Shamelessly cribbing from the last time I did this (http://dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=312596):
It's been a while since we had a thread dedicated to the DVD Reviews (http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/) portion of the site, and quite a bit has changed since then. I'm curious to hear what all of you thinking about DVD Talk's reviews, particularly anything that can be done to make the reviews and the presentation of the reviews more useful. This portion of the site is, after all, intended to benefit its readers, and I want to do whatever I can to ensure that the reviews are indeed beneficial to its audience.
Any comments or suggestions you could offer would be greatly appreciated.
FunkDaddy J
02-24-05, 05:09 PM
(Bumped)
Come one, come all...here's your chance to get on your soapbox about all things related to the Reviews area and the reviews themselves. Complain, cheer, criticize, praise....we like it all.
BRING IT ON!
scott1598
02-24-05, 05:41 PM
Personally, i think the reviews are great. they are detailed, thorough and truly sway my decisions one way or the other on things i buy and rent. this is the first place i go for the reviews and then come all the rest.
one thing i don't like, but it is not that critical is that you guys don't have the latest releases as quickly as I would like to see them. sometimes a Tuesday rolls around and we didn't get a review of the newest or coming release as of yet. i just like to see them prior to buying or renting, especially buying the ones i want. early reviews are great, but they are infrequent. but again, i know that it all depends on when you reviewers get the screeners, so i am not highly critical.
another thing i like on other sites is that each section gets a score...4 out of 5 stars or an A or B on the video, audio, and extras and hen a total...it might be great if you guys put a 'DVD Talk' rating. ie: 'Collector's' or 'Highly Recommend' or something to that affect for each of the DVD review sections.
other than that i think you guys and gals do a great job with all the reviews i like to see!! keep up the great work!!!
abintra
02-24-05, 06:31 PM
This is more just a curiosity question and not necessarily a particular opinion but are any reviewers/reviews encouraged to sugarcoat either the films or releases either by the studios or the site in order to placate anyone?
Very few titles or high profile titles seem to attract really critical opinions on the films/releases on some sites so I often wonder if in order to stay in business with receiving screeners there isn't a tradeoff at some of them.
FunkDaddy J
02-24-05, 06:37 PM
Absolutely not.
If it seems that way, it's probably just a product of our selection process. When reviewers select titles to review, they're apt to choose titles that they already know they enjoy or admire. However, I've seen lots of very fair, critical reviewing on this site.
Rypro 525
02-24-05, 06:54 PM
i'd wish that reviewers would put the aspect ratio in reviews instead of just saying "the movie is anamorphically enhanced..."
Josh Z
02-24-05, 07:31 PM
another thing i like on other sites is that each section gets a score...4 out of 5 stars or an A or B on the video, audio, and extras and hen a total...it might be great if you guys put a 'DVD Talk' rating. ie: 'Collector's' or 'Highly Recommend' or something to that affect for each of the DVD review sections.
You want a star rating for each criteria (which we already do) and then a Recommended/Skip It/Collector's Series/etc. judgement for each criteria as well? That just seem superfluous. I don't think I've ever seen another publication do it that way.
Chris Tribbey
02-24-05, 08:00 PM
This is more just a curiosity question and not necessarily a particular opinion but are any reviewers/reviews encouraged to sugarcoat either the films or releases either by the studios or the site in order to placate anyone?
Not a chance. The site admin./founder is the only one in contact with the companies about DVDTalk reviews, and the reviewers just pick and choose which titles to review. He doesn't tell us what to say (at least not that I've heard). I've picked some real awful DVDs out of the review pile, and I've relayed their awfulness when I review them, and I've seen all of this site's long-time reviewers do the same. On the same token, I've gotten to review some real outstanding DVDs through DVDTalk....we generally choose what we want to review, so, yeah, we're apt to pick stuff we enjoy (Miyazaki!).
I'm glad the companies aren't too selective about what they send to this site, because some DVDs just get torched by the reviewers.....it's easy to send DVDTalk DVDs they know are going to get good reviews, but it takes gumption to send bad titles on DVDs to a site that won't "say something nice" about everything it reviews.
As for technical stuff, I've seen this vary from reviewer to reviewer. On the high end, we've got some people who notice EVERYTHING, every little speck, every little shimmer, every little block, every little color that doesn't sit right. Then you've got the lower end (like me) who only notice things when they're really obvious, and get in the way of the film. I'll point out problems when I see them, but I guarantee if I were to hand the same DVD to a more experienced reviewer, they would be able to point out twice as many little flaws. Like edge enhancement.....I feel like a blind man when people point it out to me, and all I can say is "huh?" It has to be really obvious to grab my attention.
Scott_Lecter
02-24-05, 08:40 PM
i'd wish that reviewers would put the aspect ratio in reviews instead of just saying "the movie is anamorphically enhanced..."
I know this is something that I always include, and I know a lot of the other reviewers around here do as well. Most reviews I've read on here do specify the aspect ratio. I certainly have always thought it's better to include the AR. Specificity is always welcome in reviews.
das Monkey
02-24-05, 10:22 PM
• abintra •
This is more just a curiosity question and not necessarily a particular opinion but are any reviewers/reviews encouraged to sugarcoat either the films or releases either by the studios or the site in order to placate anyone?
Very few titles or high profile titles seem to attract really critical opinions on the films/releases on some sites so I often wonder if in order to stay in business with receiving screeners there isn't a tradeoff at some of them.
Although others have answered this, I'll add to the pile. I've never once felt any pressure of any kind to say or do anything since I've been a reviewer. Actually "pressure" is too strong a word. It's never been suggested or implied or <i>anything</i>. My reviews are my own words, unedited by others, and my own opinions. In fact, I'd suggest it's impossible for there to be any <i>less</i> outside influence. The <i>only</i> thing I've ever been asked to do is get reviews posted before release dates on big name titles.
On a personal note, since I review mostly television sets, and since I watch everything as it airs anyway, my reviews will typically skew positive. I'm not going to get a TV series "blind" (except when it comes to unaired episodes, but I've usually seen those already too), and I'm not going to request to review something I already know to be crap.
Anyway, this is brought up a lot it seems, and I know I personally wondered myself before I started reviewing, but I cannot overstate how independent our reviews are. If you've ever run into me on the forum, you know I'm the last person to sugarcoat <i>anything</i>, and there's no way in Hell I'd let my name be used for someone else's opinion.
Can I be any more clear? :D
Now, make with more feedback before I <i>really</i> get long-winded!
das
Rogue588
02-25-05, 12:24 AM
Since das has given us yet another vague response, allow me to clarify on what's already been posted.
G! has flat out stated that we should NEVER be afraid to state our opinions or worry about relationships with the companies. Just review with an open mind.
Gil Jawetz
02-25-05, 10:30 AM
I have never once allowed the free use of company jet, villa in Morroco and bank account that Warner Brothers have given me to influence my reviews of their DVDs.
Altimus Prime
02-25-05, 12:03 PM
I find the reviews very useful, and often turn to them before making a purchase.
I would like to see more DVDs reviewed. It seems a lot of the new releases of possibly "marginal" movies - like Modern Problems and Ice Pirates for example - don't get reviewed.
I call them "marginal" because they are films people either love and are thrilled to see come to DVD, or think they're garbage and not worth a disc. They also can be difficult to find even though they are brand new releases.
fryinpan1
02-25-05, 12:38 PM
The DVD reviews here are great. They are very helpful for purchases or when I want to read more about a DVD I just watched.
My only minor suggestion:
add the film's running time to the information at the top of the review (after studio, rating, list price, release date)
Jim
02-25-05, 12:56 PM
The extensive collection of reviews here has increasingly made this one of my top sites for reviews. One thing I really like is when more than one reviewer reviews the same DVD. A recent example of that is 'Tae Guk Gi'. That helps smooth out one reviewer's biases.
Dan1boy
02-25-05, 01:06 PM
The reviewers on this site are amongst the most articulate, thorough and affable on the internet. And I thought I was a good writer...these guys are amazing. I implicity trust their opinions and usually will skim through their reviews in order to decide if my valuable time is worth viewing extras or listening to commentaries. The audio/video portions aren't as important to me, personally.
Their pain, while enjoyable, is always my gain.
scott1598
02-25-05, 02:39 PM
You want a star rating for each criteria (which we already do) and then a Recommended/Skip It/Collector's Series/etc. judgement for each criteria as well? That just seem superfluous. I don't think I've ever seen another publication do it that way.
you know Josh, you're right. i barely even notice the star ratings on the side. totally my bad!
milo bloom
02-25-05, 02:57 PM
This is really nitpicky, but I don't like seeing the "review coming soon" titles in the upper right for weeks at a time. In fact, I'd rather it be another review. I've clicked it many times without thinking, hoping it was a review, and it just took me to the vendor site or whatever.
And I think the review threads would get a lot more traffic if they were posted in the main DVDTalk section instead of separately.
eXcentris
02-26-05, 11:53 PM
What I'd like to know is how the reviewers feel about this forum and how they view the feedback they get. Would they rather do without it? :)
Randy Miller III
02-27-05, 12:10 AM
What I'd like to know is how the reviewers feel about this forum and how they view the feedback they get. Would they rather do without it? :)
Actually, it was our idea (Adam's mostly, I think). :up:
Rogue588
02-27-05, 12:29 AM
What I'd like to know is how the reviewers feel about this forum and how they view the feedback they get. Would they rather do without it? :)We love this forum.
I can only speak for myself, but I write down the names of all the people who leave "constructive" feedback..
I really like this forum too. The "that review sucked" doesn't help much but the ones where someone lists the things that they liked or disliked about a review are really useful.
Houstondon
02-27-05, 10:40 AM
What I'd like to know is how the reviewers feel about this forum and how they view the feedback they get. Would they rather do without it? :)
Constructive criticism is always appreciated, but, like John said, the rants that are solely about personal opinions really don't endear us to the forum feedback. Readers often feel (and I stress the term "feel") that anything negative said about some movie they like needs to become a personal quest they need to rectify. Reviews are opinions and all are subject to personal taste; trust me, I've run afoul of a few hotheads in my time.
Otherwise, I agree with Jim that it's nice when multiple people review the same DVD and with Altimus, when he asks for more reviews of "marginal" movies but there are only a few dozen reviewers writing at any given time and 200+ mainstream titles released a week (and a similar amount of porn). On top of that, whatever the big title movie of the week is on sale seems to get huge amounts of attention in terms of readers while the more obscure titles get a passing glance by many of you.
Otherwise, the variety of reviews and reviewing style have long appealed to me. While I may not always agree with John's anime tastes, I like seeing what he has to say about a title and if I want to read about obscure information regarding a title, there are several reviewers that are very thorough with the background material (far more so than I care to be most of the time). In short, there's something for everyone here and emailed feedback is always appreciated too.
Thanks for everyone taking the time to participate here!
eXcentris
02-27-05, 11:45 AM
Constructive criticism is always appreciated, but, like John said, the rants that are solely about personal opinions really don't endear us to the forum feedback. Readers often feel (and I stress the term "feel") that anything negative said about some movie they like needs to become a personal quest they need to rectify. Reviews are opinions and all are subject to personal taste; trust me, I've run afoul of a few hotheads in my time.
This is more what I expected and I believe that the "we love this forum" type of replies are well... politically correct ones. :)
As a reviewer myself I would not have the will, desire, time, or patience to deal with it. Positive feedback is nice but it is my experience that 90% of the time, when people write, it's to whine and complain. So you guys have to be commended for your patience and tolerance because if it were me, I'd just keep using the generic "you don't like my review, piss off and go read another one." reply. :D
Houstondon
02-27-05, 07:57 PM
This is more what I expected and I believe that the "we love this forum" type of replies are well... politically correct ones. :)
As a reviewer myself I would not have the will, desire, time, or patience to deal with it. Positive feedback is nice but it is my experience that 90% of the time, when people write, it's to whine and complain. So you guys have to be commended for your patience and tolerance because if it were me, I'd just keep using the generic "you don't like my review, piss off and go read another one." reply. :D
I've reviewed at a lot of places online (mostly porn though) and have no problems with telling it like I see it (some of my associates are too polite in the forums at times) but sometimes feedback, any kind of feedback, can go a long way to telling us that someone is out there reading (which makes it a lot easier to write). One thing I miss that I received more of at other websites is the feedback given by the companies themselves. I still get some of it but the ones that simply hate what myself or one of my friends writes gets screened and the most common thing a company will do is take us off their screener list (so if you wonder why titles from a particular porn company aren't reviewed any more, the most likely reason is that they wanted favorable reviews that are so easily bought elsewhere...). In the long run, it's better that we don't get the company hate mail since that could well taint our immediate perceptions of other titles they offer but the curiousity factor sometimes pops up. :D
bishop2knight
03-01-05, 12:58 PM
I think you should bring back that one really good reviewer. Gosh! What was his name? I suddenly can't remeber his name. J something. He was a good reviewer. Cute too. I think he was from Denver. But he had great, thorough reviews that were both entertaining and insightful. He actually reviewed lots of sports DVDs. I think this site has gone way down hill since he left.
Yeah, bring him back. He was good.
FunkDaddy J
03-01-05, 01:10 PM
I think you should bring back that one really good reviewer. Gosh! What was his name? I suddenly can't remember his name. J something. He was a good reviewer. Cute too. I think he was from Denver. But he had great, thorough reviews that were both entertaining and insightful. He actually reviewed lots of sports DVDs. I think this site has gone way down hill since he left. Yeah, bring him back. He was good.
I'm still here. :) Sports? I reviewed "Bull Durham"...
Rival11
03-15-05, 10:27 PM
Well, one of the main reasons I started here was because of the reviews, I really do like them a lot and I'm glad to see "true fans" and people who know what the hell they're talking about writing them.
With that said though I do have a few complaints:
1. It seems like a lot of reviewers are being too damn picky as of late. Please, by all means write about what you hate but don't bash a movie for not perfecting every little detail.
2. NO MORE DAMN PARAGRAPH REVIEWS!!!!! Wanna know what I'm talking about? Take a look at some Cineschlock reviews, give these reviews their own damn page!!!!!!
Gil Jawetz
03-16-05, 04:38 PM
2. NO MORE DAMN PARAGRAPH REVIEWS!!!!! Wanna know what I'm talking about? Take a look at some Cineschlock reviews, give these reviews their own damn page!!!!!!
Between that and your sig, you better sleep with your eyes open, buddy.
Rival11
03-16-05, 05:43 PM
Between that and your sig, you better sleep with your eyes open, buddy.
:lol: I knew it was only a matter of time before that was said
SFranke
03-16-05, 06:38 PM
The reviews are great, but the search function needs improvement. There's been several occasions where I searched for a specific title, but the search returned 100 reviews that didn't even have any of the words in my search in their title.
I also think reviews of older DVDs should be contributed. I bet normal posters would love to contribute their own reviews of DVDs that never had a formal DVDTalk review.
Adam Tyner
03-16-05, 07:03 PM
The reviews are great, but the search function needs improvement. There's been several occasions where I searched for a specific title, but the search returned 100 reviews that didn't even have any of the words in my search in their title.Can you post some examples?
The way it works is that it first searches for reviews matching all of your search terms. So if I search for "bug life", it'll return all reviews with both "bug" and "life" in the title, like A Bug's Life. It looks for substrings, not those exact words.
If I search for "bug lfei", it'll try to find reviews with both of those terms, but since "lfei" doesn't match anything in the database, it just returns everything with "bug" in the title, which includes The Love Bug, A Bug's Life, and Bug.
It's possible that since it couldn't find a close match, it was using substrings, and certain substrings could trick the software into returning a large number of results.
critterdvd
03-16-05, 08:52 PM
Something that I would find interesting, and I know alot of other people would to, would be to put a picture of the back cover art on the review as well...
SFranke
03-16-05, 08:59 PM
Can you post some examples?
I tried to think of some, but I was at a loss when it came time to post. One similar example is "Bad Lieutenant." Searching nets two pages of results because "bad" is in all of the review titles, but "lieutenant" is in none. I wish I had a better example of what I am talking about, but that is the best I have at the moment.
RyoHazuki
03-17-05, 12:26 AM
The reviews on this site are generally good but I feel a big dropoff in quality between certain reviewers. It seems like 2/3rds are really good at what they do and even if I disagree, their reviews are enjoyable to read. There's a small portion of reviewers though whos reviews are not that great, imo. Their reviews are just kinda lacking and seem sorta amatuerish. But this is just my opinion and I'm usually wrong.
Adam Tyner
03-17-05, 12:33 AM
There's a small portion of reviewers though whos reviews are not that great, imo. Their reviews are just kinda lacking and seem sorta amatuerish.If you don't feel comfortable naming names on the forum, please drop Geoff a line and let him know who you think isn't up to snuff, and toss in some links to some specific reviews you find questionable so he can see exactly what you mean. I start these sorts of threads hoping to smoke out disappointed readers, not just to get praise heaped on us, so any criticism like that is very much appreciated.
SFranke
03-18-05, 12:25 AM
Can you post some examples?
I finally have one: The Red Shoes.
Gil Jawetz
03-18-05, 10:32 AM
I finally have one: The Red Shoes.
It's because there is no review for The Red Shoes posted, which you can confirm by just searching for "shoes"
So instead the search pulls up everything with "the" and "red" in it.
Adam Tyner
03-18-05, 10:54 AM
So instead the search pulls up everything with "the" and "red" in it.It excludes articles, so it just searches for "red".
This isn't a bug...it's a feature. :) I could make best guesses on certain words (if someone had accidentally typed in "spuerman" instead of "superman", for instance), but that would require a lot of restructuring to accomodate. Maybe one day, but probably not any time soon.
Edit: I do have it returning an error message when it can't find a particularly close match, though. Hopefully that'll ease any confusion.
Edit Deux: Great minds, and all.
Gil Jawetz
03-18-05, 10:58 AM
Maybe it should say "no exact matches were found. These titles matched one or more of the words you chose." or something like that?
SFranke
03-18-05, 05:44 PM
Maybe it should say "no exact matches were found. These titles matched one or more of the words you chose." or something like that?
Now that I would like.
Holly E. Ordway
03-20-05, 11:20 PM
I really really really really wish you could use quotes to search for exact phrases. For instance, I just tried a search for The Ring, and got 108 results... including many titles with "bring" and "spring" in them. Argh! It would be SO HELPFUL to be able to search for "the ring" and have it search for that exact string.
Adam Tyner
03-21-05, 01:07 AM
I can try to accomodate quotes, but bear in mind that "The Ring" isn't stored as "The Ring" in the database, so that might not ever work. (It's technically possible, but if I try to accomodate every possible scenario, the whole thing gets to be a huge mess.)
Gil Jawetz
03-21-05, 07:46 AM
It's also tough because we have no convention for naming discs. You get The Ring: Special Edition, The Ring - Special Edition, The Ring (Special Edition), The Ring: SE...
Sparklek1D
03-21-05, 10:36 AM
I read all of Scott Lecter's reviews when he was on DVDangle and he is the reason I have come to DVDtalk. There isn't anybody close to Lecter in the reviewing department even if he does give favorable reviews to Gilmore Girls and Ready to Rumble.
Scott_Lecter
03-21-05, 10:52 AM
I read all of Scott Lecter's reviews when he was on DVDangle and he is the reason I have come to DVDtalk. There isn't anybody close to Lecter in the reviewing department even if he does give favorable reviews to Gilmore Girls and Ready to Rumble.
Thanks for the kind words, Sparkle, but I have to say that there are many reviewers (especially here at DVD Talk) that are just as good, if not better, than me. I do, however, appreciate the comments.
And, just for the record, I never gave a favorable review to Ready to Rumble. Ewwww.... -screwy-
Thanks again! :)
Holly E. Ordway
03-21-05, 11:13 AM
I can try to accomodate quotes, but bear in mind that "The Ring" isn't stored as "The Ring" in the database, so that might not ever work. (It's technically possible, but if I try to accomodate every possible scenario, the whole thing gets to be a huge mess.)
So the database just doesn't recognize "the"? I didn't know that. But still, searching for "ring" in quotes would get rid of the Bring/Spring/etc. false positives, right?
The quotes thing would be really helpful anyway. For instance, it would let me pull up the reviews of "O" and "M", which are effectively invisible right now...
abintra
03-21-05, 11:21 AM
Sounds funny but whenever I'm looking for a review here I do the search at DVD Basen rather than wade through the results here. O and M come up easily via that method and one can also compare a couple of different sites at the same time.
Adam Tyner
03-21-05, 11:23 AM
So the database just doesn't recognize "the"? I didn't know that.It's stored as "Ring, The" for sorting reasons and reconstituted upon display.
But still, searching for "ring" in quotes would get rid of the Bring/Spring/etc. false positives, right?The search right now is substring-centric. I might rewrite it to accomodate that sort of thing down the road, but a lot of this code is ancient and would require a lot of work to get it to a point where I can do what you want.
RyoHazuki
03-22-05, 08:52 AM
I like Ready to Rumble and I told Brian Robbins in person that I did. So there.
Sparklek1D
03-22-05, 09:27 AM
I like Ready to Rumble and I told Brian Robbins in person that I did. So there.
Who asked you?
das Monkey
03-22-05, 10:14 AM
Hey <b>Ryo</b>,
What did you think of <b>Ready to Rumble</b>?
das
Sparklek1D
03-22-05, 01:44 PM
Hey <b>Ryo</b>,
What did you think of <b>Ready to Rumble</b>?
das
I didn't like it very much, with the exception of Diamond Dallas Page who is an excellent actor.
Oh and my name is Ryan not Ryo, but I'll forgive you for the mistake
Adam Tyner
03-22-05, 01:54 PM
Oh and my name is Ryan not Ryo, but I'll forgive you for the mistakedas was referring to RyoHazuki.
Buy: