Dwight Macdonald, On Film Criticism

What rules, principles or standards I judge movies by:

(1) Are all the characters consistent, and in fact are there characters at all?
(2) Is it true to life?
(3) Is the photography cliche, or is it adapted to the particular film and therefore original?
(4) Do the parts go together; do they add up to something; is there a rhythm established so that there is form, shape, climax, building up tension and exploding it?
(5) Is there a mind behind it; is there a feeling that a single inteligence has imposed his own view on the material?

Dwight Macdonald, On Movies, Da Capo Press, New York, 1969, pp. ix