About Unscripted.us

Unscripted.us is a collection of movie reviews, mostly of romance movies, and commentary on matters related to romance. All of the reviews are written by me, the site's publisher.

How I rate movies

Am I entertained? I watch movies to be entertained. It's that simple. I don't care how good the actors are, how stunning the cinematography, how impressive the wardrobe, or how heartfelt its message is - if I'm not entertained I won't be particularly kind to a movie.

But if I am entertained I can overlook a lot of flaws or shortcomings, whether they come from budget limitations, a weak script, or underwhelming direction. I am not nitpicker.

Generally speaking the actors are more important to me than the script, and the script more important than direction.

The Only One is a good example of how these elements come together. The script isn't remarkably strong but has a good core idea and the movie allows the actors to work in visually interesting settings and the result is pleasant to watch. It is entertaining.

Why I review movies

I enjoy watching and thinking about movies - the choices made or not made, failed or successful executions of ideas good and bad, the life actors manage or mismanage to breathe into the characters they play, and to what extent the action is driven by the characters themselves or by outside forces.

Putting my thoughts into writing sharpens my thinking and clarifies my opinions - although those opinions are subject to change and may well be wishy washy to begin with.

Am I qualified to hold forth on movies?

Not at all. I have no experience - none - with any aspect of the creation of feature-length movies. I've never even been on a set. While I do have hobby-level experience with various disciplines related to movie making - writing stories, editing (including physically cutting and taping, yes I'm that old), and filming on various types of cameras - I am not and I never have been a professional.

I approach movies strictly as a consumer. But much like a football fan will comment on play calling and time management, I do express my opinions on direction and writing and acting and whatever else I choose to write about in a review. I'm the captain of this ship.

Generative AI policy

The site used to host two reviews written by AI as examples of what generative AI can output, but they were so uninteresting I removed links to them.

The site occasionally uses AI generated images to illustrate a point, argument, or speculation.

Why "Unscripted" when the movies are scripted?

I don't remember why I first registered the domain name unscripted.us but a couple of years ago I decided to use it for a movie review site. That's all the thought that has gone into the name. There isn't a hidden meaning in it.

But seriously, why this site?

Unscripted.us also serves as a platform for various SEO tests, mostly related to indexing. However, most of the work - by far - goes into the writing of the reviews. The reviews are the center piece, not an afterthought.