Hype from Critics, Reviewers , and Editors

[waltsoph3]

Heres an intresting thread i thought i would create.

How many times do you go to a movie because a magazine gave it a 5/5 only to find out that the movie sucked so bad you want a refund back. I'm not talking just money back but your time for watching it.

Or how about a game reviewer that claims this video game shouldn't be played at all..yet when you try it out..not only do you think it deserved a nomination but even game of the year!

This thread is about your thoughts on hype from Critics, Reviewers , and Editors.
Go ahead pick your poison. It could be about anyone that is hired to judge TV,games, magazine,radio, or whatever else.

In my honest opinion i truly belive that these Critics, Reviewers , and Editors have more positive and negative influce that decides the future of a product or person's career then people might think.

So go ahead have some fun with this. Give everyone your thoughts of events experenced from the influence of Critics, Reviewers , and Editors hype.

[Gray]

Maybe if you are completely ignorant and pay attention to one 'critic' like he/she is the gospel and look at absolutely no other sources of information.

[Ken-Ohki]

If you look hard enough there's people that hate everything. Find someone that likes the same type of things you do and try using them for ideas. That's probably the best way to learn what you'll like.

[old hat]

I rarely read reviews written by professional reviewers or pay any attention to them. For me, word of mouth is much more important.

I don't think people are as easily manipulated as you imagine. If they were, critically acclaimed movies would also be financially succesful and that often isn't the case.

[Hara!]

There's a huge cluster**** going on with the reviews of Sonic Unleashed. It's a good game, IMO, but the reviews are extremely mixed.

[KabukiSaMuRaI]

Whatever the subject may be, you'll always find someone with an opinion. Those who believe that they are opinion leaders can keep on believing such things.

Critics have one perspective, their own. Their upbringing may or may not be the same as the people who listen to their reviews. It's all about what people like and how their perception was shaped while growing up.

I have a narrow-minded relative who tried to convince me that critics are the end-all be-all last word on a movie. And she would hang on their every word to the point where she would only go see movies that garnered good reviews. You really can't get through to people with thick heads or those that think too much of themselves (even when it is family).

She went on to use faulty logic to try and provide an example for me; in her opinion, if 10 critics give a movie a bad review, then the movie must be bad. I told her that it would be a better idea if she went to see the movie herself so she could form her own opinion. I thought I saw a light bulb go on somewhere but just more arguing. As two adults talking to one another, it's understood that you will come across someone who sees things differently than you do. It is sometimes difficult being the voice of reason to people with big egos.

I like how people tell me what I should like. I don't mind recommendations and welcome feedback and opinions. But ultimately, I decide if I like something or not.

There is this Japanese restaurant near me that has been around for sometime now. It apparently got good reviews at one point but I never usually eat there. There are other places that I know of that I know have good Sushi. One day, I was nearby and it happened to be open so I figure I would give it a try. Maybe it was just bad timing or because I took it to go but I wasn't too impressed. The crowd of people that were sitting and eating in may have a different opinion than me though. Oh well. I am very forgiving sometimes and may try again. But d**n, Sushi still remains expensive.

As Walter Cronkite has said in the past...."And that's the way it is."

[ThePhillyFlash]

I pay no attention to critics when it comes to stuff like movies. Opinions are like anal orificies, everybody has one, and said opinions are never always right, or wrong.

[Rurouni Saiyan]

I'm my own best critic because I know what I like and don't like. Everyone has their personal taste. I've seen plenty of films that were panned by critics, but I enjoyed greatly, such as The Spirit and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem.

[Leader Desslock]

I take everyone with a grain of salt, do a little research before I spend money on anything (movies, anime, music, games... whatever). Being an informed consumer has served me well.

Professional reviewers, critics and the like are good for leading sheeple to the cash register, I suppose.

[Jia]

The Oscars.
That whole thing and some of the movies they promote were utter ****.

[The Million Dollar Prons]

That's what you get for reading "FHM" Magazine

Prons reads FHM philippines

[Mr March]

You have to think. Always. Professional criticism, taken for what it is, can be extremely useful. But one must read a healthy portion to gain an informed opinion. Read many opinions, and most importantly, think about the reasons why a reviewer is reviewing the way he/she does. Reading between the lines can often lead to more insight than the review itself. And pay attention to the language. Reviewers who are moralizing or preaching often cannot help but give themselves away by what they say and how they say it.

It also helps to find reviewers that share your tastes more often than not. I've found several spots on the net that share my tastes and while I may disagree from time to time, they are a strong benchmark for what I enjoy. When I hear critics going ga-ga over Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino", these are the guys who tell me the film is mediocre at best. When The Dark Knight is praised by BS magazines like FHM or Maxim, the fellas on my favoured websites are the ones that tell me that for once the hype is actually justified. No politics, no BS, just granting merit for each film as merit is deserved. No more, no less.

Having said that, some criticism is better than others. I find film criticism is by far the best type of critical analysis to read and definitely the most useful. Video game criticism is by far the worst type of critical opinion and has almost reached the point of being utterly useless. Criticism of music, literature, anime, and everything else falls somewhere in between. I will say, at the risk of sounding snobbish, that the more mature an entertainment medium, the more likely you are to find insightful and useful critical analysis. Sadly, this means most anime and video games aren't well-reviewed because fewer people take the mediums seriously.

I also find film critics can write the most entertaining bash of a bad film than almost anyone else. Reading a well-written review of a really bad film is comedy gold to me :)

Video Game criticism is so bad it's like reading the reviews on Amazon.com. Nearly every gaming publication or major gaming website in the industry writes reviews like they are shills. Virtually every game is scored at 7.5 and up. Even the oldest hold out, Gamespot, has finally yielded to gaming industry pressure and is slowly going on the take (read: the history behind "Giant Bomb"). Everyone is friends; every game is "not that bad"; every review reads like corporate marketing.

The video game critical establishment is a joke. :mad:

[tenshi_a]

Ignoring the hype is essential, IMHO. Most of the time, marketing teams don't have a clue about the thing they're trying to advertise, and sometimes they give away spoilers.

Listen to recommendations from friends; hopefully they know you, and they know what you like. Their recommendation will be best suited to you.

Scan reviews only of things which you are unsure whether or not you will enjoy, still bewaring of spoilers, and bewaring of the fact they may have been caught in either the hype machine, be a paid off reviewer (KANE & LYNCH), or a fanboy or something.

I find metacritic pretty valuable. Take a look, see what scores people in publications I trust gave it, see what scores people in publications I don't trust at all gave it, make a decision.

It's completely different when it comes to buying equipment or hardware; then I will scour reviews for what's good or not. But for creative works, I want to know as little as possible about something - just whether it's good and who it is that says it's good.

[goddessofanime]

I actually like reading reviews. I don't pay attention because I have my own tastes..and usually whatever a critic despises is what I usually love. But some are pretty well-written and entertaining, like Roger Ebert or Pauline Kael. Same thing with books..though I find the New York Times book section kind of pretentious.

For equipment though..like with computers, reviews do help.

[The Million Dollar Prons]

There's a huge cluster**** going on with the reviews of Sonic Unleashed. It's a good game, IMO, but the reviews are extremely mixed.

Ya know what was really weird about it?

IGN's website had a "7.5" -ish review of it, pretty high considering they gave Silent Hill 5, a great game, a 6.5; but then a few weeks later they changed it to a 4.5 review. It was especially bizarre, considering even IGN's video review said it wasn't a bad game.

[Bernard_Monsha]

Meh, people gave the Boringist Case of Betrand Buttface a bunch of good reviews. I would tend to agree. Betrand Buttface is affected by a condition where he ages backwards. They have several cool scenes were time rifts open at inoppourtune moments and you get things like depression era gangsters fighting dinosaurs on pogo sticks, zepplins bombing Mayan cities and in turn being shot down by Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer in F-14s, and Kate Blanchette in a tap dancing competition with a Cyberdine Systems T-800 for the future of the human race. It was freaking sweet!

Then I woke up about 20 minutes into it and thought WTF do the critics see in this P.O.S. God then granted me slumber for the last 40 minutes or so of dreamless slumber. Reviewers suck.

[goddessofanime]

Meh, people gave the Boringist Case of Betrand Buttface a bunch of good reviews. I would tend to agree. Betrand Buttface is affected by a condition where he ages backwards. They have several cool scenes were time rifts open at inoppourtune moments and you get things like depression era gangsters fighting dinosaurs on pogo sticks, zepplins bombing Mayan cities and in turn being shot down by Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer in F-14s, and Kate Blanchette in a tap dancing competition with a Cyberdine Systems T-800 for the future of the human race. It was freaking sweet!

Then I woke up about 20 minutes into it and thought WTF do the critics see in this P.O.S. God then granted me slumber for the last 40 minutes or so of dreamless slumber. Reviewers suck.


ROFL. I'd totally would watch that too.

[KabukiSaMuRaI]

I rarely read reviews written by professional reviewers or pay any attention to them. For me, word of mouth is much more important.



These word-of-mouth critics (friends, relatives and/or co-workers etc) are most likely influenced in someway by what they see on TV or read in the newspapers. Rarely do I find a person who goes to see a movie without some kind of media influence (opinions heard or reviews read beforehand) but I'll admit, that is difficult to do (for the most part).

I remember going to see Ali when it came out. For some reason, it didn't appeal to me despite it being one of Will Smith's great performances (he has a consistent track record of good movies with some exceptions in my opinion). It was one of the few times where I fell asleep while at the theatre (not due to being tired).

Personal favorites like The Road to Perdition will remain a favorite regardless of the negatives that people can muster up about it.

[The Million Dollar Prons]

Word of mouth critics are great. I had one call me on the phone the other day to say "Yo dawg you gotta see that movie, Defiance. It came out yesterday, it's like about hitler and stuff. It's tight."

I can't wait to see Defiance now that I know it's TIGHT.

[Bernard_Monsha]

I will give you an example of Critics sucking this week. I predict the new movie about Viking Jesus fighting Aliens will be panned. Ask yourself is there anything more awesome than Viking Jesus fighting Aliens being released this week?

[KabukiSaMuRaI]

Word of mouth critics are great. I had one call me on the phone the other day to say "Yo dawg you gotta see that movie, Defiance. It came out yesterday, it's like about hitler and stuff. It's tight."

I can't wait to see Defiance now that I know it's TIGHT.
Yep. Great selling points, fo' sure son.
ROFL. I'd totally would watch that too.
It deserves it's own segment on the Soup.