Review the reviewers

[GasCat]

I would like to know if anyone is reading the "officia" reviews for movies so prominently displayed on the main page. (The word "official" is used for the first review which is shown for a movie.)

Do you read the "official" reviews for movies? If yes, how often?
Do seek the "official" reviews out as a main feature of the site?
Has the "official" review changed your mind about a movie or clinched the purchase? If yes, did you make the purchase through this site?
What is your personal opinion about the "official" reviews? Do you find them to be fair and well written(regardless of if you agree with the opinion)?

[GasCat]

Here is my response to the questions. I don't usually read the reviews. I don't think it is as important as the new releases. The new releases list is now down on the main page, making the user scroll down. Frankly I miss seeing "New Releases" as the most prominently displayed item. Admittedly, I am biased against these amateur "official" reviews.

Tonight I read the "official" review for the film "Babel". My personal opinion was: terrible. Who is reviewing the "official" reviewer? The person actually threw up the idea that it may have been better to produce the stories in the film as separate vignettes. My jaw drops in disbelief.

"Babel" is last of three films the director calls it a trilogy. Incredibly enough there was no mention of this on the review. This is mentioned on the Blu-Ray disc, the reviewer definitely had access to the information; Why was it not mentioned in the review? (Did I miss it?)

"The film is not for everyone and has some disturbing content that portrays violence and nudity in ways that audiences are unaccustomed to seeing."

My jaw is now hitting the floor.

Anyone who has seen the movie must be laughing over the comment. What is their opinion of Black Hawk Down, or one of the Saw movies? Give us some traction to understand the person's view on violence/nudity. I am a jaded bastard and have seen everything including things that anyone would cringe at seeing. If we are to trust a reviewer's comments and base our purchasing decision on what is written I would hope he/she would be your average movie-goer.

"Iñárritu creates a strong gravitational force that moves through an ultradramatic narrative."

I have looked in my 1217 page Websters dictionary but it doesn't have the word "ultradramatic" listed. Is it ok to take a noun and slip it in front of the word "ultra"? That's ultraterrible, I ultrakid you not.

The review sounds like it was written for a class. It has a boom-ba-da-boom essence of non-importance. If you are wondering what that last sentence means but appreciate the flow. You understand what I feel while reading that review.

I am not going after the reviewer, I thank the person for sharing their views. I know they each spend time and effort in delivering it to us. What I object to is that it has so much importance on this site. If the new releases were on top I would be silent. The reviews are the first whiff others see of the site. Sorry, but I am calling it like I see it.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/movie...88&show=review

[Slapper]

Originally Posted by GasCat

I would like to know if anyone is reading the "officia" reviews for movies so prominently displayed on the main page. (The word "official" is used for the first review which is shown for a movie.)

Do you read the "official" reviews for movies? If yes, how often?
Do seek the "official" reviews out as a main feature of the site?
Has the "official" review changed your mind about a movie or clinched the purchase? If yes, did you make the purchase through this site?
What is your personal opinion about the "official" reviews? Do you find them to be fair and well written(regardless of if you agree with the opinion)?

Sometimes I check a review if I want to know how the PQ/AQ is. Maybe once a month I'll go through and check 3-4. It's not a big draw for me. I pretty much know what the movie is about because I've either seen it in theaters or I've read about it during it's theatrical release.

The "Official" review here has never solely influenced my purchases. I'm still going to buy the movies I like unless the PQ gets an absolutely horrible review (Fifth Element first BD). I did not base my decision of not buying the first release Fifth Element disc based on one bad review. I saw that it was getting MANY bad reviews, that's what led to my decision.

I don't have a problem with the PQ/AQ sections and that's all that interests me as far as the reviews here.

If I don't know the plot/story of a film I usually check Yahoo Movies or even the official website for the film to get a "feel" for it.

I think that the new releases or the new pre-orders should be displayed more prominently. Perhaps if they staggered multi-colored cells to make the "sections" stand out from each other a bit more this would help to draw attention to the new releases/pre-orders. I would move the reviews down to where the new releases/pre-orders are and move the pre-orders to the top of the pile. The first thing some random web surfer would see is some great Blu-ray blockbuster just made available for pre-order on Amazon. "Whoa!" Stickiness accomplished

[Marcusarilius]

I try to encourage reviews on this site. They do have to be taken with a grain of salt on an individual basis, but when you see 4 or more reviews saying the same thing regarding story, PQ, SQ, etc, I find that taken as a whole, these statements are fairly true and close. I also enjoy other people's perspective on a given movie. Like critiquing a film with you buddy or wife. I will say though that the only time I have been more than disappointed with multiple reviews posted in the posative was about the movie "The Devil's Rejects." I purchased the movie and found it had no entertainment value what so-ever... For Me. Still, It does not change my enjoyment of reading reviews by the average joe.