Film critics

[Hatebox]

I think film criticism is important, though apart from Kermode and 'Movie Bob' from the Escapist magazine I don't have any speicific writers I follow. In truth I just don't go to the movies nearly as much as I used to.

 

I also think RT is a disaster for serious discussion on movies, and the need for the there to be a definitive consensus on movies is a perverse one.

[JohnnY]

I'm not interested in reading professional critics, I only used to read one single brazilian critic and I don't recall ever reading more than 4 or 5 movie reviews from other critics in my life, but I like checking movie scores on RT and Metacritics. From time to time I'll read reviews here on the forums, on IMDB and other similar movie-oriented websites in which users can write, I don't read full reviews very often, I like checking rankings based on user ratings, though.

 

I do love bad movies and I'm always reading, listening and watching reviews about them: Nostalgia Critic, Nostalgia Chick, How Did This Get Made?, Film Sack, Bad Movie Podcast, Read it and Weep... I also like to watch movies with comments from Rifftrax and Mystery Science Theater 3000. It's much more fun than serious reviews

Edited August 13, 2013 by JohnnY

[Michael Gary Scott]

I only pat attention to roeper

[Manu Delpech]

Let's be honest (and maybe that's a cliché), but many of those film critics do what they do because they don't have the necessary talent to make those movies that they criticize. I know it's easy to say and everything, but if you're just here to tell whoever wants to listen "This movie is goooooooooooood", "this movie is baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad", it's not worth a damn, they should try it.  

[luna]

Let's be honest (and maybe that's a cliché), but many of those film critics do what they do because they don't have the necessary talent to make those movies that they criticize. I know it's easy to say and everything, but if you're just here to tell whoever wants to listen "This movie is goooooooooooood", "this movie is baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad", it's not worth a damn, they should try it.  

 

No.

[The Futurist]

Movie critics are jaded free loaders for the most part.

[Plain Old Tele]

Movie critics are jaded free loaders for the most part.

 

I don't agree with this at all.

[mahnamahna]

I don't agree with this at all.

But they are. Movie critics don't create anything or do anything except criticize what others are doing. Aside from gossip columnists, I'd say film critics are pretty useless. I trust the average moviegoer over what an Anton Ego wanna-be has to say IMO. 

[Kvikk Lunsj]

Film critics are the same as book and food critics. There job is to review a film. If there are errors, weak acting they are suppose to critique the film.  I do not get why people get so upset with critics. All of dislike film. Just like all of dislike the food you get a restaurant. 

[Michael Gary Scott]

I don't agree with this at all.

me either

[mahnamahna]

Film critics are the same as book and food critics. There job is to review a film. If there are errors, weak acting they are suppose to critique the film.  I do not get why people get so upset with critics. All of dislike film. Just like all of dislike the food you get a restaurant. 

Personally I dislike critics in general because they don't truly contribute anything. People aren't stupid - they can figure out if a movie or a restaurant or a song is bad or not for themselves

[Plain Old Tele]

But they are. Movie critics don't create anything or do anything except criticize what others are doing. Aside from gossip columnists, I'd say film critics are pretty useless. I trust the average moviegoer over what an Anton Ego wanna-be has to say IMO. 

 

I think you're missing the point entirely of what good criticism does. It's more of a scholarly pursuit than merely telling you what you should see.

[Gopher]

But they are. Movie critics don't create anything or do anything except criticize what others are doing. Aside from gossip columnists, I'd say film critics are pretty useless. I trust the average moviegoer over what an Anton Ego wanna-be has to say IMO.

No. You didn't read any of my post on the first page, so why did you 'like' it?

[Ezen Baklattan]

Film critics can function as catalysts of discussion. After watching a movie, it's fun to see critics' opinions and perhaps think about new perspectives on the film that might change your opinion. It's also what's so fun about these forums. We are, in a loose sense, film critics of our own, too.

[mahnamahna]

No. You didn't read any of my post on the first page, so why did you 'like' it?

I liked SOME of what you said... I generally think depending on another person to tell whether you'll like something or not doesn't make sense. 

[riczhang]

We Need To Talk About Kevin is one of the best movies of 2011. Much better than The Tree of Life. See, we don't always agree.

I agree. I gave Kevin a 10/10. And ToL a 9.8 when Ifirst saw them. Though in Hindsight, I kinda like Tree more now.

[Gopher]

I liked SOME of what you said... I generally think depending on another person to tell whether you'll like something or not doesn't make sense.

Again, that's not the goal of film criticism, or any sort of criticism. It's not telling you what you're going to like. It's encouragement to try something new or view something in a new light, from people who have seen more movies than 99% of the planet.

[Webslinger]

I don't like that film critics get such a bad rap simply for expressing their opinions. It even bleeds into conversations when more casual moviegoers get the sense that they're speaking with movie buffs. For example: when I was watching the MLB all-star game last month, a commercial for 42 ran (the film had just been released to Blu-Ray/DVD/etc.). My roommate asked me what I thought of the movie, and I gave my opinion, straight-up: I enjoyed it, but I thought it would have been better had it taken more chances than it did. The other guy who was in the room with us then said "Well, you think like a critic, so that means it's probably actually a great movie."

 

I love film criticism for the fact that it gets me to think about why I like or dislike a particular film. I know that some viewers talk about enjoying movies for what they are, but I don't think I would enjoy them as much if I wasn't aware of the conversation surrounding them, whether they line up closely or distantly with what I think about them.

[dashrendar44]

But they are. Movie critics don't create anything or do anything except criticize what others are doing.

 

Yeah, movie critics are failed directors that didn't contribute to the art of filmmaking. Go tell that to François Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, Jacques Rivette, Olivier Assayas among others a.k.a. movie critics of Les Cahiers Du Cinéma whether you like their movies or not, that's not the debate. If we're talking about the notion of auteur in movie-making nowadays, that's due to those movie critics turned directors because that notion didn't exist beforehand. Basically without movie critics, no one would talk about "auteur theory" or say "this director is an auteur". It's so familiar among movie buffs discussions today, we now make a distinction between "auteur" and "yes-man/hack".

 

Hitchcock, Lang and Hawks were not considered "auteur" before those movie critics analyzed their filmography at the time and drew some familiar pattern in their respective filmography acknowledging and explaining in columns common resurgences of themes/obsessions and items fused with a peculiar style. That's what good movie critics do.

 

So much fail in that aforementioned post.

Edited August 14, 2013 by dashrendar44

[Manu Delpech]

Not all of them but a good bunch of them. Kevin Smith did a great discussion on this, if those people feel they can do something better than you do (because you can feel it in so many reviews, that kind of condescending tone, that you know what's best for the movie), then they should get creative, they should act instead of being passive. I can't believe those people are PAID to see movies, just, what? Seriously, that still doesn't mean you can't critique something, but it's got no meaning or no purpose if it's just that.