Evil_the_Nub wrote:Cyber Bishop wrote:Twitchythe3rd wrote:They're critics though. It's their job to complain.
And it is our job to make our own decisions and ignore their complaints.
Which makes one wonder why they're still relevant. In this day and age I can read thousands of movie reviews from people who watch movies for the same reasons I do. Is the opinion of some crotchety old fart who watches movies like he's grading homework any better?
Film criticism is dieing, slowly but surely. The first nail in the coffin was the internet, making reliance on local film critics or the the big names in the business with TV airtime (like Ebert) obsolete. When they turned to the internet overtime they evolved toward aggregate review sites like Rotten Tomatoes. And therein lies the problem.
Let's take RotF as our example due to relevance to the thread: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transfo ... he_fallen/
Out of 234 "professional" reviews (I use the term loosely for anyone who sits on their arse watching movies for a living) 47 liked it and 187 didn't. At first glance you see the film got an abysmal score of 20%, well below average.
And then you stop and think for a moment. There's still 47 critics who LIKED this film. What about them? Does their opinion not matter?
In short: yes it doesn't matter. Aggregate review sites essentially snuff out any review of the opposing opinion with the "final decision of quality" the percent score coughs up. Not because these critics are somehow wrong but because nobody will pay them any mind, even if they provide important counter opinions to the majority. It's gotten to a point were critics who liked to voice positive opinions about "bad" films are considered for removal from RT. Armand White is one example, who tends to give summer blockbusters an equal shot and is up for removal from the site because of it. You have a system where being against the norm gets you ostrasized by your peers.
This is ultimately leading to the death of film criticism as a profession. The individual opinions of critics no longer matter, just the "winning side." As the average movie goer begins more and more to steer away from all film critics in general due to disagreement with the majority film critics will soon find themselves no longer relevant, and it will be their own fault.
5150 Cruiser wrote:-his entire response to my post-
Thanks. Was hoping I wouldn't get banned for that post but I got tired of not making that rant. As someone who frequently has to remind friends it's ok to make jokes on a touchy subject around me (in this case: gay jokes) it gets a little tiresome. The less PC we are the closer we'll all be to getting along when we no longer have to worry about "offending" someone.