How do you know a movie is good before watching?

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If trying to find a movie to watch, would you generally tend to go for a movie ...

... that is acclaimed by the proles but panned by critics.
4
36%
... that is acclaimed by critics but panned by the proles.
5
45%
Fifty fifty.
2
18%
 
Total votes: 11

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Spartan26
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Re: How do you know a movie is good before watching?

Post by Spartan26 » Sat Apr 10, 2021 5:39 am

I was looking at the title question before reading the choices of the poll and thinking I've gotten somewhat good at guessing whether a movie will be decent or crap based on the trailer. There was an urban legend years ago that (one of) the company that cut trailers would put cues in to tip off if a movie was crap, even if the trailer got you hyped up to see the film. It's been a while so I can't really remember any but some have been sufficiently debunked since.

Anyway, I don't look at reviews or audience ratings until after seeing the film. I don't know all the major critics by any stretch but I have noticed some patterns. Certain ones I wouldn't trust for action. Ones I know who are enamored with certain people. Ones who don't get certain types of films. From the samples on the OP, I was really close to 50/50. Like, Drag Me to Hell I thought was head scratchingly over-praised. Surprised the last Mad Max film with Charlize Theron wasn't on there. Crap, another one of the critic darling films that if made by someone else I have to believe the K-9s would've come out for it. Tree of Life was bad enough for me to walk out of, and I would have if I hadn't gone with a group of people. Funny thing was, we were kinda separated but we all wanted to leave but only stayed cuz we thought the others might wanted to keep watching. Noah was a waste. Captain Marvel was stiff and generic. But I was prolly closer with critics on Contagion and Foxcatcher. I don't know if I hated Suicide Squad as much as the critics but I definitely didn't love it and thought it was a huge miss of an opportunity. Batman vs Superman I didn't despise but it was a yawner. I didn't even waste my time on the live-action versions of the animated films, so I don't know if that makes me more of a critic than the critics. Every once in a while I'll catch up to a film that I'll find really exceptional and then surprised at how lukewarm or fair-to-middling both the critic and audience reviews will be. Makes me want to totally forgo any suggestion for what to watch for me.

I think a lot of films I go see may be based on a compelling element or two. Like, I wasn't much of a Batman person back in the 80s or 90s. Didn't get the love Jack Nicholson or Michelle Pfeiffer received. It's the $2,500/month they shell out for a publicist, duh! But I did get advanced tix to see Batman Begins opening w/e because I knew portions of it were shot on IMAX and so I wanted to see the thing in an IMAX theater. The film Brother I went to see because I was curious what Takeshi Kitano would do with an English language film to direct. And then there are the assorted films I'll see where I'll know someone involved in the production or heard of something completely unexpected that happened in production and want to see the results of what actually came about.

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SomeInternetBloke
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Re: How do you know a movie is good before watching?

Post by SomeInternetBloke » Sun Apr 18, 2021 12:30 am

(Edited Edit of an Edit)

How do I know a movie is good before watching? Them foreign kids who always be tapin' 'em ain't wigglan the gat dang camera that's how. Hard enough fo' a black man get some 'spect up in hea'.
"My favourite song from one of my favourite albums, Nena asking you to please, please let her be your pirate. So smooth and joyful, I have to listen to it three times if I listen once" - ashi

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