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When you decide whether or not you're going to see a particular movie, how affected are you by what the critics say?

Do you rely completely on the review?

Or, do you prefer to make your own decision based on what the movie is about?

Something else?


I'm more toward the second statement. I hardly read critics' reviews anymore--they seem to be too biased. I decide based on an objective synopsis of the movie to decide whether or not I'm going to see it. If I like the synopsis, I'll go see it.


How about you?

I tend to listen to people I know who have seen it. I never listen to critics.

Critics' opinions are no more valid than anyone else's. I never pay attention to them, and, like Teaos, rely on friends' opinions. Or I just go see it and make up my own mind. Of course, I get to see films for free, so I can go without gambling $8-10.

I do not listen to critics at all. Typically they can not put movies in context and thing that if it is not Emmy worthy it sucks. I watch movies for entertainment value, critics do not.

I agree. Critics look for particular artistic values, which may or may not be relevant. I saw the film version of Ghost Rider, for example, to see a guy with a flaming skull for a head (and because I read the comic as a little kid,) not to see a literary rival of Zefferelli's Othello.

There is a movie reviewer on the local news station. She does 2 movies a week. Usually the ones she says are crap are the ones I enjoy the most.

I tend to read/listen to a selection of critics, whose preferences I am fairly familiar with.
I am not a fan of amateur critics, who with the internet are supposed to have made the professionals obsolete. Five or six of my former work colleagues told me that the Da Vinci Code was the best book ever written, for example. (Three of them bought into Brown's "theories" hook line and sinker) The thing is that it was also one of the few, if not the only, book they had ever read without been forced to at school.
I like my critics to be able to draw on the experience of seeing countless films, to spot influences from other films, and understand the language of cinema, rather than just tell me it's long and boring, or full of great explosions.

I never really bother with critics. That's pretty much like walking up to some random guy on a street and asking what he thinks of a film. The only difference is that this guy gets paid to complain about them.
I usualy ask my friends what they think of it.

Teaos wrote:There is a movie reviewer on the local news station. She does 2 movies a week. Usually the ones she says are crap are the ones I enjoy the most.

i do have friends and coworkers who if they say a movie was bad... I will probably go see it.

Enkidu wrote:I tend to read/listen to a selection of critics, whose preferences I am fairly familiar with.
I am not a fan of amateur critics, who with the internet are supposed to have made the professionals obsolete. Five or six of my former work colleagues told me that the Da Vinci Code was the best book ever written, for example. (Three of them bought into Brown's "theories" hook line and sinker) The thing is that it was also one of the few, if not the only, book they had ever read without been forced to at school.
I like my critics to be able to draw on the experience of seeing countless films, to spot influences from other films, and understand the language of cinema, rather than just tell me it's long and boring, or full of great explosions.

You're right about that kind of criterion - Since I have (with books, at least) that kind of experience myself, I rarely feel the need to resort to a "professional" critic.

I dont really trust my local critics, since they're eager to shoot down any new blockbusters comming out, but rank "A Heartwarming tale of a trio of Llama famers battling poverty in peru" To be one of the best movies ever made.

Seriously.

Oh, also, they tried to read too much into Rocky Horror, which is just inexcusable Saw it live, it was AWSOME.

Seeing as I usually only watch Sci-Fi, I may as well see if I can piss into the wind and not get wet then get a useful review.

I never listen to critics. I tend to disagree with them anyway.

I don't listen to them. I base a movie/book/TV show/what have you on how I like it. Not what some talking head says about it.