Movie reviews and critics

[Bumblefeet]

Back in the late 90s/early 00s, the only movie reviews you'd find online were James Berardinelli's tiny essays and the typical Variety/Rolling Stone big magazine articles if they even bothered reviewing the film. There were also the odd pauline Kael review, safe to say I was not a fan.

With the advent of Youtube, I found myself looking back at a lot of the Siskel/Ebert reviews and discovering Roger Ebert's site, I even stuck around for the Ebert/Roeper reviews and subsequently Michael Philips. With Ebert gone and Roeper's relevance quickly diminishing, I turned to BBC's Mark Kermode whose reviews I still follow today.

Of the youtube generation, of course Jeremy Jahns seems to be the most popular. I've tried to sit through his reviews but the hyper style of treating the audience as 3 year olds as well as the constant editing and rambling that only exists to not allow you breathing space to think about what you just heard (cause else you'd turn it off) annoys me to no end.
This obnoxious trend seems to have carried on with other wanna-be Jahns reviewers who've discovered that when you edit out the breathing parts, your garbled review appears more coherent.

Also, there now has to a spoiler free and spoiler review, because critics have given up with the challenge of reviewing a movie without giving too much away. I applaud directors like David Lynch for not talking about the meaning or even story of his films so that audiences are allowed to experience it via the theatrical experience, and not via word of mouth or even the trailer.

Don't get me wrong, I do have an appreciation for amateur "independant" reviewers, I applaud Grace Randolph from beyond the trailer for often given lenghty takes on movies, though I wish she would have continued her original concept of interviewing audience members leaving the theater. The problem I have with most youtube reviewers is that they focus too much on what's not relevant; the trailer, the box office, the public's reaction, the cast and crew resume they found on wikipedia... anything that can have them avoid reviewing that movie, because that would take up actual time and effort.

I wonder which critics most people around here like to check up on once in a while?

[principehomura]

I stopped with critics, I now have a 'trust' cricle of users in Letterboxd I usuall check.

[L.J.]

Quit going by critics a long time ago. After some films I like are well I'll even say bad, so a critic will never recommend them. Have friends and members on here I trust when deciding on a blind buy. Plus at this point of film it helps knowing what I like. Sometimes will go on youtube and watch blu-ray reviews of films. These reviews give a view of the transfer. Best to find friends that have the same taste in film as you for reviews.

[Bumblefeet]

Good points, this board is also a good resource for discussing and finding out about movies. I also gets lots of recommendations from my brother, friends, colleges at work but I still feel the need to check out reviews from an actual critic. And I don't have to be in line with their taste 100 %, because often times I'll discover genre films or independant films I might not have pickup up on and also like to agree to disagree with certain reviews.

The only prerequisite for a good review is that the reviewer can argue his or her opinion towards to the movie, irregardless of what the status quo thinks. I feel with everything being so tailored to my needs and preferences anyway -search results, personalised advertisement, media exposure- it's good to get a fresh perspective or a different take on things.

[L.J.]

Originally Posted by Bumblefeet

Good points, this board is also a good resource for discussing and finding out about movies. I also gets lots of recommendations from my brother, friends, colleges at work but I still feel the need to check out reviews from an actual critic. And I don't have to be in line with their taste 100 %, because often times I'll discover genre films or independant films I might not have pickup up on and also like to agree to disagree with certain reviews.

The only prerequisite for a good review is that the reviewer can argue his or her opinion towards to the movie, irregardless of what the status quo thinks. I feel with everything being so tailored to my needs and preferences anyway -search results, personalised advertisement, media exposure- it's good to get a fresh perspective or a different take on things.

Understand, never been much into silent films this sight got me into The Phantom Carriage.Always good to be open minded.

[Visionist]

I only watch video reviews after seeing a film, to get a new angle and see if what I enjoyed resonated with others. My go-to reviewers are Redlettermedia, who attract a lot of flack for their humourous style of review but who more often than not agree with my own tastes. It's interesting how I only read the negative reviews; I wanna see why someone didn't like a film I enjoyed, hopefully forming a fuller opinion if I watch it again.

Before seeing a film, I'll avoid trailers and reviews unless I'm on the fence or cannot keep away from the marketing team's efforts to reel me in (all too willingly in the past; I'm a lot more cynical now when it comes to film marketing). I go to extreme lengths to avoid some trailers; I wore a blindfold and pumped my earphones full of Manowar during any IMAX trailers of TFA (my neighbor instantly understood when he saw the blindfold).

These days I either wanna see a film, in which case any bad reviews won't dissuade me, or I don't, in which case good reviews can change my mind about seeing it. Often a title alone is all I need.

[Suntory_Times]

Youtubers tend to have two major issue in my eyes. They either lack any real content and just quickly ramble about how they like it or didn't but don't really give you an idea of whether it will be for you or not. Either that or they think they know far more then they do and start making logic leaps which don't really make sense.

Either way I view most of youtube and the like (though of course there will be exceptions) as mostly just adhering to the bandwagon mentality and to provide little to nothing of value for myself.

[pitmosher]

i was never into reviews, much less anything on youtube,

strangely what I use is the star rating in the VUDU community.

its like 90 percent accurate for my liking.

[DustnBones001]

I've never bothered with critics. I know what I like better than anyone and I don't need someone else to think for me.

[Law212]

I watch a couple reviewers because they can be entertaining, but I never decide what to watch based on reviews.

I love Blood Bath and Beyond for horror reviews , and while I get very sick of the guy at times I do watch Chris Stuckman.

I also recently saw some videos by Comicbook Girl 19 and she was very indepth in her movie reviews...

Also Good Bad Flicks has introduced me to a lot of older movies I never knew existed.

[jacobsever]

I can't stand YouTube reviews. I'm only 29, and even that is just too millennial for me.

I stick to podcasts. So many podcasts out there based around film reviews. The Film Stage Show, Flimspotting, /Filmcast, The Only Podcast About Movies, Who Goes There?, etc etc.

I'd much rather listen to 2-3 people discuss a film for an hour, than watch 1 person sitting in front of a camera for 10-15 minutes. I don't want to hear a book report on a film, I want to hear multiple people in discourse about a film.

[The Sovereign]

I still find value in some critics - those being ones whom I've chosen over time because I respect their writing. And I do prefer writing over video presentation as I feel it usually requires more assembly of thought, but not always. Some video reviewers are charismatic enough to make their opinions infectious in both positive and negative ways.

I guess it just depends on what you're looking for. I never look to critics for validation and I'd say the majority of films I see are ones I've already decided to see, regardless of reviews. But for something that I'm curious about, something that I've never heard of, or to look at another opinion or interpretation of something that I've already seen, I'm glad there are still people who want to slog through it all and tell us what they think. I can take it or leave it from there.

[Dragon Ranger]

I'm in the UK and when I was young (child of the 80's) I used to enjoy watching Barry Norman review films. Soon as the BBC ditched him I pretty much gave up on reviewers and critics; I've tried so hard to like Kermode but he's so busy being Kermode that his own personality gets in the way. Plus he has a habit of sneering at certain directors which even if I don't care for their work I still find distasteful.

So these days I tend to bypass reviews entirely, my web browser has never been near Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic or any site of their ilk.

As for youtube its dominated (but not exclusively populated) by over excited fanboys who I can't listen to for more than a minute.

I probably sound like a miserable old man but so many reviewers are becoming part of the hive mind that they don't dare go outside the critical consensus and offer an independent opinion or any real insight so the question becomes why should I bother with them? If I am curious about a movie I would rather watch the trailer; look at cast and director to see if I am familiar with any of their previous work and decide from there if I want to see it or not.

[Ironhorse75]

Redlettermedia and Double Toasted.

[jacobsever]

To everyone who watches YouTube reviewers...have you ever tried listening to podcasts? Or did you just try YouTube and like it right away?

[Cremildo]

I haven't followed any professional reviewer since Roger Ebert died, though until a few years back I had the habit of reading Reverse Shot. Not anymore. Most reviewers nowadays are too concerned about inserting their political opinions in their writing, almost as if evaluating the movie's worth as a work of art (or entertainment) became a secondary concern.

[principehomura]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

I haven't followed any professional reviewer since Roger Ebert died, though until a few years back I had the habit of reading Reverse Shot. Not anymore. Most reviewers nowadays are too concerned about inserting their political opinions in their writing, almost as if evaluating the movie's worth as a work of art (or entertainment) became a secondary concern.

Biggest quote I ever gave.

[Dragon Ranger]

As youtube has been mentioned a few times on this thread I'm curious to know am I the only one who loathes reaction videos? With them often being full of fanboys who just shout at every single little thing in trailers and such?

[surfdude12]

I also don't read any reviews since Ebert died. Heck, I don't watch a lot of movies anymore as I've been watching so many TV shows. But when I do need movie reviews, I usually come on here and see which of you guys love what I love and then ask you what you thought of a new movie that came out? Usually, if one of you guys has 30 of my top 50 films in your top 50 list, you're probably going to enjoy the same stuff as me. Just common sense 101.

[UltraMario9]

Red Letter Media, Oliver Harper and Mark Kermode