reelviews.net - View topic - To rate or not to rate, a movie? That is the question.

It is currently Sat May 25, 2013 7:07 am

View unanswered posts | View active topics

To rate or not to rate, a movie? That is the question.

Page 2 of 2

[ 23 posts ]

Go to page Previous 1, 2

Print view

Previous topic | Next topic

To rate or not to rate, a movie? That is the question.

Author

Message

Ragnarok73

Re: To rate or not to rate, a movie? That is the question.


	Kyle wrote: Yeah, but metacritic determines (on a 100 point scale) what a given review is "worth." Some reviewers don't attribute ratings to their reviews so metacritic, based on the tone and content of a review, decides where that review places the movie on their 100 point scale

This brings me back to something I suggested in a much older thread- the idea of a site like Metacritic or Rotten Tomatoes getting at least its top critics to come to a consensus on how their individual reviews would scale on the overall meter (Tomatometer or Metacritic's 100-point system). I think it would help those sites come up with overall scores that would more accurately reflect the way the critics felt overall about a given film.

Of course, each critic has his/her own methods for coming up with reviews/ratings for films (personal tastes, different sets of criteria, etc). My original suggestion was for a site like Rotten Tomatoes to simply find out from each critic what his/her threshold would be for a bad or good review so that its Rotten/Fresh rating at least could be more accurate. Maybe RT already does this for all we know.

Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:42 pm

Ken

Re: To rate or not to rate, a movie? That is the question.

I've been revisiting this subject recently, at least in my own mind. Anybody familiar with my posting habits may recall me as someone who steadfastly avoids the use of ratings, out of a belief that movies are not appreciated on a linear scale and thus cannot be rated on one.

Recently, in a conversation in a movie thread on another forum I visit, I made the following statement:


	Quote: I've already gotten into this here a bit, but I think criticism starts with the viewing experience--the pure input of the movie and the pure response of your brain chemistry, at a non-verbal level. It's like laughing at a good joke. Laughter is largely involuntary and instinctive. For the most part, the intellectual/theoretical stuff doesn't start until you're out of the theater. At that point, you're not trying to figure out how you felt about the movie, because you already know that. The intellectual/theoretical stuff is for figuring out why you felt that way. That's why we could take shots at each other's points all day, but neither of us is going to go back in time and alter the viewing experience of the other. And that experience is the premise of the whole argument in the first place. [For example,] I'm not interested in changing your mind about Cabin in the Woods, so much as simply attempting to figure out why it didn't reach me. To return to the joke analogy: some people will laugh at the same joke and others won't. You can figure out what those reasons are, but not until after the fact. The interesting thing is, if you think your way deeply enough into an argument about movies, you start to see how arbitrary any argument is if it isn't based first and foremost in the viewing experience. That's why I think it's important to start with the simple, unshakeable fact: "I liked this/didn't like this, and to such-and-such degree" and go from there. If you second-guess the importance of your own experience, then you can argue practically anything. Via argument, you can turn the greatest movies in the world into festering puddles of diarrhea, and vice-versa. This is the most important weapon in Armond White's arsenal: developing a cerebral argument that has no obvious connection to how the movie affected him personally.

In making this statement, I believe I may have stumbled across a cogent rationale for the use of ratings, especially in this particularly relevant portion:


	Quote: I think it's important to start with the simple, unshakeable fact: "I liked this/didn't like this, and to such-and-such degree" and go from there.

Perhaps the rating can't encapsulate the many facets of an experience, not by a long shot, but perhaps it can be useful in evaluating that first simple, unshakeable fact--the general positivity of the effect on the viewer. Perhaps that's how the rating is useful to the person writing the critique, and its use to the person reading it is simply incidental.

So... what'll it be? A 1 to 10 scale? Zero to four stars? Light American lager to wheat IPA?

Wed May 02, 2012 2:38 am

CasualDad

Second Unit Director

Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2009 6:19 pm
Posts: 349

Re: To rate or not to rate, a movie? That is the question.

I like ratings when used as they normally are at the heading or lead in to a review. The main reason I like them is to determine if I want to read the review prior to seeing the movie. If I don't care about an upcoming movie or suspect that it may be bad and then see a review with a low rating I usually skip the review altogether. If I am eagerly anticipating a movie, and it gets a low rating, I'll often skip the review until after I've seen it since I had already made up my mind that I want to see it by that time and no one else is likely to persuade me against it. If I don't know anything about an upcoming release and suddenly see a 3 or 4 star rating I'll check out the review and maybe catch a good one that would have completely escaped. The actual review and some familiarity with the reviewer's historical bias is necessary in order to evaluate the real meaning of the rating. For instance, almost every film that James has rated highly which reveal how downbeat, realistically grim, or gritty it is, has turned out to be one that I do not like. He's in to that and I am not. I know that and avoid them regardless of the rating and praise.

Thu May 03, 2012 8:37 am

Page 2 of 2

[ 23 posts ]

Go to page Previous 1, 2

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to: