what will be important, and what's just window dressing. It has some decent humor, but each time it feels like it's about to say something important, it backs off. I wondered if they'd sneak in the line "Print the legend" (they didn't)."
60 36%
Nell (1994) - Rated 10 Sep 2025
"This felt too much by-the-book with its plot beats. I think the major problem was that we couldn't understand Nell's language, but we could see parts of her past. (Actually, I thought there would be a darker part about the sister which would have made the ending more sinister.) She's scared of a lot yet somehow manages to have a six-minute fear-free soliloquy in the courtroom. Other than that scene, Foster does put in a good performance."
40 5%
Popeye (1980) - Rated 09 Sep 2025
"In which we learn why cartoons based on fairly one-dimensional characters are usually very short. I think there's a lot of respect for the source material trying to show through, but there's not a lot here that makes trying the same stuff as live action worthwhile. (Even with the addition of some awkward songs.) Sad that its legacy is not having more movies ending with an octopus showdown."
80 79%
Millennium Actress (2001) - Rated 08 Sep 2025
"Some history, a homage to Japan's greatest films, and a mysterious love story all come together with some beautiful animation. The story is a little bumpy (she has the same role pining for a guy in all her films?) and the comic relief doesn't always work (nor does the cameraman ever replace any film). Even if life doesn't give us what we want, it's nice to look back and be satisfied with what we got. Fav moment: the Throne of Blood arrows."
60 36%
Ready to Wear (1994) - Rated 06 Sep 2025
"That was about two hours more of fashion than I ever thought I'd have to watch. I didn't think the storylines intersected as much as Altman's usual, and a lot felt like inside baseball (much like the similar but funnier Nashville). It was nice to see SL+MM together again, although I laughed hardest at Ullman's angry outbursts at Rea."