New Feature: Reviews!

In an effort to add some random fun to my blog, I've decided to add a new feature: reviews! Not book reviews, because you can find those all over the place. Mine will mostly be reviews of bad horror flicks (B-Movie Breakdown) or reviews of TV shows I watch (generally, Crime Drama Commentary). I'm terrible at commitment, so I won't promise to do these on any kind of regular schedule. Just whenever the urge strikes (which might mean a bunch over the next couple of weeks, and then never again). Also, please know that I claim to be an expert on absolutely nothing. I'm a Colorado soccer mom turned romance writer, and these reviews will be nothing more than my (possibly stinky) opinion.

Now, the criteria.

B-Movie Breakdown:

Feasibility Factor – How possible is it really? Rated 0 to 10. For a B movie, the lower the Feasibility Factor, the better.
Hilarity Quotient – Rated 0 to 10. Campy humor is good. Laugh-out-loud moments a definite plus.
Re-Watchability – Rated 0 to 10. For me, whether a "good" movie or a B-movie, I like the ones that can be watched more than once. The movies I truly love have fabulous moments of real humanity or simple humor that shine through even the most ludicrous story. These moments are what will make or break a movie in this category. They're the gold nuggets. The chocolate chips in the cookie dough, or the pieces of extra sharp cheddar cheese I mix into my macaroni salad. Want an example? Look at Signs. I know, I know! Lots of people don't like this movie, but I adore it, and it has nothing to do with the aliens. What I love about it is that it has so much subtle humor — the girl at the pharmacy confessing how many times she's called her boyfriend a bastard, the old man who thinks it's all a scam to sell Shasta, and Joaquin Phoenix watching TV in the closet, yelling, "Vamonos, children, vamonos!" Or think about Jaws, which is arguably better than a B-Movie, but what makes it great isn't the shark. It's Sheriff Brody saying, "You're gonna need a bigger boat." Whether or not the movies I review are actually good is another argument entirely, but these little moments are what will give them a good Re-Watchability score.
Random Other-Ness – I'm just adding this on to allow for factors I haven't yet considered.
Extra Credit – I'll also add points for truly silly names. I mean really, Sharktopus definitely deserves some extra credit just for that title, don't you think?

Just as a side note, I did a post once on Top 2 Bottom Reviews about B-Movies and what makes them so great. If you're interested, I invited you to read it here.

Crime Drama Commentary:

Actually, I don't have anything so cut and dry for this one. The simple fact of the matter is, I watch a stupid number of crime shows on TV, everything from silly (Psych) to serious (Criminal Minds), and I check out just about every new one that airs. I won't review the ones that have been around a while, but there are several newer ones that I plan to cover. Much like the Re-Watchability Factor above, what I really look for in these isn't the crime. It has a lot more to do with fun and quirky characters. Criminal Minds is a good example. It doesn't matter how hot Morgan is, or how brilliant Hotch may be. It's Reid and Garcia who make the show.

I realize these things have nothing to do with gay romance. Mostly, it's just my way of adding something kind of fun (for me, at least).

First review coming up soon.