Does avoiding bad movies inflate average ratings?
A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that I'd given several films in a row rather high ratings. I wondered whether or not I'd been fortunate enough to see so many high-quality films consecutively. Or if, say, my standards were dropping. Or if I simply enjoy the act of watching a movie enough that I almost always enjoy the movie itself at least somewhat.
Then I thought about it a bit more, and concluded that I might give out fairly high ratings in part because I've become somewhat pickier about which films I see. After all, as I'm not on salary anywhere as a professional critic, I don't have to wade through the dreck simply to have something to write in a given week. Thus, I largely see the movies I desire to see, so it's possible I simply have a fairly developed sense of which movies I think I'll enjoy. The only real exception is with rentals, wherein the barriers of entry (and therefore, my standards) are significantly lower. Does anyone else find themselves in this kind of situation? Do you enjoy a higher percentage of the movies you see because you've gotten better at avoiding the ones you won't enjoy? |
Re: Does avoiding bad movies inflate average ratings?
Originally Posted by Yoda
Does anyone else find themselves in this kind of situation? Do you enjoy a higher percentage of the movies you see because you've gotten better at avoiding the ones you won't enjoy?
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Re: Does avoiding bad movies inflate average ratings?
I do, yes. I am pretty focused when it comes to what I will watch. Then again, I have expanded my horizons, genre-wise, over the past few years, due to excellent input for MoFo members. I do tend to do a fair amount of research into a film before checking it out, though. Well, unless it's the new Lynch or something...
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Re: Does avoiding bad movies inflate average ratings?
There has to be something that provokes my interest in a movie before I'll make an effort to seek it out at a theater, at a movie rental, or even dig it out of my own DVD or VHS collections.
In Saving Pvt. Ryan, it was the scene in the TV ad for the movie of the mother walking out on her porch and collapsing as the Army officiers came toward the house to inform her of the deaths of most of her sons. That and the fact that Tom Hanks was in it--after a rocky start in a lot of silly films early in his career, he's developed into a good actor. But the real clincher is that my two sons invited me to a dinner and a movie for Father's Day, my birthday, some occasion, and picked that film because of my interest in the history of WWII. However, the film turned out to be a disaster as far as I was concerned. The touted "realism" was a complete washout to me. I had read that Hanks and the other actors had gone through a week or 2 of training under a combat veteran so that they would look like real soldiers, but virtually every move they made violated the basics of cover and concealment that the Army taught me (and thousands of others) back in 1961. Plus the plot was disjointed and totally unrealistic. On the other hand, I was flipping TV channels one night and came across Unconditional Love already in progress. I had never heard a thing about that film but I could see that Kathy Bates was in the cast and that another main character was a midget! And it was a role that didn't necessarily call for a small person, just someone who was different physically--could have been a blind person, an amputee, Down's syndrome. Got me interested in what they were going to do with that person. Turned out to be a great little movie--no great message, just a funny, feel-good film. Went out and got it the next day so that my wife and I could watch it from the beginning. |
Re: Does avoiding bad movies inflate average ratings?
I think that the general public is braindead when it comes to watching movies that make sense and are done in good taste rather than the ones that don't make sense, have dry humor and are done terribly.
Think about it. Take this for instance. I was looking on Netflix last night at the movies popular for Oklahoma City, at the top of the list, Transmorphers. Obviously a leech off of Transformers, but come on. The funny thing was, its average rating was 1.5 stars. People have become too impatient and movies that last longer than 1 1/2 hours are generally doomed anymore cause the average person's attention span is slowly fading. When I hear someone say "They just don't make em like they used to", I have to agree. |
Re: Does avoiding bad movies inflate average ratings?
Originally Posted by spudracer (Post 379344)
When I hear someone say "They just don't make em like they used to", I have to agree.
And when exactly was this golden period of cinema when each and every movie that came out was a gift from the film gods? There have always been terribble movies. The only possible reason there are more bad movies today is because there are simply more movies overall. Good movies are out there. You cant frequent the same multiplex week after week and then complain if your expectations arent met. It's simple- 'good' movies dont sell popcorn. Go dig. Find an art theater, rent foreign movies, join a cinema club. Good movies are out there if we are willing to step outside the Landmark 24. |
Re: Does avoiding bad movies inflate average ratings?
I think most of us want to enjoy ourselves when we go out to a movie. Yes that sounds obvious, but sometimes I wonder. I think the theater has also become a place to hang out, or a place to take a date, or a place to skip school, etc.... Certainly a theater is these things, but it is ultimately, IMO, a place to enjoy movies. I think the D movie of the past has become the C movie of today, but I also think that the A+/5 star movie is more and more difficult than ever to produce, if only because originality is harder to come by as more and more films enter the cache of history. Originality in and of itself does not make an A+ film of course; I mean I could film the underside of my desk at work, boogers/gum and all for 90 minutes and have a narrative done by stuttering janitor with a lisp from Cleveland, but I do not think it would be a good film. Sometimes I think even if we are mildly entertained we are satisfied, I do not want to be just satisfied, I want to be blown away, I want to think about the movie long after it ends and I do not want to go to a "bad movie" So I guess yes the old D is the New C....good luck finding a new A+ movie.:D
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Re: Does avoiding bad movies inflate average ratings?
Originally Posted by Zeiken (Post 379383)
And when exactly was this golden period of cinema when each and every movie that came out was a gift from the film gods? There have always been terribble movies. The only possible reason there are more bad movies today is because there are simply more movies overall.
Good movies are out there. You cant frequent the same multiplex week after week and then complain if your expectations arent met. It's simple- 'good' movies dont sell popcorn. Go dig. Find an art theater, rent foreign movies, join a cinema club. Good movies are out there if we are willing to step outside the Landmark 24. Yes, there always has been and probably always will be crap movies out there. Whether it be your Snakes on a Train, or what have you, they will be out there. Back to the topic at hand...I think the ones of us who know to avoid cliche movies and drawn-out sequels, won't be able to affect ratings. There's just more of them than there are of us. |
Re: Does avoiding bad movies inflate average ratings?
With all this in mind what do you guys/gals think is best Blockbuster Movie? You know a movie that made tons of money and was excellent 5 star/A++ viewing at the same time in the last 40 or so years? I guess Star Wars (The Orig) comes to mind, but what others?
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Re: Does avoiding bad movies inflate average ratings?
For me, absolutely yeah. There's so many films I'm desperate to see, and because when I see them, I usually like them it's quite rare these days I that I see a film I dislike...and I can't even remember the last film I saw that I really hated, it may have been months ago.
I must own about 30 or 40 DVDs that I haven't seen yet...just about all of them I'm dying to see, and still...I continue to order more DVDs, watch more films on TV and go to the cinema more. I think about 2 years ago I just watched anything that was on, and although some stuff I saw was good, I was watching a lot of crap, things with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal and the Scary Movie films and crap like that because I didn't know how to look for great films and where to look...but now I try and avoid films like that and I'm much better off for it and the films I watch mean a lot more to me. |
Re: Does avoiding bad movies inflate average ratings?
Originally Posted by spudracer (Post 379398)
...They're all about making money, which is understandable...
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Re: Does avoiding bad movies inflate average ratings?
Originally Posted by Zeiken (Post 379404)
Film is unique among the arts in this respect; it is an industry.
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Re: Does avoiding bad movies inflate average ratings?
Originally Posted by Yoda (Post 379294)
Then I thought about it a bit more, and concluded that I might give out fairly high ratings in part because I've become somewhat pickier about which films I see. Then again, the more I think about it, the more I notice how versatile my flick picks have become more recently. I'll rush to see most things from This Is England to Transformers to Sunshine. I guess it's because i've learned to accept a healthy balance of artistic independent films and commercial ones. |
Re: Does avoiding bad movies inflate average ratings?
Originally Posted by Zeiken (Post 379404)
...Guess what? It has been all about money since the beginning...
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Re: Does avoiding bad movies inflate average ratings?
Originally Posted by Yoda (Post 379294)
Does anyone else find themselves in this kind of situation? Do you enjoy a higher percentage of the movies you see because you've gotten better at avoiding the ones you won't enjoy?
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Re: Does avoiding bad movies inflate average ratings?
I'm sure I do.
I blame it on taking rental tips from mofos. :up: |
Re: Does avoiding bad movies inflate average ratings?
I think avoiding bad movies might actually deflate the ratings I give. If I watch a whole bunch of good or classic movies I probably try to differentiate between them by giving one that I didn't enjoy so much a lower mark, whereas if I watched a lot of really rubbish films in between, the 'classic' might get a higher mark, by virtue of being compared to the rubbish film rather than the other classics. IYSWIM.
I also think that expectation affects the rating - something I expect to be good which disappoints me will lead to a lower rating than if I had expected it to be rubbish nd been pleasantly surprised. |
Re: Does avoiding bad movies inflate average ratings?
I agree with you in a lot of ways. Not only is easier to find the good ones today it's also easier to find the bad ones as well.
Or if, say, my standards were dropping. Or if I simply enjoy the act of watching a movie enough that I almost always enjoy the movie itself at least somewhat.
The only real exception is with rentals, wherein the barriers of entry (and therefore, my standards) are significantly lower.
Any way yes in general I do find myself enjoying more films. Because I know what to look for. |
Re: Does avoiding bad movies inflate average ratings?
Originally Posted by Zeiken (Post 379383)
And when exactly was this golden period of cinema when each and every movie that came out was a gift from the film gods?
I think the old studio system was better in some ways where they bought up and filmed books and plays, scripts by great playwrites, with contract players who had time to develop their crafts and the character actors who added so much color to those films, and the use of black-and-white film to enhance certain stories. Now everything is about "the deal"--not necessarily the best director and cast, but the hot "names" who are easy to bankroll; not an original script, but a knockoff of a film, TV series, or comic strip that the Baby Boomers might remember. Or a popular foreign film reshot for American audiences who can't be bothered with subtitles. And all the emphasis on computer graphics, special effects, added romantic interest, and car chases. |
Re: Does avoiding bad movies inflate average ratings?
Just read that The Invasion Starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig (for some reason a lot of people do not know who he is) was avoided by many movie goers. Superbad and the The Simpsons movie both ,among others (pun intended) beat it at the box office. Did all these "movie goers" know this film was going to reek? I have yet to see any of them but actually Invasion doesn't look too bad, does it? In comparison I mean.
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