Who do you trust to give you your movie ratings?
I’m aware that plenty of people out there don’t really read film reviews, but for the people that do; who do you trust the most to give you an accurate rating?
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I love the two reviewers at the New Yorker – David Denby and Anthony Lane. Their reviews are pithy, cogent, engaging – I even read their reviews of movies that I know I will definitely not pay to see – just because I usually feel I learn something about cinema just from reading their reviews.
The guys at the New York Times – Manohla Dargas and A.O. Scott.
Do you guys have Empire magazine in the US? I’m assuming not…
I use rottentomatoes and reviews from friends that i know i have compatible movie tastes with to decide which movies to watch. Now RT has two parts to its reviews i.e. the official reviewers (who are often too critical) and the regular users. In general, whatever is the average percentage given to a movie from the official reviewers, i add at least 10% to it. But a balance between the official and the regular users usually gives a good range of opinion for me. Once you know which reviewer you tend to agree with (you can check their reviews for movies you have already seen), then you can follow their reviews/blogs.
PS – I don’t think we have Empire magazine in US.
Fluther, Fluther, richardhenry and Fluther
Seriously, My twin brother. I know, with out hesitation, if he likes it I will.
Im with PnL rottentomatoes is awesome for movies since its not just one persons opinion of it. Just like gamerankings for video games.
My friend Kat. She has great taste and has turned me onto several excellent documentaries I never would have picked out myself.
I just watch what looks like a movie I would like. If its good, awesome. If not, oh well. If someone mentions a movie then I look into it and I can usually tell what I would or wouldn’t like.
if Peter Travers likes it… I will hate it.
I ask my friends, if specific ones like it then I will, or if others don’t I will, I know them all pretty well. Also, our modest little newspaper here in Hobart has a critic who pretty much gives every movie a C rating or lower so if he says something is good it must be pretty damn good. But for some reason the way he describes them, even if it’s always in a bad light, lets me know whether I will like it or not… strange!
Oh and I don’t know if Bri L was being serious but I actually have a list of movies that you Flutherers have shared as your favourites that I have yet to watch but definately plan to, so there you go :)
One of my very good friends, his name is Jason, he see’s every movie that comes out lol, its freakin crazy, and he owns probably like I don’t know, seriously like 1,000 movies, books and books and books of them
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times is terrific. He is incredibly intelligent (and sometimes he borders on academic), but also has a great sense of what different movie genres are all about. You can count on him not to review every movie as if it was an art film, but he has great reviews of art films as well.
My daughter is the best movie critic I know. I have called her several times from the movie store so she could tell me what’s good to watch. She has never steered me wrong. I have her on my friends list on netflix, and they say we are 98% similar!
@ SHrubbery – I was half joking half serious. The beauty of fluther is you will hear the plus and minus. and all in between.
I read The New York Times, New Yorker and IMDB reviews in general, but I find I most consistently agree with Roger Ebert (of the Chicago Sun Times.) His reviews are available on http://www.imdb.com – a great source for film reviews and film data. I find him to be a thoughtful, humanistic and unsnobby reivewer as wabarr says.
@shockvalue does rotten tomatoes give away too much? I wouldn’t want to read too much about a movie before seeing it. I’ve seen the site, but I don’t frequent it.
scamp you can figure out how good a movie is on rotten tomatoes without even reading any specific reviews. It just averages all of them together so you can just look at the percent rating the movie got. Then if youd like you can click to read individual reviews, some give away stuff, most dont.
Thanks! I’ll check it out. I need to find something new to watch on netflix. I think I’ve seen everything they had while I was out after surgery!! Now I need something new to watch at work. Things slow down in the evening, and we are allowed to bring our dvd players in to pass the time. Pretty cool, huh?
People who have just seen the movie. If they walked out happy, I’d know that the movie I’m about to pay for is probably a good one.
I’ve found that if the trailer for a movie is really good, the movie is usually pretty bad and vice versa. I’ve seen trailers that were awesome and the movies were the same, but those are far and few between.
For the grown ups in our house, Roger Ebert.
For the younger set, MovieMom.
Roger Ebert has great taste.
If Mick La Salle, at the SF Chronicle, hates a movie, I will love it, and if he loves it, I will hate it.
Nobody. 99% of all movies suck. I can get more accurate info judging a movie by its trailer than by a movie review.
ohh anthony lane has his moments of genius which i enjoy, rottentomatoes is most extensive without hesitation. myself and my brother are my top two though.
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