Film Critics

[Nega-Brent]

This year in film has saw studios pulling a lot of advance screenings of films they know would be panned by critics. It is a trend some have called disturbing as it has been shown that without advance screenings these films perform much better at box offices. However, perhaps the disturbance belongs to the film critics themselves. The past has shown before that films panned by mainstream film critics often find an audience despite bad reviews, creating surprising hit movies or cult favorites, but this happening more and more. Certain genres of film have also gained a certain bias in recent years, most notably the horror genre, which has been victim to reviews that criticize films for being too horroriffic.

Have film critics become so high brow that their expectations are unrealistic? Do reviews hold any relevance at all anymore? Are their movies that you enjoy despite being poorly reviewed?

[Siendra]

I've never trusted film critics anyway. Too often they ignore the intended audience of a film.

"Oh, I'm 38 and hated that new Puppet movie. THAT MEANS ITS CRAP."

No, that means that people 32 years outside the intended audience think it's crap.

[Ceraziefish]

I don't like a lot of reviews. Occasionally I read movie reviews, because I like movies, or game reviews, because I like games, but too often they give me a bias I don't want or are just poorly written.

Anyway, who cares what other people think about a movie? All that matters is what you think about it.

[Crube]

Mahona Dargis is a douchebag.

[Oerlikon]

The only film critic I ever paid attention to was Joe Bob Briggs. He's the only person that should be allowed to write a review of a horror movie, because he's the only critic that "gets it" (understands what fans are looking for in a movie). He's great at sci-fi reviews, as well....

[Mithrandir]

I like the New Yorker's movie reviews.

That's pretty much it though.

(and the fact that they only review films that are intended for the "New Yorker" audience helps quite a bit)

[Battle_Pope]

Anyway, who cares what other people think about a movie? All that matters is what you think about it.

exactly.

[Nega-Brent]

Well my first post shows that a lot people do actually care what critics say, but now that the studios have turned against them more people are giving films that are normally panned a chance.

[v for vicki]

I like to read what critics have to say, but I rarely follow their advice. I enjoy to make my own decisions. If I'm disappointed by the film, oh well. But I'd never turn down some fun because of someone else's opinion. That being said I do waste a lot of money on movies, I'm not that selective and will see anything just to be in a theater. I can understand why a lot of people trust critics if they are trying to choose which movie to see.

[darkon]

I like reading what critics have to say, which is why I go to Rotten Tomatoes pretty often. I don't let them make decisions for me though.

[Gundampilotspaz]

IT STINKS

[GummyBearOfDoom]

They had credibility, ever?