Entertainment. Movies most often fall under this category. Like most movie-goers, when I venture out to the theaters, in return for handing over my hard-earned wages to see a flick, I expect to be entertained. While not one of the best movies I've seen, with it's comical story line and great character casting, The Whole Nine Yards is a film that fulfilled it's end of the bargain in providing solid entertainment for about two hours of I-should-actually-be-doing-homework time.

Why do critics rate movies? Why do people rely on a complete stranger's opinions prior to making a decision on whether or not to see a movie? Books or music do not seem to be rated in such a harsh manner, however video games, especially those made for the PC that are multi-player, are. Is this because both movies and video games are generally shared experiences? And thus, by being a shared experience, perhaps we also tend to want to share in our opinions as well. Whatever the case may be, everyone seems to have their own rhyme and reason to liking or disliking movies.

I rate on a scale from one ( ) to five ( ) Grapes, with a rating of five Grapes being just as rare as one

Alas, for films that are truly unforgettable and have a stunning moment of genius in them somewhere, I reserve my highest rating of five Grapes. This category is small and almost any kind of attribute can instantly launch a movie's rating from four to five stars, from the incredible special effects of The Gladiator, to the inevitable "(You'll) shoot your eye out"ending of A Christmas Story. I expected to see a gory, hack-em-up story with no real plot when I sat down for the screening of The Gladiator last year. I was very pleasantly surprised when the heroic storyline unfolded and actually made mental notes during the film so that I could rush home after leaving the theater to look up what parts of the movie were fictional and vice versa on the internet. The fact that such a tale was based on at least some truth really hit home with me. The Gladiator made excellent use of some fascinating and unique camera angles and shots, which made the cinematography memorable.

David Elliott, a critic for The San Diego Union Tribune, eerily reiterates my opinion of Willis' character by proclaiming in his review, "Bruce Willis is back to good balding...back to what he does best, being macho with a sly command that both flaunts and mocks male vanity, and caressing his lines with infallible ease. The role of Jimmy "The Tulip" Tudeski may be his smoothest comic work since his TV launch in 'Moonlighting'" (Night & Day 3). He also appeared to enjoy Perry's character, of which he states "(Perry) has plenty of deft physical business, bouncing off glass doors or flubbing around in a squishy chair" and is quick to point out "but the film is never simply a pratfaller" (Night & Day 3). To my surprise, he gave the film a rating of three and a half stars, calling it "A comedy with brains" (Night & Day 3). While we normally have dissimilar tastes in movies, he and I have agreed on several points here. Besides our approval of the casting, Elliott and I also seemed to have gotten the same results from the film; "The film's appeal comes from not being consequential. It knows it is about nothing but the entertaining time it neatly and consistently offers" (Night & Day 3).

The plot kept me guessing as to characters motives, but at the same time was very predictable in what was going to happen next. The movie's storyline was a bit unoriginal, since several other films with the same sort of concept had already been made (2 Days in The Valley, Pulp Fiction, Gross Pointe Blank, Analyze This) and I thought it was lacking in "eye candy" - such as special effects or unique cinematography. Some men may disagree with me on this point because a full scene 's worth of Amanda Peets naked breasts probably pacified them. Beitiks comments "In that uniquely American way, the movie cashes in on both sex and violence when Amanda Peet, a contract killing ingenue, jounces around naked in Tudeski's house just before guns start going off" (C3). Despite its shortcomings, overall, I thought this movie was nice light entertainment and enjoyed laughing my way around the twists and turns which allows me to give The Whole Nine Yards three ( ) Grapes.

Grape. To earn my one (Grumpy) Grape rating, a movie will have left me feeling angry that I wasted my time to see it and feel that it would be worth going out o

Some common words found in the essay are:
Nine Yards, Night Day, Message Bottle, Grumpy Grapes, Christmas Story, St Claire, Hood Tights, Grumpy Grape, Bing Friends, Oz Oseransky, nine yards, night day, day 3, night day 3, rating five, rating five grapes, city angels, grapes, story line, video games, david elliott, jimmy tulip tudeski, half stars,
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