Critics Today: Too Hot, Too Cold?

[J_UNTITLED]

From Variety (Peter Bart's Blog)...

"Much of the critical assessment of the films these days seems to relate not to their themes or performances but to their temperature. Movies like “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” or “The Reader” are being faulted by critics because they are “chilly.” Baz Luhrmann’s “Australia” may have its faults – exhaustive faults – but it’s earning praise because it’s “hot.”

I understand what the critics are getting at, but I wonder nonetheless if it’s a bit of a substitute for more probing analysis. Critics don’t like to admit that some films move them emotionally and others don’t. Part of the response may relate to one’s own experience – a messy divorce, a death in the family – or part of it is simply how a critic was feeling the day of the screening.

The problem, too, may relate to the mindset of the filmmaker. David Fincher, the man behind “Benjamin Button,” is a cerebral director. I found his latest movie, like “Zodiac,” to be at once riveting and off-putting. Read the original F. Scott Fitzgerald short story on “Button” and you find remarkable and touching interactions between the character and his various friends along his life’s peculiar journey. He was too old, and wise, for the kids around him when he was an “old” baby. Later in life he was too naive and callow for his actually older companions. He was a rather touching character – touching and out-of-touch.

Those nuances are missing from the “Button” character as depicted in the Fincher movie. His is a fascinating journey, but some filmgoers may find themselves observing it with a detached outlook.

In “Australia,” as in “Slumdog Millionaire,” the filmmakers deliberately and daringly turn up the heat. Danny Boyle resorts to shameless sentimentality in “Slumdog” – and gets away with it. He even ends his Dickensian story with an absurd dance video over end credits.

But another question emerges about “Slumdog.” Will audiences find his setting – Mumbai – easier to relate to because of last week’s tragic events? Did reality bring this city to life in people’s minds so that the events overtaking his characters take on other layers of meaning?

In short, did Danny Boyle inadvertently luck into a very hot movie?"

[assydingo]

I'm still pissed Blade didn't get better reviews.

And amazed Twilight didn't get worse... the story is great (I became a fan... again) but it's not shown in a remotely compelling way.

[Stubblecat]

Modern critics are becoming more and more studio shills than respectable voices of film criticism.

There was a point when Siskel & Ebert could steer you straight ahead into excellent filmmaking, but after Gene Siskel died, the show fell apart with all the useless guest critics (who loved everything).
And after Roger Ebert went on an extended medical leave, it was just Richard Roeper and studio-paid blurb-*****s.

To find the honest reviews now, you have to search out the little papers. Which is why I check out Rotten Tomatoes if I'm on the fence about a title.

[P@t_Mtl]

I don't care what critics have to say. I will watch movies and it won't matter what they say or think about it. I have TMN to watch most movies and I will buy those that I know I will love right away. So for me critics have no use in anyway, shape or form.

[Crim122]

I am not going to lie, I check movie reviews ALL THE TIME, Rottentomatoes is probably my most viewed website. I trust movie critics most of the time, I mean they are paid to do it so I figure they are good, and I usually lean with them anyways. Plus I love reading the reviews in general, I really love reading negative reviews on movies I call that are going to be terrible (saw movies, and most modern comedy / horror) But if its a series (rambo, rocky, matrix ETC) and a new installment gets killed I will still see it because I love the old ones.

[Brandon]

You gotta check reviews, otherwise you're going to be wasting a LOT of your life watching movies that "looked cool" but ended up being shite. Rottentomatoes is great because it takes an average of numerous critics, not just one person's opinion.

[Crim122]

Originally Posted by BrandonT

You gotta check reviews, otherwise you're going to be wasting a LOT of your life watching movies that "looked cool" but ended up being shite. Rottentomatoes is great because it takes an average of numerous critics, not just one person's opinion.

I usually go with the Top Critics option, even though they usually run the same as all the little blog guys....but sometimes Top Critics dislike the movie moreso.

[dadkins]

I have given up on *ALL* critics.
Ya get burned a few times because of listening to a critic or the "In Crowd" and it really starts to piss you off! It did me!

Many people(critics included) are swayed by their "peers"(or studios via *incentives*) into putting undue praise onto a movie.

I will decide if a movie is good, *MY* opinion is the only one that matters to *ME*.

[Crim122]

I am glad I am no longer swayed by my peers into seeing movies, I would have seen Transporter 3 by now if so.

[mikejet]

So critics are like Paris Hilton now?

[Drexyl666]

Originally Posted by assydingo

I'm still pissed Blade didn't get better reviews.

And amazed Twilight didn't get worse... the story is great (I became a fan... again) but it's not shown in a remotely compelling way.

i'm with you on Blade. I love that movie and it was eviscerated by most critics, but I was glad when Siskel and Ebert reviewed it because they pretty much gave the same review that I would have. I miss their show.

[SquidPuppet]

More important to me than a thumbs up or down are the reasons critics like or dislike a film. On more than one occasion, I have seen a movie based on a group of critics disliking something that I actually like. The reverse is true as well. Sometimes a group of critics all agree on a specific feature that is not my cup of tea. Sometimes I can tell if a critic has the same tastes as I do, and that helps a lot.

[Crim122]

I will usually see a movie or not based off my peers and people I know, like with Blair Witch..when it first came out I am sure I would have hated it because my mind was not open to what type of film it was. But I saw it for the first time last year, and I LOVED IT...and all my peers did not understand it "OMG YOU DID NOT SEE ANYTHING OMG"...but what ever I loved it.

[dvd_mazter]

I love being a critic myself (I work at a video store so people constantly ask for my opinion) however I usually never agree with critics especially in my local paper. I mean they gave Qos a four and TDK a four and Qos wasn' even close to the quality of TDK.

[Crim122]

Originally Posted by dvd_mazter

I love being a critic myself (I work at a video store so people constantly ask for my opinion) however I usually never agree with critics especially in my local paper. I mean they gave Qos a four and TDK a four and Qos wasn' even close to the quality of TDK.

+1