The Baron of Deseret

The Baron's Movie FAQ

Q: So, is "The Baron of Deseret" meant to be a movie review site?

A: Yes and no.

Yes, because I'll be writing about whether or not I liked the movie and why (just like a real 'review'), but no, because I don't count as a movie 'critic'. A real movie critic will see and review 95% of the major studio releases every year, as well as 50-75% of the independent "art" films and foreign films put out by the smaller studios. Plus, they usually get to attend pre-release screenings so their review becomes available on or before the day of release. As for me, I'm lucky to see 10% of the movies released every year, and (for some reason) no one has considered me important enough to invite to those (free) pre-release screenings so I have to pay full price to see first-run movies in the theater after they're released.

Q: So? Aren't you some hotshot software engineer with a huge salary?

A: Um...yeah...*cough*...anyway, because of financial reasons (and our two babies) "The Baroness" and I don't see many movies in the theater. We will usually just wait the four or five months until the DVD comes out, which means, of course, that any 'review' I'd write would be four or five months late; not ideal for a 'movie critic'.

Q: How come you don't see very many movies? Aren't you a movie buff?

A: Both "The Baroness" and I are big movie fans...I'm just very picky. Most movies fail to reach my 'see' list for one or more of the following reasons: a) subject matter b) quality c) 'objectionable' content.

Q: So what you're saying is...

A: What I'm saying is: most movies put out by Hollywood these days are JUNK. Even aside from the huge amounts of objectionable material, most movies are poorly written, extremely predictable, and created to appease the lowest common denominator in the viewing public (which, unfortunately, is what has been shown time and time again to make money for the studios).

Q: See, you ARE a movie critic: you're haughty AND self-righteous!

A: Well, I.........shut up!

Q: So, do you watch R-rated movies?

A: Not anymore. I used to all the time back in my "Gentile" days, but not now. That's another difference between me and a real movie critic; they can't really choose which movies to see and which ones not to.

Q: But isn't it true that LDS Church leaders don't say 'don't watch R-rated movies' any more?

A: They don't say that any more because many church members were interpreting it to mean any movie NOT rated R is thereby okay, which isn't true. Therefore, the official position is now 'avoid movies that don't reflect church standards regardless of the rating'.

Q: Doesn't that imply some R-rated movies are 'okay', then?

A: There are definitely a lot of Church members who think so!

Most church members know the R-rating is 'under-inclusive'--meaning there are some movies that aren't R but contain enough offensive material to be avoided by members of good conscience. More debatable is the notion that the R-rating is also 'over-inclusive'--meaning some movies are rated R even though they are 'okay' by church standards.

Now, I've seen a lot of R-rated movies in my life and every single one of them 'earned' the R-rating. Considering what you can get away with outside of the 'R', I'm skeptical that you could really find one that where the R rating is genuinely a mistake. There are some R movies that are defensible in some respects (having some fundamentally moral context, for example), although I haven't felt the logic used to excuse the content based on context holds much water. (see my post here) Trying to find an 'acceptable' R-rated movie is a little like rooting around in the dumpster behind a restaurant trying to find some 'good' food by taking bites out of everything. Sure, you might eventually find some food that's not rotten, but is it really worth the effort?

Q: So you're saying church members shouldn't watch R-rated movies?

A: I'm saying I don't (anymore). I have many (many!) friends and associates who do, and although I haven't found their defenses of their habits to be compelling, I don't really care what movies they watch. Everyone has the right to set their own standards, and I've learned not to make a big issue out of it.

However...

I believe any member who does watch R-rated movies and still claims to be following Church guidelines should be able to justify why and how each and every R-rated movie they see 'reflects Church standards'--otherwise their choice of entertainment can be called into question. As mentioned, there are some defensible R-rated movies without question, but frankly, I'm not sure most R-watching members would be able to defend their movie choices in a hypothetical 'decency court' if called upon...

Q: Surely, "The Passion of the Christ" would be an exception, right?

A: Only if you believe violence in any context is inherently harmless. As I said, many R-rated movies are defensible (in theory), including this one...however I still disagree. (see here also)

Q: So if you want to keep high standards, why do you watch PG-13 movies, then?

A: Because there is an inherent difference between why movies get R's and why movies get PG-13's. R ratings are almost exclusively based on profanity, sex/nudity, and violence in some capacity--all of which can be considered objectionable or offensive via Church standards. PG-13 movies do not, by contrast, have to have any objectionable material at all to be PG-13 (although many do, of course). Movies that have scary monsters or dead bodies, for example, are almost certain to have the 'no kids' PG-13 rating, without it having anything 'offensive' to adults.

(There is one exception: "Drug use" is a factor in movie ratings, including R's, which would fall into the "inappropriate for kids but not for adults" category. I know of no R-rated movie that is R entirely due to drug use, though, so this point is moot...)

In other words, if the Prophet came over to my house to watch a movie (as the cliché goes) there are PG-13 movies that I would watch with him without being the least bit embarrassed. In these cases, the PG-13 rating represents 'adult material', which is often different than 'objectionable material'--things that wouldn't be appropriate for young kids, but fine for older kids and adults.

Q: Examples?

A: "Pirates of the Caribbean"--PG-13 because of the scary skeletons; I wouldn't let a 7 year old see it.

"The Others"--no profanity, sex, or violence whatsoever. It's PG-13 because it is a ghost story and has some 'surprises' that would scare young kids. I wouldn't let a 7 year old see this one either.

"Whale Rider"--PG-13 because of...um...a half second glimpse of a bag of marijuana, I guess.

"Brigham City"--This is a 'church movie' of sorts. No objectionable material to speak of, but it is a movie about a serial killer, and a movie with a serial killer in it WILL NEVER, EVER GET A PG RATING NO MATTER WHAT.

Q. Okay...so why are there R-rated movies on your Top Ten List? There's even a "Top R-Rated Movies" List!

A: Look, I didn't say the R-rating = 'poor quality', or even R-rating = "The Baron wouldn't like it". I watched lots of R-rated movies when I was younger, many of which are still on my 'favorite' list. The point is not R-rated movies can't be good quality (or even can't have moral lessons) but that all of them earned their R rating. I make no excuses for the R material in 'Unforgiven', 'Aliens' or any of the others, but in this day and age, though, I don't have to. Edited movies are broadcast on TV all the time, as well as locations where you can rent and buy edited movies for your home library. There's even new DVD player technology that will automatically edit out objectionable material in real-time while you watch an unedited DVD. The point is, we have many options for watching (and enjoying) R-rated movies without the R-rated material. If the movie was good (quality-wise) in its original form, it's usually just as good in edited form.

Q: So now that that's settled (?)...how are your movie analysis structured?

A: They are divided into three main sections: Opinion, Content Analysis, In-Depth Analysis--plus two smaller sections called Plot Summary and Random Notes and Comments

Q: What's contained in the Opinion section?

A: This has my primary opinion of the movie; whether it was worth seeing or not, as well as what worked and what didn't. In a sense this is the 'movie review' portion of the analysis, about the same sort of content you would find at any 'real' movie review site, including a letter grade. This section contains very little (if any) spoilers, since can be safely read by those who haven't seen the movie yet.

Q: What about the Content Analysis section?

A: As we've discussed, the rating system doesn't tell us much about the content of a movie. The small descriptions at the bottom of the ratings don't help much either (what's the difference between 'violence', 'stylized violence', 'action violence' and 'sci-fi violence'?). Plus, as I mentioned above, the PG-13 rating is far too wide ranging, containing movies that you could watch with your bishop without fear of embarrassment, and ones that you wouldn't want you or your family touching with a ten foot pole. The content analysis section will be my attempt to provide a more detailed report about movie content to fill in the gaps of the somewhat vague ratings system. My goal is to go beyond the standard 'count the number of swear words' level to analysis any underlying moral issues presented by the movie. Is there a moral lesson, or an immoral one? (Many movies have both...) Example: just saying a movie has 'drug use' isn't clear enough...does it present the drug use as being bad or good? (in other words, does it show the 'lows', or just the 'highs'?)

Q: So what's the four-number "Baron's Scale" supposed to mean?

A: Well, I didn't say the standard 'profanity/sex/violence' level wasn't important... I discussed the issue of ratings in a blog post here, and came up with my own system (actually, just a version of a similar system used by other websites--see the post for links). The four numbers represent content on a scale from 0 (no content) to 5 (extreme content) for the following categories: Profanity/Language, Sex/Nudity, Violence, and Drug Use, in that order. This 'rating' is just my opinion, of course, as are all ratings which you may or may not agree with, but hopefully this will give you more of an idea at a glance about the content of a movie. Note that per my movie watching standards the scale is not relative to ALL movies, only within the G- range. (A 4 or 5 rating in a category represents a 'hard-PG-13, light-R level, not a 'hard-R' level.) I don't expect that a movie exceeding a 5 in any category will reach our viewing list, but in the case it does, I'll certainly use higher numbers...

Q: And the In-Depth Analysis section?

A: This section is meant for people who have already seen the movie, as there will be detailed discussion of movie plot points including the ending which may 'spoil' the movie for those who haven't seen it yet. (but, hey, if you don't mind...) This discussion will talk about specific issues, events, and characters from the movie and whatever deep meaning I've been able to glean from them. (Example: read my analysis of the first two Harry Potter movies to see which supposedly 'good' characters I think are terrible role models for children)

Q: What about the 'Plot Summary' section?

A: Plot Summary is just what it sounds like--a couple of sentences to describe the plot. I'm not going to spend several paragraphs describing the plot because...

Q: ...you're not a real movie critic--we know.

A: ...and most movies if you don't already know what the plot is from the trailers (which frequently reveal too much, anyway) you're probably better off knowing less. Movies are more fun that way!

Q: And the Random Notes and Comments section?

A: Just what it sounds like--miscellaneous notes and comments that didn't fit into any of the other sections, along with any interesting facts or observations about the movie, its production, director, or stars.

Q: The list of movies that you've written about seems very...arbitrary

A: Correct--my decision on whether to write a full article on a movie will be very arbitrary. I see no point in merely listing movies we've seen and saying "Awesome!" or "Waste of Time!". Writing an article requires that I feel I have something special to say about it--either about the movie subject matter, or some other element that I want to discuss. Otherwise, why...well, waste my time? As such, decisions on which movies will appear will essentially be random.

In general, though:

LDS films
Asian films
Comic Book Superhero films
'Family' Films

will probably be the most likely to show up in the list. I will try to write about any LDS Church-related film out there whether I think it's interesting or not, just because...who else other than Eric D. Snider is going to write about them?

Q: Grades for movies in the list tend to be centered around the A and B level. Shouldn't you have a wider range of grades?

A: Suspect 'grade inflation' is at work, eh? My personal grades for movies range from A to F, just like any other grading scale. But, as mentioned, our choices for which movies to watch in the first place, are not evenly distributed. Since we tend to filter out many of the obvious D and F movies beforehand (We missed "Big Momma's House 2" for example--did anyone really think that was going to amount to anything past a "C-" level at best?) and many of the C and D-level movies we do see aren't notable enough to even bother writing an article about. True, writing an article tearing a bad movie to pieces can be fun, but generally it's not worth my time.

Basically, the movies we choose to see tend to be the potential A and B quality movies in the first place, and thus the grading scale of movies I end up writing about will reflect this bias...

Q: If I'm serious about movie watching, what's the most important thing to remember?

A: Research. The key to movie-watching is extensive research. You can't just take my word for how a movie is (although, I'd be flattered...), because opinions about quality and even about objectionable material are terribly subjective (meaning what I find 'offensive' you might not, and vice versa). Not to mention, even if you do happen to agree with me on everything, I don't write about enough of them to cover any movie you're considering watching. Personal research is one of the best things you can do not only to find the best movies you're interested in, but also to protect yourself and your standards as well.

As an example, imagine this situation, which happened all the time to people I knew in college:

Your friends: "Hey, we're going to see a movie tonight, want to come?"

You: "Sure! Which movie?"

Your friends: [name a movie you've never heard of...]

You: "Oh. What's it rated?"

Your friends: I don't know--probably PG-13... We're leaving right now, are you coming or not?

If you're in this situation, what do you do? Do you depend on the "probably PG-13" remark? Is it a hard or soft PG-13? Now you have two choices: you can refuse to go just to be safe, but then you might be missing out on a good experience with friends for no reason. Or you can decide to go and take your chances. You can always decide later at the theater not to see the movie, or walk out in the middle, but that just wastes time and money, not to mention annoying your friends. Standards are important, but the later it gets, the harder it is to enforce them. Oftentimes people in this situation report that they simply sat through the movie and felt bad about it later.

You can avoid these difficult situations by being prepared, and doing your research. I don't see many movies, but I know a lot about them. For virtually every new release that comes out, I can tell you who's in it, what it's about, what it's rated, and why it got that rating. If you stay informed, the above situation will rarely happen, because as soon as your friends mention the name of the movie, you already have a database of information in your brain to call up and analyze, and can make an informed decision on the spot whether it meets your standards or not. Then, you're saved from the awkward situation of having to decide at the theater and walk out, or sit through a movie and regret it later.

Q: Okay...what's the best way to research movies, then?

The best way is to find four or five movie critics whose writing style you enjoy and read them every week. Most 'real' critics will review just about every movie that's released, and their reviews are usually posted online Friday mornings--the day new releases open. (Sometimes they're posted earlier in the week...) Pay attention not just to the rating, but to the detailed descriptions of what the movie contains so you know ahead of time whether, for example, a movie is a 'heavy' PG-13 or a 'light' one, and why specifically it received that rating.

And, of course, pay attention to whether the movie is actually good or not. No reason to waste your time and money on sub-par entertainment, even on something that's 'clean'.

Q: But wait..."clean" = "good quality", right?

A: Heh, heh...(sigh)...I wish. One common thread you'll notice throughout many of the movie analyses is that I'm not afraid to criticize 'family' movies for being of poor quality. There's still a feeling out there that movies that have little to no profanity, sex, or violence are somehow 'above reproach'--and that anyone who values decency should support (and enjoy) each and every one of them. Unfortunately, many 'family' films are even more predictable and poorly written than the non-family ones. And many of them are not, in fact, morally spotless despite the 'family' appellation, either. You can be sure I'll be making note of those...

Q: But we need to support 'family' movies regardless of the quality, right? Because there are so few of them...

A: I'm afraid I don't buy this either. There are plenty of movies around that are family-friendly and high quality. Many of them are obscure films (even foreign films) which requires the average person to reach beyond their comfort zone and try out films that haven't gotten much exposure--see "Secondhand Lions", "Little Manhattan", "Whale Rider", "Millions", "Spirited Away", and the recent version of "Peter Pan". Again, it comes down to research--the movies are there, you just have to look for them.

Q: Care to recommend any movie review sites yourself?

A: Sure, here are the "Big Two" of internet criticism:
Roger Ebert
James Berardinelli
What you should also do is check out Rotten Tomatoes which collects all reviews by critics for a particular movie for easy reference. That makes it easy to pick out four or five whom you enjoy reading...and also lets you check which ones agree with you on movies you've already seen.

Q: Are there any movie sites which will discuss the 'moral' issues involved in a movie, regardless of rating?

A: Yes, here are three movie sites which will give more detailed information about a movie's moral content:

Decent Films: Discussion of moral movie reviews starts and ends here. Decent Films is one of the best sites you'll find anywhere for moral content and discussion. Run by devout Catholic Steven Greydanus, the articles in Decent Films will discuss moral issues in-depth and whose analysis is always clear and logical AND takes context into account, without just counting up how many swear words the movie has. The only major drawback to the site is the fact that he reviews very few movies compared to other critics (picking and choosing as I do a selection of movies that are noteworthy). There's a large chance that the movie you're looking for won't be there, but for the ones he has written about, there's no one better. Anyone who cares about 'decent films' should be reading his site every week.

Q: I think that's about it for questions--where should we start looking for good movies to rent?

A: Well, you can always start on The Baron's List Page, which contains my top twenty movies of all time (some obvious choices, true, but many obscure ones as well...) and also has some underrated movies you probably missed in theaters. Of course, you can always email me to ask specific questions about movies (especially those I've listed, but haven't had the time to write anything about yet...)