Friday Rant #2 Movie Critics

[Bisexualnewbie]

Been thinking a lot about what to rant about, theres so many subjects.

OK, why are all movie critics stupid.
All they ever want to give good points for are slow boring French or other European movies, why?
I watched The Bank Job the other day and loved it but overall the critics scored it a B-, why I don't know, maybe they could not understand the English Dialect or something. Frank Scheck from the Hollywood Reporter wrote
"This sluggishly paced caper flick fails to score." and scored it a C-, what did he go into the showing wearing a blindfold?
Whatever you feel about movies and I'm sure we all have favorites that we love but the critics hate, also we all have to agree that when it comes to wanting to see a movie do we even look at what the critics say?
They could always employ me and I'll do it free, all I want is the free stuff they get for watching the movie.

[diB4u]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bank_Job

I'd love to be a film critic.

Sometime though they actuarly do know what there talking about- but not always.

Critics like everyone else- has their own interpretation on movies.

I've never seen this movie, so i can't comment.

It's true what you say about the English accent, for some people they might find understanding Cockney difficult.

[Skater Boy]

I've never seen this movie, so I can't comment.

Likewise.

BUT, not ALL movie critics are "dumb". For example, one of our more famous critics, Jonathan Ross (Newbie, being a fellow Brit, you're probably familiar with "Woss"), is actually quite insightful when it comes to reviewing films.

The trouble is, that what constitutes a "good" media text (and that includes music and potentially even art) is quite subjective. So one man might think "Rambo" is the Holy Grail of the celluloid world, whereas another might think its "Amelie".

There's also the socio-psychological stand-point of the receiver (ie. viewer) to consider... for example, complex and intellectual films will probably appeal to specific people for a specific reason, and likewise with the no-brainer action flicks.

Personally though, I have very diverse tastes when it comes to movies. And always resolve to make up MY OWN mind that merely take the critics' word for it.

[The Barefoot Contess]

LOL, I happen to usually like European movies better than American ones, what can I say? I like good dialog, silences, reflection... Anything in excess, however, usually results in a bad movie: too much dialog (unless you are Woody Allen), too much action (unless you are Tarantino or Lucas), too much silence (unless you are Ingmar Bergman), too much romance (unless you are David Lean), too much sex (wait, what?), too much intrigue (unless you are Hitchcock), too much drama (unless you are F. F. Coppola), too much laughter (unless you are The Monty Python), too much slapstick (unless you are the Marx Brothers), too much noir (uuummm, there is no such thing as too much noir), too much horror (unless you are Kubrick), too much kitsch (unless you are Lynch or Burton), too much tragedy (unless you are Truffaut), too much music (unless you are Gene Kelly), too much science fiction (unless you are Ridley Scott), too much Western stuff (unless you are John Ford)... they all get boring if not handled by a genius.

What I ask for in a movie critic is an aesthetic, social and/or political commentary. Morals should not be part of art criticism, imho. For instance, check out this review by Roger Ebert about Isabel Coixet's "My Life without Me" (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031017/REVIEWS/310170304/1023). That is an example of an otherwise decent critic falling into the trap of judging a movie by the moral choices of the characters, and, what is worse, of comparing himself (the critic) to the characters only to convince the readers of his moral superiority.

[12voltman59]

I have often wondered about film critics too--I will read a review--good or bad and see the film and have to ask myself---"did that person and I see the same film??" It can go either way---I almost think that if a critic says a film is great--I will hate it and vice-versa---

I don't know--maybe I am stupid when it comes to films.

I know what I like or don't like----and I really have to just put aside what I read in film critiques---and just go for it---I guess the only time I really get mad--is when the person was right---the film did suck and I still went and spent the ten bucks to see it!!!

[DiamondDog]

Don't read the reviews, make up your own mind about movies.

I don't really read movie reviews since lots of times they do contain spoilers and it's just one person's opinion about the movie.

I do read lots of book reviews though, sometimes they are very funny!

Someone once said of writer Joyce Carol Oates, "She's written enough for a lifetime! I hope she never writes again!"