Inspired by the Bucket List thread, I decided to open a separate thread: If you think such-and-such a movie sounds interesting or entertaining to you, do any "yay", "meh" or "sucks" reviews (especially from Ebert, Roeper, Gene Shalit or critics from People, Entertainment Weekly etc etc) it gets make or break the deal for you, or do you go and see it anyway?
Most previews are so terrible I don't want to see most of the movies that come out anyway. I don't care what the critics say one way or another, I just go see what looks good (which isn't much...) or what I get dragged to by friends/family.
Usually, I check out reviews but decide to watch it anyway - but to be honest my views after a film are usually what the critics have said about it. I'm not so much influenced by 'professional' critics like I am the critiques of the people on imdb.com - I love that website.
It depends. More so now than in the past, because my husband and I rarely go to movies anymore, so we're more choosy than we once were. For mainstream movies, if the review is so so or worse, we'll usually wait to see it on video. For sci fi, independent, and atypical movies we're more likely to just go and take our chances, or ask friends who've already seen it.
Special effects movies get special consideration. After Independence Day came out, I had heard it was a real dud, so I didn't see it in the theater. When I watched it on video I was so disappointed that I hadn't seen it on the big screen. Not because it wasn't a crappy movie, because it mostly was, but it was surprisingly watchable and the special effects would have been much better on the big screen.
I've found that I agree with some reviewers (professionals and friends) more often than others, so am more likely to pay more attention to some opinions more so than others. If my sister hates a movie, there's a good chance I will love it.
If rottentomatoes.com comes up with only 35% or less fresh reviews, e.g., I will wait until it comes out on video, or watch it when it comes on the premium movie channels.
I don't spend money to go out to just any movie, though. It's gotta be one that I'm reasonably excited about. Otherwise, I wait to watch it on my widescreen TV.
Actually, I have learned to listen to the reviewers that I like. It has been a process, though, as most reviewers seem to have an agenda.
Same goes for books...I have certain reviewers that I like. And, for the record, I usually don't read a book that is an "Oprah pick," as much as I enjoy Oprah...she seems to like very 'dark' novels...
I generally don't listen to critics for the fact that they don't have my movie preferences. I love certain types of movies and unless I find someone that shares my taste in movies then I don't listen. Half the time I don't even listen to my friends. I like to see for myself.
I pay attention to Rotten Tomatoes rankings - since they're averaged from tons of different critics and viewer responses.
But other than that, no, I don't take pro critics opinions into account. In fact there's only one friend who I know shares the same tastes as I do and his opinion is the only one that will make me not watch a movie.
I'm not swayed by critics or reviews or even friends/coworkers at all. I'm swayed by whether I find the actors or plots interesting. I don't even pay attention to whether the movie is a box office blockbuster. It's all about my personal taste.
Last edited by trekkiegirl; 02-11-2008 at 08:30 PM.
I'm sometimes swayed by critics, because I tend to agree with some of them. I generally don't like the crappy big action movies that come out unless they're really well done, and critics can often tell you when a comedy or action movie is well written and directed and when it's a dud (depending on the critic, of course). If I really want to see something, though, I'll see it no matter what anyone says. It's just that I've learned I often agree with movie critics. I check the movie review snippets on yahoo.com and sometimes I look at metacritic.com. I don't really go by book reviews, though, because I'm a pretty good judge of books on my own. I used to like reading Michiko Kakutani's reviews in the New York Times, however, even though I frequently disagreed with her.
I like the viewer review system on Yahoo. You get the critic's "grade" of the movie and then the viewer's "grade". I usually take that into consideration when I don't know what to see (especially if I want to see one NOW and wait for others to come to DVD or cable). But if there is a movie that I really want to see, no critic will sway me one way or another.
I remember enjoying reading the reviews in Creative Loafing when I lived in Atlanta because I could pretty much bet if they liked the movie I wouldn't and vice versa. I also used to have a friend like that. We had polarly opposite tastes in movies and so she was a good gauge for me.
Now I mostly look at imdb and rottentomatoes. Unless something I want to see gets absolutely stinking reviews, I will probably watch it. Then again I almost exclusively watch dvd's at home from Netflix. The only exception to that is certain sci-fi/fantasy movies and then it doesn't matter much what other people say if I have decided I want to see it. The Spiderwick Chronicles is a good example, although since Neil Gaiman already gave it an "it's good" review, then I am not at all worried.
Do critics sway your moviegoing decisions?
I like to see for myself.
