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Topic: Do you Read Movie Reviews and why?

Posts 1 to 20 of 28

CanisWolfred

And I don't mean just looking at the number of stars.

Personally, I don't, but then again, I don't like people telling me what movies to watch.

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Jango-Forest

Occasionally I look at the film section of The Times for the "mini" reviews, but then again, I always seems to read about the films I have no intention of seeing. I suppose I just rely on recommendations from people.

Jango-Forest

Magi

I read them. I like hearing other people's perspectives sometimes. Occasionally they may point something out in a movie that I may have otherwise overlooked. If I have my mind made up to see a flick, I'm rarely swayed by any review to change my mind.

Magi

theblackdragon

Magi wrote:

If I have my mind made up to see a flick, I'm rarely swayed by any review to change my mind.

pretty much this. if i'm going to see something, i'm gonna go see it whether it apparently sucks or not. bonus points if my friends are raving over it, lol.

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Mabbit

I'm guilty of just going to Metacritic and checking the movie's metascore and then judging it from there. It's bad I know

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Raylax

Not really. I always find them to be a little quick to shoot down a film that I know I'd actually enjoy. Ironic, considering I occasionally review movies

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retired_account

Nah, I use rottentomatoes to make sure it's not complete and utter crap though.

Edited on by retired_account

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Link79

Nah I hate when some reviewer acts like his opinion is the definitive opinion.
Take for example Roger Ebert.
He rips on movies I actually enjoyed. It's like a movie has to be Shakespeare in order to be worthy of your time.
Aren't people allowed to enjoy a mindless action flick now and then?
Terminator 2 is always praised but the plot makes no sense what so ever.
So why then are the Transformer movies ripped apart by critics?
It's a movie based on toys for Crap sake.

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kaw270

I just go to rotten tomatoes which is my main and only source for movies

LordChimpington

Link79 wrote:

Nah I hate when some reviewer acts like his opinion is the definitive opinion.
Take for example Roger Ebert.
He rips on movies I actually enjoyed. It's like a movie has to be Shakespeare in order to be worthy of your time.
Aren't people allowed to enjoy a mindless action flick now and then?
Terminator 2 is always praised but the plot makes no sense what so ever.
So why then are the Transformer movies ripped apart by critics?
It's a movie based on toys for Crap sake.

Who praises terminator 2? I mean I like the terminator series but I don't think people really praise it.

Anyway I don't really pay attention to reviews. If the trailer or any sort of story or clip makes me excited for a movie then I try to go see it. Reviews are basically opinions and we all have different opinions about the same things.

LordChimpington

Link79

@ TheGameMonkey
Terminator 2 is widely regarded as the peak of the series. It was mostly considered to be the best. The plot is backwards though. If John conner was alive in the future then his 12 year old self didn't need saving.
Yeah that makes alot of sense.
Despite that nearly everyone loves the movie. Go figure.

Edited on by theblackdragon

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Bankai

Who praises terminator 2? I mean I like the terminator series but I don't think people really praise it.

Um, everyone? It's critically praised across the board (almost). You can even study it in some university film courses.

Terminator 2 is widely regarded as the peak of the series. It was mostly considered to be the best. The plot is ass backwards though. If John conner was alive in the future then his 12 year old self didn't need saving.

Every plot that has time travel stuggles with that exact paradox. T2 isn't unique there.

Nah I hate when some reviewer acts like his opinion is the definitive opinion.
Take for example Roger Ebert.
He rips on movies I actually enjoyed. It's like a movie has to be Shakespeare in order to be worthy of your time.
Aren't people allowed to enjoy a mindless action flick now and then?
Terminator 2 is always praised but the plot makes no sense what so ever.
So why then are the Transformer movies ripped apart by critics?
It's a movie based on toys for Crap sake.

His job is to critique films. Mindless action films might be enjoyable to you, but they're rarely good quality films. The Transformer films are woeful, Michael Bay couldn't direct his way out of a paper bag. If you enjoy them, then good for you, but that doesn't mean a critic needs to suddenly love a badly made film because it's a "mindless action film."

So long as a critic can back up his criticism of a film with a decent argument (and Ebert usually does), then I usually enjoy reading the review, as it helps me engage with the film and think about the broader issues represented within. Anyone who uses a good critic's review to decide if a movie is "good or not" is missing out on what a good review can offer. Really good ones are closer to essays

CanisWolfred

WaltzElf wrote:

Anyone who uses a good critic's review to decide if a movie is "good or not" is missing out on what a good review can offer.

Maybe I missed a memo somewhere, but I thought that was what reviews were for.

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Squiggle55

Link79 wrote:

The plot is backwards though. If John conner was alive in the future then his 12 year old self didn't need saving.
Yeah that makes alot of sense.

I don't see any problems with the story. In the future the bad guys find out who the savior of humanity is - John Conner. This is the straightforward Timeline A. At the end of Timeline A where humanity is saved, they send a robot back in time to kill John Conner as a child in the hope that they can create a new Timeline B more to their liking. Of course they don't succeed because of Arnie and that's why he's still alive in the future. Timeline B with a dead John Conner doesn't come into existence unless they succeed in killing him in the past.

I like Rotten Tomatoes usually but I need less help deciding to see a movie than I do to buy a game. Even if a movie is generally disappointing I have fun at the theatre.

Edited on by Squiggle55

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Bankai

Mickeymac wrote:

WaltzElf wrote:

Anyone who uses a good critic's review to decide if a movie is "good or not" is missing out on what a good review can offer.

Maybe I missed a memo somewhere, but I thought that was what reviews were for.

Superficially. But really, a review is no more than a document analysing a film. A good review is a great deal more than a black and white "good/ bad" statement.

Look at literature reviews (as in in journals, not the brief 200 word soundbites you find in pop magazines.) No one reads those to decide whether they should read a book or not. They read those to see an opinion on a book's themes, its social/ economic/ political relevance, its philosophy and artistic merit. A good review is about engaging with a book, and then (as I said before) almost providing an essay for people to read, and then think about how that sits with their own opinion and understanding of the book.

Some film critics are providing similar quality reviews now. It would be good to see games journalism also follow suit, but for now people care too much about the score to bother reading and engaging with the review.

Mabbit

Link79 wrote:

Nah I hate when some reviewer acts like his opinion is the definitive opinion.
Take for example Roger Ebert.
He rips on movies I actually enjoyed. It's like a movie has to be Shakespeare in order to be worthy of your time.
Aren't people allowed to enjoy a mindless action flick now and then?
Terminator 2 is always praised but the plot makes no sense what so ever.
So why then are the Transformer movies ripped apart by critics?
It's a movie based on toys for Crap sake.

But that's exactly what you're doing right now. You're saying that your point of view is the same mindset that all critics should take on. There are critics out there who don't think that mindless action flicks are any good. If you want to assimilate all critics opinions into your point of view, saying that that is the definitive point of view to have, then aren't you advocating what you just insulted?
And I don't like the Transformers movies because they're boring and poorly written, not because they're not high class

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ToadFan

I mostly use nothing, but I use Rotten Tomatoes sometimes.. but Rotten Tomatoes, can be extremely harsh sometimes and aggressive on there ratings.

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Noire

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