Movie Reviews, good or bad? (1 Viewer)

[Seth Paxton]

Wait a second, do you realize that just going by moderate US release and upward you are talking about 300 per year. That doesn't include foreign films, and Bollywood alone outdoes the US in film production per year.

I don't think "near every" means what you think it means. All the new releases that hit the local theater or Blockbuster maybe, but that's still pretty short of everything.

If in fact you are seeing the 300+ US releases and throwing in a few foreign flicks that might find their way to the local arthouse, then you truly don't need any outside input.

But when I see that you missed an OSCAR NOMINATED film like Secrets and Lies or Before Sunset I have my doubts that you really are seeing "nearly everything".

Why didn't you watch Before Sunset this year? If you say its because you never heard of it, then its just another reason to have critics. They can get the word out on smaller releases. Or did you just not want to see Hawke because of Training Day or Delpy or you don't like Linklater's work (like Dazed and Confused, Waking Life, School of Rock)?

 

[Randall Dorr]

The fact that you seem to like everything means you will never be disappointed when you go to a theater. You're very lucky to be able to like just about everything. But most people aren't that way.

The average person is not going to like everything they see, so why should they see everything?

I don't have the time or the money to see every movie that comes out. But if I did, I still wouldn't go to them all. Why waste $9 and two hours of my life just so I can know, FOR MYSELF, that a particular film is lousy? Based on the movies that I have seen, I tend to agree with the critics more that anyone. So it makes sense that I would be more likely to listen to them when deciding what I want to see (though the film's director is always the biggest deciding factor). Of course there are plenty if times when I disagree with the general critical consensus. In those cases, I have no problem saying that most critics are wrong about X. Such as Heaven's Gate. Easily one of the finest westerns ever made, but it came out at exactly the wrong time. Twelve years later, critics were very accepting of Unforgiven, a film with similar ideas and themes.


A short list of movies to see:
1. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
2. Brazil (1985)
3. Aguirre, The Wrath of God (1972)
4. Breaking the Waves (1996)
5. Waking Life (2001)
6. Before Sunrise (1995)
7. Before Suset (2004)

If you want a real list, I could send you one I put together a couple of years ago (and have added to ever since). It's got 300+ films. I'll email it if you want.