acting is behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances

This is an "epic" grouping of reviews. Yep, more spoilers.

The Aviator (2004) - "A biopic depicting the early years of legendary Director and aviator Howard Hughes' career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s."
I watched it because: I saw this before, but it's been ages (see my original review) - and time enough to see it again.
IMDB: 7.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 86% Audience: 79%
story: 3.5/5
visuals: 4.5/5
acting: 4/5--standouts: Matt Ross as Glenn "Odie" Odenkirk, and Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn
intangibles: 3/5--there is something profoundly disturbing about this film. It is very impassioned and 'Scorsese'-styled, beautifully shot and costumed, elaborate beyond description. But it is also, coming down to brass tacks, Leonardo DiCaprio in desperate need of grooming, running around naked in a screening room, pissing in bottles. That is f'ing strange, and it sticks with you.
Academy Award winner:
• Best Supporting Actress—Blanchett
• Best Cinematography
• Best Film Editing
• Best Art Direction
• Best Costume Design
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture
• Best Actor—DiCaprio
• Best Supporting Actor—Alan Alda
• Best Director—Martin Scorsese
• Best Writing, Original Screenplay
• Best Sound Mixing
overall: 3.75/5

The Story of Us (1999) - "Ben and Katie Jordan are a married couple who go through hard times in fifteen years of marriage."
I watched it because: it was included in a box set of 'heartbreak romance' movies that I've got, and I was looking for something fairly short and mellow after the last one I saw.
IMDB: 6.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 26% Audience: 58%
story: 2/5--this reminded me SO MUCH of the movie "One Fine Day," which also starred Michelle Pfeiffer, that through about 2/3 of it I actually thought that I had seen it before. I didn't like either version.
visuals: 3/5
acting: 1.5/5
intangibles: 1/5--meh.
overall: 1.875/5

M*A*S*H (1970) - "The staff of a Korean War field hospital use humor and high jinks to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war."
I watched it because: I haven't seen it in ages and I wanted something sort of mellow while working on financial things.
IMDB: 7.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 86% Audience: 83%
story: 3.5/5
visuals: 3/5
acting: 4.5/5--standouts: Donald Sutherland (Hawkeye Pierce), Sally Kellerman (Margaret Houlihan), and René Auberjonois (Father Mulcahy)
intangibles: 3.5/5
Academy Award winner: Best Writing, based on material from another medium
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Supporting Actress--Kellerman
• Best Director--Robert Altman
• Best Film Editing
overall: 3.625/5

Mystic River (2003) - "The lives of three men who were childhood friends are shattered when one of them has a family tragedy."
I watched it because: it's supposed to be good; my dad lent it to me.
IMDB: 7.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 88% Audience: 89%
story: 3.5/5
visuals: 3/5--very dark.
acting: 3/5
intangibles: 3/5--I figured it out, way too soon. Not the ultimate resolution - but that's really inconsequential to the bit that, once sorted, untwists the surprise. In a nutshell, the guy (D) who the really bad guy (J) thought was bad, was only bad about one thing. The other thing (the thing that J was fighting against) didn't even register on D's radar. And J was so tightly wound, and D was so loosely connected...it was not going to end well. Once I saw that, settling the rest of it was just details.
Academy Award winner:
• Best Actor--Sean Penn
• Best Supporting Actor--Tim Robbins
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture
• Best Supporting Actress--Marcia Gay Harden
• Best Director--Clint Eastwood
• Best Writing, adapted screenplay
overall: 3.125/5

Blood in, Blood Out {a.k.a. Bound by Honor} (1993) - "Based on the true life experiences of poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, the film focuses on step-brothers Paco and Cruz, and their biracial cousin Miklo."
I watched it because: it was recommended to me years ago (probably not long after it first came out) but I put off watching it because of the enduring fear and horror brought on by the film American Me.
IMDB: 8.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 55% Audience: 94%
story: 2/5
visuals: 2.5/5
acting: 1.5/5--This is essentially a 3-part movie, with each third devoted to the life of one of a tight-knit trio. Jesse Borrego is the most affecting as Cruz, with the impeccable Benjamin Bratt (Paco) putting in a reasonable turn as well. Enrique Castillo adds some gravitas in the role of Montana. The problem is their counterweight, the enormously cheese overacting (he has one emotional expression - a strident whine) of Damian Chapa (Miklo). He is dreadfully unbelievable. Truly, distressingly bad.
intangibles: 1/5--this is a THREE HOUR movie. That is ludicrous. No film - none - should be that long. A reasonably skilled editor could have whacked two hours from this heaping pile of steaming crap with his eyes closed. I'm just glad that I was able to get all the way through it so that I can review it and call it done.
overall: 1.75/5

Top Gun (1986) - "As students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom."
I watched it because:
IMDB: 6.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 54% Audience: 83%
story: 3/5
visuals: 4.5/5
acting: 3/5--they all look good, but nobody really does it all that well. Tom Skerritt is a plus as the Top Gun instructor Viper.
intangibles: 3/5
Academy Award winner: Best Music, original song
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Sound
• Best Film Editing
• Best Effects, sound effects editing
overall: 3.375/5

[the title quotation is by Sanford Meisner]