Aaron Amos

Published: Fri, Jan 3, 2003
Movie critics are too harsh, too R-rated
Reporter Editor:
It has come to my attention that the weekly ratings in the movie section has become too negative. I'm hesitant to even glance to what is written because I don't agree with most. I also have noticed that the person writing these reviews seems to favor violent R-rated movies.

Children who cannot watch these videos (such as me) are confronted with the thought that their movies aren't good enough.

For example, my family and I recently pondered the thought of going to a movie. My sister and I are both over the age of 10 and my parents thought this movie was acceptable for us, so we went. It was a romantic comedy and very good.

But after the movie, I was looking at the newspaper and noticed the review on it. A two-star performance was what it read. I gave this movie - and I'm sure others would agree with me - a four-star performance.

I'm sorry we cannot see eye to eye on this subject, but hope you improve this negativity into something slightly better.

Morgan Denno, Vacaville

http://www.thereporter.com/Current/plet.html#05friday

anyone care to comment on this letter from today's paper?

CloverClover

Well spoken for a young kid. What movie was he commenting on though, Country Bears?

Aaron Amos

I do not know. I wish we knew what movie he was talking about.

das Monkey

Yeah ... well-spoken. However, at the risk of making assumptions, my guess is the guy hasn't seen many films for comparison.

If someone sees a film that's a complete rip-off of 15 other movies but only half as good as the best, and he is familiar with the vastly superior source of the copy, chances are he's not going to like it as much as someone who has only seen the most recent version.

In any case, he may learn at a young age to ignore reviewers and form his own opinion as he's doing now.

das

JLJanis

Funny, I do the same on an almost daily basis...Hear, hear! I think the lad will be just fine... he may even grow to favor violent R-rated movies someday.

das Monkey

Yeah, he'll grow to be embarrassed at liking whatever lame romantic comedy he's currently praising , but the experience of expressing a thoughtful opinion will last a llifetime.

das

lesterlong

Wonder if it was 2 Weeks Notice. You know its a romantic comedy, so it gets 2 stars if its lucky. Now, I'm not saying R-Rated violent movies are any better, but at least they've got potential.

Rypro 525

I'm guessing it was either Maid in Manhattan, or Two Weeks Notice.

marty888

Yeah, right - a kid decided to write to the editor and did it all by himself .... more likely, some parent thought the opinions expressed would have more impact if they came from a "youngster" and signed their child's name .... they're tricky in Vacaville.

jaeufraser

I think the kid needs to just get over it. Movie reviewers have but one main responsibility...to convey their opinion on a film and to accurately describe why or why not they liked or didn't like a film. What they don't have to do is display a certain positivity or for that matter the opposite. If the reviewer's tastes seem to lean towards R rated violent movies, well, maybe that field appeals to him more. You have to take each review with an undersanding that they are OPINIONS. No one is telling you to agree with them. We expect our reviewers to have an understanding of film, knowledge of film and such, but quite frankly their most important skill is that of writing well and being able to convey their point. That way you can see what they saw in the movie and agree or disagree. I know some don't like Roger Ebert, but I feel he's a great example of a good critic because even though I don't always agree with him (more so nowadays) I usually feel his reviews properly explain why he gave a certain movie the review it deserves.

This letter does nothing more than ask that the reviewer move his opinions more towards the letter's author's opinions, which by all means is unecessary. The kid should just find another review because he more than likely will find someone who agrees with him. That shouldn't make this reviewer change his opinion. He needs to know the critics role, and that film viewing is largely subjective.

das Monkey

I thought the critic's role was to mindless praise a crappy film so the teasers can say, "Joel Siegel Raves, 'This is the best film since the last film I saw!!!!!'" "Leonard Maltin gives this film the standard 5 stars!!!!"

das

Groucho

Where has this kid been? If he only read this forum, he'd no that the more adult the rating, the better the movie!

R-rating ROX

The Bus

Now mind you I'm a bit drunk now, but that letter made no sense to me.

das Monkey

• Quoth The Bus •<HR SIZE=1>Now mind you I'm a bit drunk now, but that letter made no sense to me. <HR SIZE=1>

I wouldn't worry about it. You're probably not as think as you drunk you are.

das

joeydaninja

but the kid has a point
many reviewers nowadays are skewed towards the r-rating movie than the child-friendly rating.
there probably was a time when it was the other way around, but recently, the prior seems to be more of the case, then the latter.

das Monkey

I think they have reason for that, though ... there aren't very many good kid-friendly films being made. Movies marketed to kids are all too often a non-stop barrage of fart jokes and toilet humor. Whereas many adult dramas are pushing the envelope, breaking new ground, showing some uniqueness, a vast majority of those kid-friendly films are cheap imitations of something else or overwhemlingly formulaic or, as I said, packed with toilet humor. Certainly not all adult dramas show us something new and special, and there are plenty of good kid-friendly films still coming out, but on the whole, but there's a significant imbalance, and much more so than 30-50 years ago.

das