Righteous Wrath Online Community

Recent topic floating around the board, reviews, do you use them?

I fall in the "in between" category. I watched "Dungeons & Dragons" and actually enjoyed it but I'm a total nerd and I enjoyed Dragonslayer too (so what does that say).

When it comes to movies out of my element, such as Steel Magnolias I am far more attentive to reviews than I normally would be. I wouldn't go jump out of my chair and wait in line for a movie like that without getting a feel for it, and so modern interweb style reviews (c/o rottentomatoes.com (http://rottentomatoes.com), imdb.com (http://imdb.com), et al) help me decide how I'm going to spend my $12-$14.

At any rate, vote, discuss, etc.

Inbetween.  I might go see a movie without reading any reviews, then again, if reviews are really bad I might not go see it.  Given how infrequently I go to the movie theater, I want to make sure I will enjoy the film, but at the same time I don't want to read all the reviews and have the movie spoiled for me.

Quote from: Thorin on June 23, 2008, 04:49:18 PM
Inbetween.  I might go see a movie without reading any reviews, then again, if reviews are really bad I might not go see it.  Given how infrequently I go to the movie theater, I want to make sure I will enjoy the film, but at the same time I don't want to read all the reviews and have the movie spoiled for me.

See, I think most of us fall into this category.

I used to be much more open minded, but after so many bad film experiences in the theatre AND with prices artificially high it kind of gave me The Fear and so now I try to ignore trailers if I can and just read reviews and keep an eye on meta-data.

Quote from: Mr. Analog on June 23, 2008, 04:46:27 PM
I fall in the "in between" category.

Apparently, "3 out of 3 voters agree" ;D

Quote from: Thorin on June 23, 2008, 04:49:18 PM
Given how infrequently I go to the movie theater, I want to make sure I will enjoy the film, but at the same time I don't want to read all the reviews and have the movie spoiled for me.

Bingo! As a fellow parent-of-many, it makes a lotta sense to rarely see a film on The Big Screen, since it's mucho expensivo nowadays. And The Problem With Trailers has sured reared itself lately, with The Happening being only the most recent example :P So it's not easy to balance but there's always rentals etc. later if you miss it's big screen ... screening.

Overall, I try to see a film in theatres only if I think I'll be missing out on something by waiting for the TV screen (e.g. Indy4, Ironman, and yes KUNG FU BITCHIN' PANDA BABY!)

Could be the most one sided poll since "Are you dead?"

I voted inbetween, but on the scale a lean more to my desire that reviews.  I read reviews to get a gist of a movie if I am unsure whether I want to see it.  But for the most part I go see a movie/rent/watch if it appeals to me, or if I need to fill 2 hours or so.  I probably in a week watch at least 10 hours of movies (probably average around the 16+ mark).

Vary rarely do I put stock in reviews, but would be lying if I said I never read them.

Quote from: Melbosa on June 23, 2008, 06:02:21 PM
I probably in a week watch at least 10 hours of movies (probably average around the 16+ mark).

You average 1.3 movies per day?  And you go to all kinds of sports, have a girlfriend, a full-time job, and play all kinds of games on three different game platforms?  Do you remember to sleep?

With rising prices combined with the great increase in the rudeness of the average movie-goer (be it Cell Phones, kicking seats, talking, coming late, etc) I have been avoiding the theaters as much as possible. With the average home theater equal to any theater of just a few years ago, and the apparent apathy of the theater managers/owners, I'd rather stay home.

Quote from: Thorin on June 23, 2008, 07:26:29 PM
You average 1.3 movies per day?  And you go to all kinds of sports, have a girlfriend, a full-time job, and play all kinds of games on three different game platforms?  Do you remember to sleep?

LOL look who's talking about sleep?  Well where most people watch tv, I watch movies, play games, sports, contract work, etc.  Lucky for me the GF likes the sports and movies :P

I go irregardless of reviews. What I do is check the reviews afterwards to see how they lined up with my experience. What were their complaints? Did their opinion match mine? Were they biased?

If I read reviews as a tool for deciding whether to go I wouldn't have seen films like Open Range, In the Mood For Love, or Star Wars Episode 1. I've seen some real bombs in the movies (can we say Joe vs. the Volcano?) but I've also seen knock-my-socks off great movies. Even if the experience itself is no longer appealing because of rudeness and so-so theatre conditions, it's still the experience.

...Mind you I'm not shelling out for a husband and kids too so it's still not that hard on the wallet to pay my own way. It's still about as expensive as buying the DVD but it's nice to have a place to go out to.

Quote from: Thorin on June 23, 2008, 07:26:29 PM
Do you remember to sleep?

[poker guy]sleep is over-rated.[/poker guy]