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What I do NOT trust is viewer ratings. Okay, 75% of "viewers" gave a positive rating to "Dumb and Dumber" or "Fast and Furious" But who were those viewers? They are the people who always line up to buy tickets to films like that. What do I care what those viewers think of anything requiring sensible discrimination?
If I need to know people's approval rating for something, anything, the last person I'm going to ask is a "Borat" viewer. It's a flawed sample. Almost every film gets a viewer rating about 7. Which means 70% bought tickets to a movie that meets their taste level.
What I do NOT trust is viewer ratings. Okay, 75% of "viewers" gave a positive rating to "Dumb and Dumber" or "Fast and Furious" But who were those viewers? They are the people who always line up to buy tickets to films like that. What do I care what those viewers think of anything requiring sensible discrimination?
If I need to know people's approval rating for something, anything, the last person I'm going to ask is a "Borat" viewer. It's a flawed sample. Almost every film gets a viewer rating about 7. Which means 70% bought tickets to a movie that meets their taste level.
I don't even read movie critics. I don't know anyone who reads the reviews of a movie before deciding to go. The previews and hear say is about all they truly need.
i have never read a critic or reviewer whose tastes I felt in sync with. I disagreed a lot with Ebert, and Siskel. At least they wrote in plain English without pretentious language of critics who try to impress readers with their erudition and vocabulary. I want to know the picture colors/and whether it is shot in studios or location and if it has traditional casting choices. I hate movies shot in shades of gray/blue black. My method is to deduct 2 stars from every review...but sometimes 4 star movies deserve it. Maybe I am too choosy, but I'd rather see a movie in the theatre that is okay than a better movie at home on TV or DV.D. I began watching movies long before videos. Only now do I appreciate the very early movies.
I trust them -- to be backwards. I've found that pretty much if the critics like a movie, I won't. And if they hate, it might be pretty good. But, then again, I also like Olive Garden.
i have never read a critic or reviewer whose tastes I felt in sync with. I disagreed a lot with Ebert, and Siskel. At least they wrote in plain English without pretentious language of critics who try to impress readers with their erudition and vocabulary. I want to know the picture colors/and whether it is shot in studios or locationand if it has traditional casting choices. I hate movies shot in shades of gray/blue black. My method is to deduct 2 stars from every review...but sometimes 4 star movies deserve it. Maybe I am too choosy, but I'd rather see a movie in the theatre that is okay than a better movie at home on TV or DV.D. I began watching movies long before videos. Only now do I appreciate the very early movies.
It has been some time since I looked into a Siskel and Ebert review, or even Ebert's written reviews, as they have both been gone for some time. From what I remember, they mostly focused on the story and the quality of acting, comparing actors' performances in that movie to their past roles in others - if that is what you mean by traditional casting choices - which is what most people would want to know. Maybe once special effects came along they commented on that. But that aside, colors, location versus studio, and more technical/production techniques like that would be more niche I guess. I am sure if you did enough digging you could find someone who focuses on what you want, perhaps even from an enthusiast on social media somewhere.
As may have already said, the late Roger Ebert and I were about 99% in sync. If he saw something worthwhile in a movie, I would as well. Miss him frequently.
Short answer is that I take all "reviews" with several large grains of salt these days. I feel like every reviewer is on the take in some way these days and I don't trust the lot of them. In Roger Ebert's day, you rose to prominence because you were actually good, generally. Publishing a newspaper and paying someone to write for it cost money. Now, with the monetization of the internet and the role of the "influencer" I feel like the studios are playing really dirty.
Also, like everything else, it's becoming politicized.
There has been the recent phenomenon of complaints that reviewers like award show voters let woke get in the way and it effects their reviews. Then came the critics, not viewers reviews for the newest Marvel movie Eternals and suddenly that class who had been accused of being woke preferential are being accused of review bombing in a contra-woke move because of the wokeness of the heroes.
I sort of lost track of which socio- political side the reviewer class was supposed to be a art of and if not lying for then being influenced by.
To be honest, I don't. People have different hobbies, and we all have different perspectives on things. You might get a sense of the movie before you watch it. I'm afraid that movie reviews can destroy my enjoyment of a film. Even if it is something you enjoy, we may get to the conclusion that it is a horrible film.
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