tonyc3742

I've got a Moviepass so my standard for what movie I'll see in the theatre is very low (is it playing at a time convenient to me, basically - anything that's playing about 530 on a workday has a good shot at me seeing it).

But -
Going to see a movie tonight with someone. The four movies we're looking at vary greatly in their Rotten Tomatoes score.
Yes, I should watch the movie I want to see, regardless of reviews - but sometimes I use them as a tiebreaker or priority type thing.
Two of them have User and Critic ratings within 5 points. The other two have much slightly higher User ratings, but much lower Critic ratings, and I just started thinking about it too much - if, for example, one movie has a 65 and a 65, but the other has a 50 and an 80, which rating is 'better'?
Of course if I really care I'll read the reviews and see why they rated it - if some highbrow critic rated it low because he says it's the "perfect example of a mindless summer action flick", well, sometimes that's exactly what I want to see. I have no problem admitting "I know that movie wasn't very good, but I liked it."

I could see thinking the 65/65 is because it's more consistent. But I could also see the 50/80 being better because I'm much more likely to be closer to a User than a Critic. Of course, the 80 could be jacked up by fanboys/girls who give it a high rating even if it's a waste of celluloid. Or I could also be spending way too much time and mental energy on something that doesn't really matter.

Your thoughts on ratings, reviews, amateur versus professional?
And, to bring it home from the theoretical, which movie should we see?

And yes, I have trouble with decisions sometimes.

And yes, I noticed I misspelled Wolverine. I did that like three times while searching for it too. I'm not sure how one wolvers, but apparently wolvering is something my hands want to do.

islandclaws

Ask TGM. He's great at making decisions about what to see.

sven

I don't look at reviews.

Troy Stiffler

Reviews and Rotten Tomatoes are almost worthless now. Too much input ruined it.

Solid Snake

Depends for me. If it's a specific genre or type of film, I'd go by that fandom of it. Otherwise I'd peek at reviews but won't hold any sand with them. If I wanted to see it a lot, I'll see it. No review will hold me from that.

hanshotfirst1138

I have hitched my wagon to particular critics, users on websites, and such to gauge things, but I don't know if I'd ever be dissuaded from seeing a movie because of bad reviews. I might choose to wait and rent it instead of pay to see it at the theater, but I don't know if I'd bail on a movie altogether just because a critic I like didn't like it. There are plent of film critics whom is respect like Roger Ebert or Mark Kermode with whom I don't see eye-to-eye on man films. I always say time is the best critic, it's how a movie will look decades down the road that's the real test.

Quite apart from making it harder to get a job since everyone with a keyboard is now apparently a critic, it's by and large just a byproduct of the Information Age and the information overload. There's such a ridiculous amount of information to sift through now that finding what's valuable is a chore. Except this forum, of course. Everything here is solid gold, obviously.

Ash Ketchum

Troy Stiffler

Well of course it is.

I just go to see the movie. Only time the critics and general opinion changes anything - is when it's a movie that I have zero interest in watching (usually a romantic comedy or something) that gets a lot of good buzz.

When I post a few sentences about a movie, take it for what it's worth. The best thing about posting on here is using the place as a time capsule. It's interesting to go back and see what I wrote about some random movie way-back-when. It also gives me a way to articulate why I did or did not like something. It's more personal than anything.

Draven

If I want to see it, I go. I usually glance at reviews afterwards just to see if I missed anything or they got anything wrong. And since I get Entertainment Weekly, I see their scores. Of course, they gave O Brother Where Art Thou? an F and that's one of my favorite movies, so I don't give any review much weight.

Adam Tyner

I think that's the right attitude to have (and that's coming from someone who's been writing reviews online for fourteen years!).

A review will never dissuade me from seeing a movie I really want to see. Reviews might influence the venue, either making me more eager to see a movie theatrically or shrug it off till a home video release rolls around. Most importantly, reviews can turn me onto a movie I never would've thought to see otherwise. That 'discovery' element is why I think the "watch the movie and make up your own mind!" crowd is shortsighted. Reviews have turned me onto many more films than they've steered me away from over the years.