Give us your input regarding Film Threads in the Movies Area! (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

It's been suggested to the HTF Administrative Staff that whenever a new film opens up that two separate threads should be established in the Movies area of the forum. One thread will be strictly for posting your personal film reviews and the other thread for discussing the new film. However, before adopting that suggestion, we want to hear from our entire membership regarding their preferences in this matter.

There are three polling questions in this particular poll. Please, let us know what you prefer as we would like to take the pulse of the forum before any final consideration is made regarding film threads.

 

[TravisR]

I vastly prefer having one thread for each movie. It's just easier overall. If I want to reply to a point in someone's review, I'd have to copy and paste from the review thread into the discussion thread and then reply there. Once in that thread, there'd be no quote or name in the text that I copy and pasted.

All that being said, if the consensus says to go with two threads, it really should only be for the bigger movies because the smaller stuff doesn't get a lot of debate.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I'm generally good with one thread.

The only exception I can think of that I like having is for the big blockbuster films -- sometimes that can be helpful, where one thread is dedicated to reviews just of the movie, and the other ends up becoming about how (for example) this Marvel movie fits in with previous Marvel movies and foreshadows the next one. When the discussions are as wide ranging as they can be for those particular movies, sometimes it's helpful to have one thread that's just about people's reaction to the movie itself, and one for all of the "world building" that goes with the movie.

edit: I don't feel super-strongly about this either way!

 

[Johnny Angell]

If there was a review only thread, it could be spoiler-free.

 

[DaveF]

One thread is easier for posters but harder for readers. I like having a review-only thread, spoiler free (or at least contained in spoiler hiders). This thread could even be discussion free; reviews only. The point is to let the reader enjoy reading reviews and learn about the film without worrying about having crucial plot points spoiled (or without having to guess when to bail out of the thread to prevent entering the spoiler-ful discussions).

The discussion thread could be spoilerific from the start.


Another idea, that would require a change to the forum software, would be a clear demarcation in single movie thread when spoilers begin; a link to the next page that very clearly says "Here Be Spoilers". Clicking that link into is done at one's own risk.

 

[Mike Ouellet]

I think one thread per movie is fine. Keeps it organized.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

+1 for two threads per film:

1. Spoiler-free review thread. Discussion is OK here but spoiler tags must be used where appropriate.

2. Discussion thread for those who've seen the film (or who don't care about spoilers).

There's also the question of anticipatory/ news threads, which frequently pop up for blockbusters. Maybe allow them, but lock them once a film opens.

 

[TravisR]

How do you write a 'real' review without spoilers? I mean I do it but my reviews are usually just "Man, that movie was pretty kewl!"

 

[Sean Bryan]

I'm not sure how I feel about that to be honest. It is the way things used to be on the forum. Remember back in The Lord of the Rings days we'd have the "pre-release discussion threads" and "review threads". Did we also do a "post-release spoilers discussions thread"? I'm not sure. I think we did, but its been a while. In general, I'm fine with that because I do think its nice to be able to have a thread for "reviews" that don't get into spoilers and a thread where the plot can be discussed openly. Personally, I never really thought reviews need to get into plot details. I actually dislike when professional reviewers basically give a synopsis of the entire story as part of their review. I'm more interested in the perception of the general quality of the film. Then again, reviews can naturally spawn discussions about specific plot points. So you either need to trust in the use of spoiler tags, or have the open discussions somewhere else. That being said, the traffic here doesn't seem to be as high as back then and I wonder if its enough to sustain two separate threads for the same film? Maybe for the biggest films. But even then, other than anything Star Wars related, the discussion volume is still relatively low. I think I'd be fine either way as far as review/discussion threads. But I do like the suggestion of returning to the old "pre-release discussion" which gets closed at release and "post-release discussion" threads like we did back in the day.

 

[Josh Dial]

Two threads are fine if the mods will permit a poster to double-post their review in both threads. That way people can read a spoiler-free review thread with no comments (and thus no risk of accidental spoilers), but also read a discussion thread that allows for easy quoting and replying to reviews (plus regular discussion, of course).

If that's unworkable, then my vote is for a single thread.

 

[DavidJ]

I prefer a single thread where we respond to members' reviews and discuss the movie.

 

[Brian Dobbs]

One thread please. Discussion of a film shouldn't suddenly jump to a new thread because the movie has been released.

I don't understand why people feel the need to create a new thread when one already exists. It makes search results more challenging to go through also.

 

[Chuck Anstey]

I'm not exactly sure what the first question is asking and whether it is the opposite of question 2. Is it that one pre-release thread for a movie is enough or that we can have several? Or is it one thread is enough for any movie so all pre-release, reviews, discussions, and sequel discussions should go in the one thread?

I definitely prefer the review thread (spoiler free required) and discussion thread be separate for new movies like it used to be. I don't get to the movie immediately on Friday night or I may wish to read the reviews before deciding to even go. That would be pretty difficult if I have to try to remain spoiler free navigating 50 discussion posts looking for the first or next review. For older movies I can see the just the one discussion / review thread.

To the question of having a pre-release thread just be where all the discussion happens, my preference is for the pre-release thread to close. If you haven't been constantly following the pre-release thread, who knows where the discussion starts? Is it page 2, 20, 50? Pre-release is speculation, discussion is discussion of the actual released movie.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'm not exactly sure what the first question is asking and whether it is the opposite of question 2. Is it that one pre-release thread for a movie is enough or that we can have several? Or is it one thread is enough for any movie so all pre-release, reviews, discussions, and sequel discussions should go in the one thread?

I definitely prefer the review thread (spoiler free required) and discussion thread be separate for new movies like it used to be. I don't get to the movie immediately on Friday night or I may wish to read the reviews before deciding to even go. That would be pretty difficult if I have to try to remain spoiler free navigating 50 discussion posts looking for the first or next review. For older movies I can see the just the one discussion / review thread.

To the question of having a pre-release thread just be where all the discussion happens, my preference is for the pre-release thread to close. If you haven't been constantly following the pre-release thread, who knows where the discussion starts? Is it page 2, 20, 50? Pre-release is speculation, discussion is discussion of the actual released movie.

The first question is asking whether one thread is enough for both, reviews and discussion.

The second question is asking whether a review thread with reviews only be established and a second thread for any film discussion.

 

[Edwin-S]

The main problem I see with two separate threads is that it was tried before and it was unwieldy. I think the use of two threads helped kill discussion, since people saw it as a hassle to post a review in one thread and then have to cut and paste or refer to it for discussion purposes. One thread would be fine if people would just use the spoiler function when discussing specific story points.

 

[davidHartzog]

One thread, keep it simple.

 

[Chuck Anstey]

For how long will discussions have to keep using spoiler tags? Til Monday? A full week? It makes the discussion thread look like a redacted military document.

 

[Jason_V]

One thread, spoilers until Monday morning...then it's fair game.

A official HTF theatrical movie review thread would be nice, too. We do it for DVD's and BD's...why not the theatrical screening? I'm sure a group of folks could be found who want to participate.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

I can't agree that the two threads thing killed discussion. I joined in 2001, and almost every film had a REVIEW and a DISCUSSION thread. Those things lasted months and months and pages and pages. That lasted for years. I don't think we can blame the two thread concept for causing less discussion. I'm not quite willing to say the opposite though. No evidence to support that.I do know this is an international forum. And that movies open overseas weeks before they do in the States. As I get older, I get more interested in knowing LESS about the film than I used to before seeing it. I enjoy the $16 film more when it surprises me (as long as the surprises are good). I'm less (read: not at all) interested in participating in a single thread that combines both sides of the seen it/not seen it. Which doesn't help the question at hand much, I admit.I absolutely have NO interest in a movie board that only has threads for Marvel/Star Wars/Hunger Games/Batman. I love the blockbusters too, but there have been great discussions here about smaller films. If I have a vote, I have ZERO interest in HTF being reduced to SuperHeroHype or TheForce.net.Good luck. I support whatever makes it easier for the mods. I won't read or engage in threads for movies I haven't seen with a bunch of people who have seen them. I'm just one fool, though.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Looks like one thread is going to win out. This poll will remain active until the end of the month and from there we'll probably react to the final vote.