Do you read Movie Reviews before watching movies?

[Locut0s]

Simple question do you read them or do you not? I know some people swear by them and some people wouldn't touch them. To me it comes down to finding a reviewer who has similar tastes in movies as yourself. I tend to check out rottentomatoes and a few select reviews before watching any movie. Others like to take the "I don't make my decisions bast on others opinions" approach to reviews.

For example I tend to like Salon.com's reviews as well as Ebert's and a few others. I also usually check IMDB and rottentomatoes to get an overall feel of what the movie is like. I don't base my final decision to watch or not on these but they do make a big difference.

 

[aircooled]

No

 

[Skeeedunt]

I'll almost always check rottentomatoes to get an idea what I'm in for (in terms of both genre and quality). Bad rating doesn't necessarily rule it out though.

 

[waggy]

nope. i just ask friends.

 

[OrganizedChaos]

yes, ever since i saw spanglish thinking it was a standard issue adam sandler movie i now make sure i know what i'm going to see before i see it.

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: OrganizedChaos
yes, ever since i saw spanglish thinking it was a standard issue adam sandler movie i now make sure i know what i'm going to see before i see it.

Standard issue Adam Sandler movie? That sounds bad enough to me Only thing I've ever liked Adam Sandler in was Punch Drunk Love and that wasn't standard for him in any way.

 

[Thraxen]

Absolutely. I like to go to movies.go.com and look at the how they categorize all the ratings. Then I'll usually read a few of them. Movie reviews are obviously very subjective, but you can get a general idea of how good a movie is based on a bunch of reviews taken as whole.

I also talk to friends to see how they like a movie. Since I know them personally I can sort of gauge how well I might enjoy a given movie based on their reaction.

So I take professional reviews + friend's reviews + my own desire to see the movie and make a decision to see the movie in question at the theater, make it a rental, wait for TV, or simply skip it completely.

 

[yobarman]

Not really, but If I have my choice of movies, I'll usually check IMDB for the best rated one and watch it first.

 

[blue1friday2]

No way, not only are reviewers idiots but they give too much of the plot away.

 

[Rastus]

Just reading ATOT gives me way too much information about a movie months before it comes out (and sometimes years after).

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Yep. The higher the score given out by the reviewers, the lower the chance of me watching it.

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: HamburgerBoy
Yep. The higher the score given out by the reviewers, the lower the chance of me watching it.

All depends on who's giving out the points for me. If EVERYONE likes it then it's very hard to say for me. If it gets SO,SO reviews from the majority but good reviews from the select few I trust then usually I will agree with them. The majority of reviews will give thumbs up reviews to all the major hollywood big hits (most of which are totally crap). I tend to like the small time films (either foreign or from new directors or artsy dramas).

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Originally posted by: Locut0s
All depends on who's giving out the points for me. If EVERYONE likes it then it's very hard to say for me. If it gets SO,SO reviews from the majority but good reviews from the select few I trust then usually I will agree with them. The majority of reviews will give thumbs up reviews to all the major hollywood big hits (most of which are totally crap). I tend to like the small time films (either foreign or from new directors).

Not for me. Boring movies like Spiderman 2 are given 8.something/10 on IMDB while great ones like Last Action Hero is given a 4.somethign/10. Too many people take movies too seriously.

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: HamburgerBoy

Originally posted by: Locut0s
All depends on who's giving out the points for me. If EVERYONE likes it then it's very hard to say for me. If it gets SO,SO reviews from the majority but good reviews from the select few I trust then usually I will agree with them. The majority of reviews will give thumbs up reviews to all the major hollywood big hits (most of which are totally crap). I tend to like the small time films (either foreign or from new directors).

Not for me. Boring movies like Spiderman 2 are given 8.something/10 on IMDB while great ones like Last Action Hero is given a 4.somethign/10. Too many people take movies too seriously.

:disgust:

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: blue1friday2
No way, not only are reviewers idiots but they give too much of the plot away.

Well you have to expect they are going to give the plot away when reading reviews. But in my mind you can't really spoil a really good movie by giving away the plot. If all there is to the movie is the plot then it's too shallow for me. A good movie is a piece of art there's a lot more to it than what you see at first glance.

 

[potato28]

Nope.

 

[BillyBatson]

NO! all reviews suck ASS! How do they know what i will like or won't, my best friend in the world has almost identical taste as me when it comes to movies so if she likes it so will i and vise-versa but even we don't always agree like she LOVES Signs and 28 Days Later and i think they are HORRIBLE movies.
Only thing i know about reviews is mroe ofthen than not if they suck somehtign sucks it is good, if they say something is good then it sucks.

 

[eplebnista]

Do you read Movie Reviews before watching a movie?

No

 

[nycxandy]

I do, but I'm not going to let it sway my decision.

 

[Zap Brannigan]

Usually no, excpet for the time before I saw The Departed.

 

[0roo0roo]

i do. if a film is universally panned i guess theres very little chance i'll like it. rental at best. its easier now with rottentomatoes and such sites where u can see massive collection of opinion boiled down. i watch ebert and roeper though, its interesting how they mention which films they were not allowed to review because the studio was too afraid to send it out in advance..those tend to be big stinkers. if i'm really excited to see something and its got good reviews i'll just skip reading until after. if i know nothing about the film i'll read.

 

[BobDaMenkey]

I don't usually read the reviews, but every now and then I'll read the standard "X out of Y" rating people do. I don't see movies regularly though, so it's kind of a toss up, heh.

 

[RudeBoie]

I might look at ratings, but I don't want to spoil too much for myself.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

I find I more or less agree with James Berardinelli's reviews. He doesn't give much of the plot away and isn't one of those stuck-up reviewers who expect every movie to be a potential Oscar-winner. Some movies are made for entertainment, not greatness and reviewers don't seem to get that. Reading reviews for action/comedy movies is stupid because they always get horrible scores.

When I feel like renting DVDs, I just check IMDb's Top 250 user rated movies which works well for me. I do feel some movies can be bumped up/down a little - but it's a good list nonetheless.