What do you think about movie critics?

I feel that critics have this overinflated sense of self-importance, and frankly they might be right in that attitude given how people just wander around going: "Well Roger Egbert said it was bad."

The truth is human beings are social creatures and they do rely heavily on the opinions and advice of others. Sometimes this can be a good thing, such as a daughter relying on the advice of her mother that walking around in a dark parking lot at 3am is a bad idea. She doesn't need to try it out, she listens to the advice and thinks:"Hey that's practical."

But where other's opinions are something I worry about is with individual thought. People really do give up their right to individual thought because it may be easier to just rely on someone else's. It also makes you feel part of a group. It happens often, to you perhaps or others you have known that when you are in a large group of friends and a percentage of them say "Well this movie sucks" someone finds themself agreeing even if they may feel completely different. Now of course that isn't everyone, and in fact I know I really don't like when I can see people giving up their own opinion to not appear contradictory to the masses. Yeah yeah call me uppity but I have a big mouth and always tell people "No I don't like that" even if I am the odd man out. I'm sure there are many of you here who also don't like to compromise your opinions either. And isn't it the worst when you have someone like that in a group and they are even more obvious cause they change their opinion in the middle of a conversation because no one is agreeing with them...bleh. That is another downfall of people, they are terrified of standing alone. It is very lonely and I don't disagree that it is simpler to be agreeable. But at what cost?

And don't you notice that it is the negative comments that always tend to spread faster than the positive ones? People are so ready to believe that something isn't worth their time than actually just going to find out.

So yeah I don't really like critics, or rather I don't like relying on critics and what they think. And while there is nothing wrong with finding out what others think, to me there is definitely something wrong about giving up how you feel for the easier road of sharing negativity. Being positive is the bigger challenge.
 
in agreement...

in the end....all of us who watch films are critics....we know what we like or we don't like.........and we spread the word....bad word of mouth from one person to the next can make a break a film.........the only difference between myself and a professional film critic is that their paid for it and i'm not...
 
The reality is most people in America are not as smart or independent as they like to claim to be and are in fact sheep and don't really want to think and want others to decide things for them. It is a sad state of affairs, but look around you and this applies not just to entertainment, but other vital things like politics and world affairs.

A movie critic's job is to review a film. However, because they are a journalist part of the problem is they also have to sell newspapers, or generate ratings/website hits so like most Yellow Journalists, they will create controversy just to get the public interested in their review compared to others. If that means bashing a film then they will do it because what do they have to lose?

Also, thanks to the internet and the age of mass communication good or bad word-of-mouth about a film/TV show/song/book etc. can spread like wildfire within minutes. Rumors become "fact" and facts often are made of embellishments by the various parties relaying them (Go to the Spoilers Board for examples of this in action). This all adds up to too many people having opinions when the only real one that counts is yours and whether you paid for/to see the entertainment yourself and what you thought of the final product.
 
Me too! It's almost like if the critics don't like it, I know I will and vice versa. :lol: Well, not of course in every case but I don't listen to critics very much. Of course if a film has been bashed in the media, I have my doubts of going to see it but that's mainly cos I don't have unlimited amounts of money and I have to think carefully of what I spend it on. :D But usually if I'm interested enough in a film, I'll go see it, I don't care about the critics' opinion, I want to have one of my own.

Besides, I thought Alexander was good. I don't understand the bashing. :look:
 
I have to agree with pretty much everything in that article. I think a lot of times people do listen to the critics' viewpoints and won't even go see it to form their own opinion about the movie in question. Maybe it's just that people feel like the critics are getting paid to view movies and give their opinions about them, and since they're the professionals they would know better than us. I know I've been guilty myself of not going to see movies that have received bad reviews, but in my defense it was Gigli and I think it's fair to say the critics were dead on with that one. :lol:

I do try and stay away from the trap of relying solely on the critics and not giving a movie a fair chance. I often find that I like movies that the critics claim are complete crap, while things that receive rave reviews are movies that I just simply cannot like no matter how many times I watch them. However, I feel like it's true that the public lets the select few people who have the status of movie critics dictate their opinion on what to see and what not to see, when they should rely on their own taste. You never know what movie may actually become a favorite of yours if you just give it a chance.

:lmao: I have to agree about Alexander not being the worst movie of last year. There may not have been bigger financial duds than that, but there certainly were crappier movies in terms of storyline.
 
I've wanted to start a thread like this for a while but like I've said before, I'm a little paranoid about opening too many threads. :blush: Anyway...

I read a very interesting argument (and in my opinion right on) about movie critics and the fan reaction that they can create by shaping expectations and opinions probably even before you even watch a movie. Some people bash movies they haven't even seen, even arranging public demonstrations where half of the participants admit they haven't seen the film they're protesting against.

What I quote below is the opening of DVDTalk's review of Alexander's DVD, arriving August 2nd. I do not wish to dwell on the movie's reputation, I just want to see if any of you are interested in sharing your opinion on movie critics. Also if you agree or disagree with what I quoted below.



Anyone? :)
 
I don't pay attention. I see a movie. because I see the trailer and it looks good to me. if critics don't like it whatever. I'll see what I like. or I go on recommendations by my friends. because they know me and what I like. so yeah. :lol:
 
how i thought 2 years ago when i originally posted to this thread....


in the end....all of us who watch films are critics....we know what we like or we don't like.........and we spread the word....bad word of mouth from one person to the next can make or break a film.........the only difference between myself and a professional film critic is that their paid for their reviews and i'm not...

today those are my exact same thoughts.....
 
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