subject: How To Find Good Movie Reviews [print this page] There is a saying that goes everyone's a critic, and it is surprisingly true. Everyone seems to have an opinion, no matter what the subject, and you know how the saying about opinions goes. The fact is that it is way easier to critique something than it is to make it in the first place. Saying, I would have done it this way rather than that is easy because there is a that to diverge from. Working from nothing to create an idea is much harder. So that is why there are so many critics about, but this still leaves the question, how do I sort through all these movie critiques and find ones that are useful for me? If you ever find yourself asking this question, read on to learn how to find good movie reviews.
Match Your Opinion
The first and most important aspect of finding good movie reviews is to understand that a good movie review is one that points you towards movies you like and away from those that you dislike. Because films are a matter of taste rather than something that can be objectively measured, it all comes down to what you personally like. This is why it is important to find a reviewer or reviewers whose opinion you find yourself often in agreement with. Finding a reviewer with similar taste to yours is a great way to get a good idea of what movies you will like. A good way to find a compatible critic is to look at past opinions and see how they align with your take on the film. This will give you an idea of how compatible your views really are.
Look to the Masses
Another good way to find good movie critiques is to look on aggregator websites that give an overall ranking for a film based on all reviews from critics and moviegoers. Sites such as Rottentomatoes.com are a great resource because they take all reviews of the movie they can find and catagorize them as positive or negative and then average them out to get an overall score. The scores are in percentages out of 100 with 100 being the best. This is a good way to get an overall view, if you find yourself in agreement with mainstream thought most of the time. Do not always trust these types of scores, as I have personally enjoyed a movie that scored quite low (in the teens), although that could have been because the low score tempered my expectations.
Avoid the Trash
There are a lot of bad reviewers out there who are mostly concerned about making a name for themselves, hearing themselves talk, and tearing others down. The only way to get rid of these people is to ignore them. I am not saying that it is mean to point out the flaws in a film, that is the point of being a critic. The thing that I have a problem with is when reviewers, who have not cinematic accomplishments of their own, tear down actors on a personal level. A review of the performance is one thing, but saying things such as they should kill themselves for the betterment of mankind (yes, reviews have said this and much worse) is going too far and is not helpful to the moviegoer.
So find a place where you can find movie reviews for Hollywood films that you will enjoy. There are many bad ones but the good ones exist if you know where to look.
