I liked John’s recent reposting about the Subjectivity of film. In it he talked about how the best part of films was that they were completely subjective. In a nutshell, John shared one tiny truth “You don’t have to like what I like”
I bring this up, as in a recent review I gave a poor rating to Terminator Salvation. In the comment section I was not met with discussion as much as I was challenged telling me I was “wrong” or incorrect in my evaluation. Unfortunately, my views on the film cannot be wrong unless you are suggesting that I am going out of my way to bad mouth a film I secretly found entertaining.
This is where a thin line is drawn between giving a review and giving an opinion. A review simply is at its core, an opinion. More importantly it is MY opinion. The difference in a review is that instead of just saying “I liked it” or “I didn’t like it”, I give a brief explanation about what bothered me.
I can’t go into a deep deconstruction of the film without offering up lots of spoilers, so my points (good and bad) will be spelled out as generally as I can. For those checking the review, I want to share my feelings without exposing too much of the film. But in that review I might say “It was all mindless potty humour” and that might be a negative to me, but then sharing that detail may be a positive to you. Maybe you LOVE a mindless potty humour spoof film. Great. You have gained something by my review despite my personal feelings on it.
But regardless of whehter my personal review of the film differs or lines up with other reviews online, the discussion then turned to you to disagree or agree with my assesment applying your own personal tastes and appreciation to the same subject. Discussion on the topic won’t change my review, you are simply sharing your own feelings on it.
Then there are those who feel that in some cases reviews have some ulterior motive. That’s the beauty of being a blogger and not a media journalist. I am a regular guy who gets the wonderful privilege of writing for you guys to talk about movies. I get a lot of perks that regular guys don’t get, but I am still just a regular movie patron with my own love of movies.
There is no ulterior motive. There can’t be. There is nothing to be benefited by us personally giving a positive or negative review. If I was asked or offered money by a studio to spin my review, you can be sure I would write a story exposing THAT instead.
Today I read an article of a person who’s review integrity I do question. New York Critic Armond White either has the most discriminating and random pallet for film, or he is making a name for himself by simply standing out of the crowd. Today he puts his accreditation on the line and gives a poor review of Up! previously holding a 100% at Rotten Tomatoes
The man that’s about to ruin the perfect score is New York critic Armond White, who just finished writing his negative review for “Up.” And this guy is no stranger to negative reviews, he previously trashed “The Wrestler,” “Star Trek,” “Milk,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man,” “There Will be Blood” and “Zodiac.” But “Bedtime Stories” got a thumbs up from him.
Now I am not saying that he HAS to agree with my assessment of those films, but it does seem suspect that he offers up negative reviews on the specific films that are getting attention for getting positive reviews.
I am not saying he couldn’t find those films unappealing. No film is ever perfect. Perfect for YOU maybe, but still not perfect. And I didn’t hate Bedtime Stories. Just convenient that every critically acclaimed film, he hates.
It sounds like he just wants to stand out as “the one guy” in these scenarios. I admit it is possible that he didn’t like those movies, but unlikely that NONE of them live up to the reviews they were getting in his eyes. This is why I presume that he has an ulterior motive. I am sure the publications that print his reviews get attention because of the controversy he offers up.
The one guy in the crowd that says “No” while hundreds say “Yes” will get attention.
One thing you can count on with our reviews here is that we are going to offer up our honest opinion. If John rates Wanted higher than Dark Knight, there is a reason. We will even tell you why. I won’t tell you that you are wrong for liking one film over another.
