So what is the Gentleman Rating System?

Let's start with what it is not:

It isn't a collection of reviews of strip clubs, brothels, pornos, or the like

It's not the minutes of some stuffy, pipe-smoking old man club

It isn't a collection of movie reviews. We have enough of those, and don't need any more!

What is it then?
The Gentleman Rating System, or GRS, is a database of movies and television programs that I have rated for unnecessary graphic content. It is unique because unlike other ratings, the GRS ratings are not dependent on the presence of nudity, gore, language, etc. Rather the use of these tools is evaluated.

This means that I watch a movie and then rate it for heavy-handed use of gore, sound effects, etc. I got sick of sitting through crap movies that are slasher fests so I thought, "hell, I run a Web site why can't I start rating movies myself?"

How does it work?

Box 1 Since movies are usually added to the database in blocks of ten or so, Bill lists the basic information for his favorite of the lot. Though sometimes he doesn't like any of the movies he's rated and won't change this box.

In this box you will see a small picture from the movie, the Gentleman rating (as a portion of Rene Magritte's The Man in a Bowler Hat), and brief information about the film.

The Gentleman Rating System is a five level system. If you see all of The Man in a Bowler Hat, then this movie was rated the highest with no infractions. If a movie is given a lower rating you will see less of the Man.

Box 2 This is the number of TV programs (or movies) and motion pictures that have been rated to date. The time since the last update is also listed.

Box 3 In this box you may search the database to find movies quicker. You may search for any word or even group of characters of

1. the title (or year),

2. notable cast names,

3. even the G.R.S. rating (0-5), and

4. number of recent additions.

You can search for a year use the "title" as the search field. The title and year are coupled together in the database. Also, note that Boolean operators (e.g. AND) do not work with this search method. Instead enter all key words and the search will return all results. The search feature is not case sensitive. Use the recent additions search to find a certain number of latest entries. The database is fairly extensive, but of course, the movie will have to be listed to be found.

Box 4 These are the "X number" of latest additions to the database. If you searched for the "X number" latest additions in box 3, then this is what would be found.

Box 5 You may browse all the movies by letter. Common articles (e.g. the, an) do not control where a movie is placed in the browsing pages. For instance, The Matrix shows up under "M" and not "T." All movies may be displayed by clicking the obvious link. The others link lists the movies that begin with numbers or unusual characters. If you can't find a movie by browsing the first letter, it's always good to check the others link.

Box 6 This is the link to this page.

Once you open a movie page, you'll see a page similar to the sample below:

Box 1 This is a poster or DVD cover for the movie.

Box 2 This is the GRS rating. In this case none of the Man in a Bowler Hat is visible so this movie was rated 0.

Box 3 The numerical rating is listed in this box for clarification.

Box 4 This box lists the movie title and year, notable cast, movie duration, and infractions. Infractions are the reasons why the movie was rated less than 5.

Box 5 In the comments box a lot of information may be listed. This is where infractions are explained, Bill's general view of the movie, and sometimes a short description are listed. Frequently links to other movies (e.g. "original" in this sample links to The Matrix), off site Web pages, and Ladies. For instance, Monica Bellucci is mentioned and a link is made to her page in the previous Ladies page.

When you want to leave the page you may browse by letter at the bottom of the page or select a tab at the top of the page.