Statement of Principles

STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES

Hello, everyone. I am Sam, aka Dreamstar, aka TF141Soldier, aka Sambrero. I have many, many more aliases, some of which are far too explicit to safely put on here. The Stuff Store is primarily a review weblog; occasionally, it will delve into different material (be it culture, philosophy, analysis, etc.) but all the material on this blog primarily relates to discussions about literature, film (animated or live-action), video gaming, theater, and all sorts of medium.

REVIEWS

Oxford Dictionary describes a review as "a critical appraisal of a book, play, movie, exhibition, etc.", and I can not think of a more accurate definition. My reviews will discuss whether or not a "book, play, movie, exhibition, etc." is worth seeing. It will touch base briefly on the central themes or anything I find interesting (be it story, character, theme) and will usually involve little to no in-depth analysis unless it is absolutely necessary.

ANALYSIS

Unlike reviews, which focus on an object's merits, analyses more or less looks at why certain things are the way they are in said object, in my own opinion. It will discuss theme, philosophy, allusions, the works. Analysis posts tend to be more subjective, as they will focus on what I personally think an object means or represents, and that does not necessarily count as fact or what it actually is. Reviews give quick plot descriptions; analyses tends to break down storytelling and analyse some of the glossed-over aspects.

REACTIONS / RANTS

The difference between reviews and reactions is simple yet subtle. I will write a review over an object I have seen / played / focused on in its entirety; reactions are all about my opinions on an incomplete project or something I have not seen in its entirety yet. Reactions tend to be shorter and less formulaic than reviews, more snippets of thoughts rather than organized thoughts.

RATINGS

If I ever use ratings - which I will - they will be out of 10, as is the norm.

10 / 10 - Nothing is perfect, but a 10 /10 is close enough. The flaws are ultimately trivial in the face of something that is well and truly great.

9 / 10 - Something truly amazing. The flaws are evident, and there could be room for improvement (What If's or If Only's) but it's something I personally believe everyone should see.

8 / 10 - Really, really good. Not essential viewing, but definitely something worthwhile.

7 / 10 - Very good. Nothing that will blow your mind; the flaws are evident enough that they simply can't be ignored, but there's enough positives in its favor that I'd recommend it anyway.

6 / 10 - Decent. This is where the cons begin to outweigh the pros. Enjoyable enough that I can safely say "I had a good time with this", but flawed enough that it makes me wonder if it was truly worth my time.

5 / 10 - Subpar. My least favorite rating. It is the absolute epitome of "mediocre". The flaws are both minor and major; the strong points are harder to care about. In short, boring.

4 / 10 - Poor. Something went wrong. Too many shortcomings, inadequacies; if there are any strengths, they simply aren't enough to save it.

3 / 10 - Bad. Straight up bad, not worth your time. The problems keep building up, and it bothers the hell out of me. Contains at least one strong point to save it from being truly abysmal.

2 / 10 - Irksome. One of my more favorite categories; negative reviews are far easier to write than positive reviews. A 2 / 10 is truly incompetent, unable to function as an object let alone something worthy of praise.

1 / 10 - The Pits. Truly terrible. 1 / 10 films, games, etc. tend to be a guilty pleasure, because this puts it either firmly in the "so bad it's good" or "so bad it's really bad" camps. Insulting to your intelligence.

And that should do it. Hopefully, this has been informative.

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