Statement of Principles

STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES

Evening, world - I'm Sam "LastKeyMusic" Lasky. You may also know me as Key, LastKeyMedia, LastKeyVGM, and a few other monikers I've gone by in the past. I predominantly specialize in music, audio, and performance, composing and covering songs for a wide number of projects, among other things. I'm also a writer, designer, and media analyst / reviewer -  and that's what brings us to the Last Key Media weblog! This is a media analysis-centered blog; all the material on this blog primarily relates to discussions about literature, film (animated or live-action), video gaming, theater, and other entertainment mediums.

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. These reviews will touch base briefly on the central themes or anything I find interesting (be it story, character, setting, or production value) and will usually involve little to no in-depth analysis unless it is absolutely necessary.

ANALYSIS

Unlike reviews, which focus on a product's merits, analyses more or less looks at why certain things are the way they are in said product (in my own opinion). I will discuss theme, philosophy, allusions, all that good shit. Analysis posts tend to be more subjective, as they will focus on what I personally think a product means or represents, and that does not necessarily count as fact or pertain to what it actually is. Reviews provide relatively 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 a product I have seen / played / focused on in its entirety; reactions are all about my opinions on an incomplete project or something I have (likely) not seen in its entirety yet. Reactions tend to be shorter and less formulaic than reviews, more snippets of thoughts rather than concrete, 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. Essential viewing.

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

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. 7/10's are also reserved for anything that's consistent and solid from start to finish, but isn't particularly challenging or bold.

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. Rarely, very rarely, 5/10's might be the end rating of something that has incredible highs and abysmal lows in equal measure, but these are rare..

4 / 10 - Poor. Something went wrong. Too many shortcomings, inadequacies; there may be some strengths, they simply aren't enough to save it in the long run.

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 or two strong points to save it from being truly abysmal.

2 / 10 - Fucking Awful. 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 - Massive ass. Truly terrible. 1 / 10 films, games, etc. tend to be a guilty pleasure, because this rating puts it firmly in either the "so bad it's good" or "so bad it's really bad" camps. Insulting to your intelligence.

0 / 10 - If something or someone ever receives this elusive rating, that's when you know that somebody's fucked up.

And I think that'll cover it.

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