Is anyone else sick of movie reviews?

[Rocky Van Heineken]

Man, I'm sick of hearing about movie reviews.

Like tonight, I go and buy two tickets to Hancock for my brother and I. When I tell my friends, they all acted like they were Roger Ebert or something. When I asked if they wanted to go, they said stuff like, "oh man, that didn't get too good of reviews" or "I don't know, I haven't heard good things about it."

Whatever happened to seeing a movie and judging for yourself rather it was good or not? Why are people's opinions of movies based upon what complete strangers think?

[spicyranch]

Jul 2, 2008 3:02:17 GMT -5 Rocky Van Heineken said:

Man, I'm sick of hearing about movie reviews.

Like tonight, I go and buy two tickets to Hancock for my brother and I. When I tell my friends, they all acted like they were Roger Ebert or something. When I asked if they wanted to go, they said stuff like, "oh man, that didn't get too good of reviews" or "I don't know, I haven't heard good things about it."

Whatever happened to seeing a movie and judging for yourself rather it was good or not? Why are people's opinions of movies based upon what complete strangers think?

Excellent thread, I have thought the same thing now for years.

Another thing you can blame the internet for.

[wwerules60]

Because why waste money on something that sucks? That being said, if you enjoy what you see in the trailer don't let a bad review sway you from seeing something.

[tna]

Well not all critics are correct, but they generally tend to rank movies based on their quality.

A film critic's job is review a movie from all aspects, from art production to editing, and how the many collaborative aspects come together to tell a story and whatever message or messages that story hopes to relate to the audience, or challenge the audiences' generally pre-concieved notions of a situation or idea.

A film critic is really a philosopher of movies.

[xombiehiphop]

Not just movies, music as well. Hell, anything. Think for yourself, make your own decision.

[thwak is T.hawk]

ironically enough ebert gave hancock a good review.

I get what your saying but with the economy and all if I'm on the fringe of seeing a movie I'll go to a movie review site and see what they have to say.

[hedonismbot]

Actually you can learn a lot about movies by reading the reviews of critics like Roger Ebert. Also, critics usually avoid making comments like "this movie sux!" If they bash a movie, they tend to explain why they disliked it, and whether there were still some redeeming features like beautiful cinemotography, an outstanding performance for a particular actor, or an outstanding soundtrack. A lot of times you can read why a critic hated a movie and figure out whether those kind of shortcomings would bother you or not.

Not to mention that I'm pretty busy these days between work and graduate school, so when I get a rare chance to go to the theater, I want to see something good. I don't want to take a chance on something that got panned or mixed reviews. Life is too short for mediocre movies.

[skiller]

I like reviews. I especially like reading lots of reviews.

It's mainly a way I can judge whether I'm better off keeping the money in my wallet. I don't look at them as the be all end all truth.

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

My main problem with movie reviews is that they often go smarkish and focus mainly on the BAD aspect of a movie and point out very insignificant details, eventually forgetting the most important question when making a movie review "So, was it entertaining or not?"
The problem is, like s l i k said, they review things from their professional point of view. And they are WAY to professional! I mean, most of the viewers are not movie professionals and just want to see something that will make them relax from a hard working week.

I usually only pay attention to movie reviews when I have mixed feelings about a movie after seeing a trailer in order to have at least one advice.
Honestly, I usually pay more attention to what some friends of mine who have already seen these movies have to say about them, because they usually have the same point of view than me.

[willywonka666]

The only movies I've watched that I didn't enjoy were movies that someone else suggested. If the trailer or commercial looks good, I'll know if I'm gonna like it, otherwise if they can't impress me in 30 to 60 seconds, f*** it, I won't bother. The only time I didn't watch a movie because of a critic was when they described "High School High" and I didn't care for where the plot headed halfway through.

[darthalexander]

It all comes down to personal opinion. That's all it is. There have been movies praised by critics that I've seen that have left me thinking: they liked THAT???And movies they've hated that I loved. It's YOU who counts in the end. You like what you like and hate what you hate.

Usually when a movie comes out I'll read a few reviews from different places to get a general idea of what to expect. If I see/hear a lot of negative reviews then maybe I'll hold off on seeing a film but if it's one I want to see anyways, I'll see it regardless of what anyone says.

[casualobserver]

Jul 2, 2008 10:13:48 GMT -5 darthalexander said:

It all comes down to personal opinion. That's all it is. There have been movies praised by critics that I've seen that have left me thinking: they liked THAT???And movies they've hated that I loved. It's YOU who counts in the end. You like what you like and hate what you hate.

Usually when a movie comes out I'll read a few reviews from different places to get a general idea of what to expect. If I see/hear a lot of negative reviews then maybe I'll hold off on seeing a film but if it's one I want to see anyways, I'll see it regardless of what anyone says.

I agree with that. I'll take the two most recent movies: Love Guru and Get Smart. Both were widely panned by critics. I had no desire to see Love Guru at all. I think Mike Myers best days of comedy are behind him, and the preview looked like garbage. If I did see it, I don't think my review of the movie would've differed much from the consensus.

I had every intention of seeing Get Smart, mostly on nostalgia and what Steve Carrell could do with the Maxwell Smart character. I walked away from the theater with a good impression of the movie.

I will see a movie regardless of the reviews if I really want to see it. The chances are good that I'll enjoy it anyway. In fact, Spider-Man 3 is the only movie I can think of in recent memory that I was amped about seeing and walked away thinking that it sucked. If I feel "meh" about it, I'll read the reviews first, but most likely it's a rental. If I think it's crap, I wouldn't watch it in any way, shape, or form. Not even if they played it on Monica Belucci's back while I was...well, ok maybe I would in that case. ;D

[FedorFighter]

I give this thread a thumbs in the middle

[jfbop37]

I wish these critics would review more films (Language warning)

[default]

I tend to ignore them in large part as I just don't care. I got two friends I regularly listen to for film advice as we have similar taste in movies and both of them took film in college and I don't know why they listen to me, besides that I have a ton of free time on my hands to watch a bunch of movies.

[Jiren]

I never listen to em because i want to form my own opinion

but i will admit they're bang on the money sometimes (Praising "Departed", Panning "Rollerball")

[Bo Rida]

I'm sick of the ones that give the latest big movie high ratings based on hype rather than quality, especially the first two Harry Potter movies, the phantom menace and Casino Royal getting 6 stars out of 5 in one paper.

The same thing applies if a movie is given a bad rating based on it's subject matter/genre, most movie critics gave Fight Club a low rating when it came out but now refer to it as a classic.
A lot of daily mail style critics will pan the latest gorno or teen movie without giving it a chance.

On the whole though going to the Cinema is expensive and I'm not wasting it on something I know I'm 99% sure I won't like, if reviewers universally slate a movie then I'm not wasting money on it (unless I'm a fan of the series/source material).

[Jay Peas 42]

Because if we didn't the only source of information on the film would be the Studio Marketing Machine.

[HoagieWithPastrami]

Jul 2, 2008 3:02:17 GMT -5 Rocky Van Heineken said:

Man, I'm sick of hearing about movie reviews.

Like tonight, I go and buy two tickets to Hancock for my brother and I. When I tell my friends, they all acted like they were Roger Ebert or something. When I asked if they wanted to go, they said stuff like, "oh man, that didn't get too good of reviews" or "I don't know, I haven't heard good things about it."

Whatever happened to seeing a movie and judging for yourself rather it was good or not? Why are people's opinions of movies based upon what complete strangers think?

I totally agree with you partially. I hate critics. I don't need them to tell me what's good and what's not.


BUT, when it comes to movies that have gotten crappy reviews or that I've heard suck, I'd rather wait until it's HBO for free or until I can rent it or something than take my chances spending $9.50 seeing it at the theatre.

[Milkman Norm]

What so bad about people that have studied film using their knowledge to critique movies. I don't understand the anti-critic atitude