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Jess
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 163
Location: Uptown
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 Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 4:31 pm Post subject: Love who you are blah blah blah |
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I can't decide what I think about this movie. I do love James McAvoy and Catherine O'Hara, but I don't love the fairy tale campy-ness.
http://www.penelopethemovie.com/ |
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JeffKamin
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Joined: 30 Nov 2005
Posts: 1065
Location: MPLS
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| Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Yeah, that reeks of rental only. |
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AEDewar
Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Posts: 53
Location: Minneapolis
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| Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 10:33 pm Post subject: |
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I saw it last weekend. I really enjoyed it. Catherine O'Hara's over the top, but that's just her style. It's more of a kids/pre-teen movie, though.
It's like a Pee Wee's Big Adventure era Tim Burton movie, quirky and playful, and not very dark.
The Other Boleyn Girl on the other hand, blech. I should've gone to the Stop-Loss screening instead. |
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Jess
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 163
Location: Uptown
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| Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 8:53 pm Post subject: |
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| Good to know, Alex. The Other Boleyn girl was pretty bad. The highlight of the night was when Roxie knocked over all my Reese's pieces. She got really excited about the moveable armrests and neglected to notice them in my cupholder. |
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JeffKamin
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Joined: 30 Nov 2005
Posts: 1065
Location: MPLS
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| Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 2:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Check Rottentomatoes.com for more on reviews. I know Entertainment Weekly gave an F to the pig nose one. |
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Carter
Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Posts: 381
Location: Longfellow (Mpls)
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| Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 4:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Metacritic.com, which compiles reviews into one meta-score, has Penelope at 48/100, and The Other Boleyn Girl at 50/100. That means critics on average rated them much lower than movies such as The Mist (58/100) and that Hannah Montana concert thing (59/100). Yikes. |
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JeffKamin
Site Admin
Joined: 30 Nov 2005
Posts: 1065
Location: MPLS
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| Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:27 pm Post subject: |
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Brings up an interesting point.
What do you think of reviews?
Especially book , but also music and film.
As a reviewer, I know how subjective it can be.
That said, I find book and film reviews useful to a point, but don't like to read them till after I have seen the film or read the book myself.
Now something like rottentomatoes.com or metacritic.com is useful in getting a gauge, a number without ruining the plot by reading the whole review.
Music reviews I find the least useful and most subjective. But I do use book reviews for planning our picks. I think word of mouth (WoM) is the most effective and reliable, if you know your source. But that is not always available especially for the latest things.
Lately, I have found that if I already like a certain writer, director, actor, etc. I'll probably see the film even if reviews are bad and decide for myself. Can you think of examples of things that got bad reviews which you liked?
Also, maybe the bar is lowered when you're watching it at home on DVD? |
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Carter
Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Posts: 381
Location: Longfellow (Mpls)
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| Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 8:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | What do you think of reviews?
Especially book , but also music and film. |
I never read reviews beforehand, because I like to have the story, characters, whatever unfold for me through the artist's efforts, not the reviewers, that why I prefer a source that offers a rating distinct from the text (you know, like 8/10 or 4-out-of-five stars). If I like the film, book, etc, I'll sometimes go back to the reviews and find them much more enjoyable then.
Music reviews are the least helpful in my experience. I'll certainly make the effort to check out something the critics love, but if I avoided the stuff they don't like, I would have missed a lot of the music I've loved over the years.
Word of mouth works just ok for me. I have maybe two friends at best whose judgment I trust. Many of the others say things like, "I'm not watching that! It has subtitles!" I've had more success with identifying reviewers whose tastes seem to mirror my own and sticking with them.
Book reviews are most important to me. The time commitment of reading a book is significant enough that I'm not willing to just pick books by their jackets or first few pages. I suppose that means I am essentially just part of a herd following the critics' recommendations, but that has worked far better for me than the "Hmmm... this looks interesting" approach. Come to think of it, many of my favorite books of the past few years have been major award winners: Atonement, A History of Love, The Inheritance of Loss, etc., so the critics haven't been disappointing me.
OK, I shouldn't have said, "major award", now all I can think of is the dad in "A Christmas Story" out on the street:
"It's a major award."
"A major award? Shucks, I wouldn't a knowed that -- it looks like a lamp."
"It IS a lamp you nincumpoop, but it's a major award. I won it."
"Damn, hell, you say you won it?"
"Yeah, yeah. I have mind-power, Swede. Mind-power. |
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mchaso
Joined: 11 May 2007
Posts: 47
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| Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | I think word of mouth (WoM) is the most effective and reliable, if you know your source. But that is not always available especially for the latest things. |
I have a gauge for movies in a woman I work with. Basically anything she says she likes, I will most likely hate, and vice versa. This is a woman who, along with her husband, walked out of the movie Chicago because there was "too much singing." Apparently they are unfamiliar with the concept of musicals. |
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Jess
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 163
Location: Uptown
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| Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:31 am Post subject: |
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mchaso, I'm not sure who you are but I work with the same woman! She looooved I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry and Wild Hogs. I believe the term "a hoot and a half" were used to describe both. Call me a snob, I won't disagree, but those movies should not have been made.
Regarding book reviews, I'll check out Publishers' Weekly to see what's coming out in the next season, but what really gets me to read something is WoM. I have a few friends who are on the same book wavelength as me and so I trust what they recommend. I use goodreads.com to track what I want to read and what they're reading. |
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mchaso
Joined: 11 May 2007
Posts: 47
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| Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:58 am Post subject: |
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I don't think you can be called a snob if your taste actually IS far superior to that of other people. Not that I don't enjoy my share of stupid stuff, but those two movies will never darken my DVD player.
The woman I work with hated No Country for Old Men -- too violent, obviously. Automatically, I can assume that I will greatly enjoy it.
I don't think I spend much time on book reviews, but then again, I am not sure where my giant piles of books come from. |
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