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Movie Reviews

post #1 of 13
7/19/10 at 10:37pm
Thread Starter 
Do you think it's possible for someone to review a film with complete and utter impartiality in regards to their personal feelings towards the film? Simply to judge it on the quality of acting, writing, camera work, score, etc. I have yet to read a review, positive or negative, where the feel of the article seems to be based entirely on the writer's personal opinion of the movie.
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post #2 of 13
7/19/10 at 10:38pm
Impartiality in art appreciation is pointless.
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post #3 of 13
7/19/10 at 11:04pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by harvey_birdman View Post
Impartiality in art appreciation is pointless.

Not at all. I'm less curious how Joe Schmo of the New York Blah-Blah feels about a movie than I am about the technical aspects of the filming, or how well-written the script is, or performances that the actors/actresses give.
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post #4 of 13
7/20/10 at 12:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArteEtLabore14 View Post
Not at all. I'm less curious how Joe Schmo of the New York Blah-Blah feels about a movie than I am about the technical aspects of the filming, or how well-written the script is, or performances that the actors/actresses give.

Those are all almost entirely subjective.
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post #5 of 13
7/20/10 at 12:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArteEtLabore14 View Post
Not at all. I'm less curious how Joe Schmo of the New York Blah-Blah feels about a movie than I am about the technical aspects of the filming, or how well-written the script is, or performances that the actors/actresses give.

I'm sure Transformers 2 was skillfully and impressively filmed on a technical level. But it's garbage.
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post #6 of 13
7/20/10 at 12:24am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jekyll View Post
Those are all almost entirely subjective.

True, but at least "Tom Cruise's performance was wooden and lifeless" is more descriptive and helpful (describing the quality of the acting) than "This is a perfect example of the claptrap that we have come to expect from Hollywood during the summer movie season," which is not remotely helpful, except for to tell us that Billy Joe of the Alabama Tribune didn't enjoy the film.

Quote:
Originally Posted by harvey_birdman View Post
I'm sure Transformers 2 was skillfully and impressively filmed on a technical level. But it's garbage.

How was the acting? What about the writing? The music? I don't think anyone is going to try to say that Transformers 2 was a good film because Megan Fox put in a Meryl Streep-esqu performance. These are all important aspects of a film that are almost entirely overlooked in movie reviews, leaving us with nothing but the opinion of men and women whose tastes are suspect.
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post #7 of 13
7/20/10 at 12:27am
Find a few reviewers that you can trust based on past reviews, ignore the rest. Walter Chaw of www.filmfreakcentral.net writes a pretty good review, even if I don't always agree with him.
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post #8 of 13
7/20/10 at 12:28am
I believe that the trade of critic, in literature, music, and the drama, is the most degraded of all trades, and that it has no real value--certainly no large value...However, let it go. It is the will of God that we must have critics, and missionaries, and congressmen, and humorists, and we must bear the burden.
- Mark Twain
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post #9 of 13
7/20/10 at 12:29am
"The movies's in focus, the dialogue seems well-rehearsed, the kid is cute... four stars!"
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post #10 of 13
7/20/10 at 12:30am
Well, basically what you're looking for is a product review. I find the idea silly, but I'm sure there are some "critics" who provide that.
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post #11 of 13
7/20/10 at 12:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jekyll View Post
Well, basically what you're looking for is a product review. I find the idea silly, but I'm sure there are some "critics" who provide that.

I think the OP would appreciate the movie review column of this publication:

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post #12 of 13
7/20/10 at 12:35am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jekyll View Post
Well, basically what you're looking for is a product review. I find the idea silly, but I'm sure there are some "critics" who provide that.

I'm curious why you find the idea silly.

Hypothetical situation: You're trying to decide if you want to go see a movie, so you decide to scour the internetz to make a decision either way. Do you trust some a review which is a glorified opinion by some random guy that Google pulled up for you, or someone with an extensive knowledge of films and film-making that looks at the film analytically and 'grades' it with an eye towards the film's merit with regards to: technical aspects of filming (shot composition, etc), quality of writing (especially dialogue), performance of actor/actress, suitability/subtly of musical score, etc? (I'm sorry that was a huge run-on sentence, but it seems to work).

While this type of review might be a little dry, it seems to me that it would be more informative than simple reading someone's opinion.
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post #13 of 13
7/20/10 at 12:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArteEtLabore14 View Post
I'm curious why you find the idea silly. Hypothetical situation: You're trying to decide if you want to go see a movie, so you decide to scour the internetz to make a decision either way. Do you trust some a review which is a glorified opinion by some random guy that Google pulled up for you, or someone with an extensive knowledge of films and film-making that looks at the film analytically and 'grades' it with an eye towards the film's merit with regards to: technical aspects of filming (shot composition, etc), quality of writing (especially dialogue), performance of actor/actress, suitability/subtly of musical score, etc? (I'm sorry that was a huge run-on sentence, but it seems to work). While this type of review might be a little dry, it seems to me that it would be more informative than simple reading someone's opinion.
I find the idea silly because films aren't products. I generally look to see if it's a director or writer that I like, read a few reviews by critics who I respect and whose taste I am somewhat familiar with (but don't necessarily always agree with), and then decide if I want to see it or not. I certainly don't just read random Google reviews. Also, reviews aren't just to help you decide if you want to see a movie. I often read reviews after I see a movie. Good movie writing can make you aware of things you missed, offer interpretations that wouldn't have occurred to you, and enhance the whole experience.
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