This really hurts when you go watch a movie with lots of good reviews, find it not enjoyable or a good movie at all, and then question whether everyone else is stupid or that you are in fact the local idiot.
If you’re looking at critics reviews, you have to be careful when you see a lot of good reviews for a movie. A 100% on rotten tomatoes is more likely to be a boring slog of art that only a movie critic who is desperate for something different can enjoy than something the average person wants to see.
My rule of thumb: if a movie you were excited for got amazing reviews then go see it. If are just browsing a list of top rated movies currently in theaters and you haven’t heard of it, do more research to figure out why it’s well rated. At least you’ll know what you’re in for if you do go see it.
90+ on Metacritic may be what you’re thinking of, those can be more arty films that may or may not appeal to non-critics. 100% on Rotten Tomatoes is usually the opposite, crowd-pleasers that appeal to all audiences. Nothing amazing or groundbreaking, but a movie pretty much anyone will at least enjoy.
Since RT is just saying what percentage of critics thought it was watchable, high RT percentages just indicate universal enjoyment, they don’t say anything about HOW good the reviewer thinks the movie is.
I’m thinking of ending things (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/im_thinking_of_ending_things), 82% critic score, 49% audience score. This movie takes “it makes you think” to a whole new dimension. It’s two hours and fourteen minutes of melancholic confusion, wondering if you missed something important, then it’s over without ever really resolving anything. You’re on your own to connect the dots and make sense of the movie, or more likely you’ll have to do additional research to figure out what the plot actually was. I don’t regret watching it, but I also can’t recommend it.
Red Notice (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/red_notice), 39% critic score, 92% audience score. Bland, forgettable plot with cool effects. Explosions, The Rock, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds. A fun, enjoyable movie to stream on a weeknight, but not something I would have paid to see in theaters.
I love the prestige, but Interstellar was his best work in my opinion. Definitely gone downhill since then, although I still enjoyed Oppenheimer. Tenet hurt my soul
As someone who watched Primer and Tenet back-to-back (both first-time viewings), I am amazed that a film produced on an astronomically higher budget than the other could be twice as confusing, twice as long (!), and so much more exhausting because of the story’s reliance on world-ending stakes.
Hot take, but Chris Nolan is the master of making films that feel smart but are actually pretty dumb. He’s like Zack Snyder but he’s good enough at pulling it off that his movies are a hit with critics. People who tend to overestimate their own intelligence will often hold Nolan in high esteem. He’s also a cryptofacist.
I’m now wondering how pig was reviewed. I love fucky action movies and anything with Brad Pitt or Jason Statham. Pig was slow and boring but I still loved it.
Edit: 97/84 so pretty good, despite my utter lack of taste in cinema.
![Online movie reviews [Beetlemoses]](https://startrek.website/pictrs/image/665ad5f1-fcbe-44c1-83f3-ff3553c4b112.jpeg){kind=link}
This really hurts when you go watch a movie with lots of good reviews, find it not enjoyable or a good movie at all, and then question whether everyone else is stupid or that you are in fact the local idiot.
If you’re looking at critics reviews, you have to be careful when you see a lot of good reviews for a movie. A 100% on rotten tomatoes is more likely to be a boring slog of art that only a movie critic who is desperate for something different can enjoy than something the average person wants to see.
My rule of thumb: if a movie you were excited for got amazing reviews then go see it. If are just browsing a list of top rated movies currently in theaters and you haven’t heard of it, do more research to figure out why it’s well rated. At least you’ll know what you’re in for if you do go see it.
90+ on Metacritic may be what you’re thinking of, those can be more arty films that may or may not appeal to non-critics. 100% on Rotten Tomatoes is usually the opposite, crowd-pleasers that appeal to all audiences. Nothing amazing or groundbreaking, but a movie pretty much anyone will at least enjoy.
Since RT is just saying what percentage of critics thought it was watchable, high RT percentages just indicate universal enjoyment, they don’t say anything about HOW good the reviewer thinks the movie is.
Two great examples to illustrate this point:
I’m thinking of ending things (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/im_thinking_of_ending_things), 82% critic score, 49% audience score. This movie takes “it makes you think” to a whole new dimension. It’s two hours and fourteen minutes of melancholic confusion, wondering if you missed something important, then it’s over without ever really resolving anything. You’re on your own to connect the dots and make sense of the movie, or more likely you’ll have to do additional research to figure out what the plot actually was. I don’t regret watching it, but I also can’t recommend it.
Red Notice (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/red_notice), 39% critic score, 92% audience score. Bland, forgettable plot with cool effects. Explosions, The Rock, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds. A fun, enjoyable movie to stream on a weeknight, but not something I would have paid to see in theaters.
But super helpful when I am looking for that boring slog!
It has nothing to do with intelligence, it’s entirely personal taste.
How I feel about any recent Chris Nolan.
Dude. Watched Oppenheimer and posted review stating that people should go see it , butt…
People got pissed. His movies are getting worse.
The prestige is my christopher Nolan movie.
I love the prestige, but Interstellar was his best work in my opinion. Definitely gone downhill since then, although I still enjoyed Oppenheimer. Tenet hurt my soul
As someone who watched Primer and Tenet back-to-back (both first-time viewings), I am amazed that a film produced on an astronomically higher budget than the other could be twice as confusing, twice as long (!), and so much more exhausting because of the story’s reliance on world-ending stakes.
Hot take, but Chris Nolan is the master of making films that feel smart but are actually pretty dumb. He’s like Zack Snyder but he’s good enough at pulling it off that his movies are a hit with critics. People who tend to overestimate their own intelligence will often hold Nolan in high esteem. He’s also a cryptofacist.
Couple decades ago, after watching a film at the cinema, two random girls at the exit:
Girl 1: “That was a long film, what did you think of it?”
Girl 2: “I loved it! But I didn’t understand the ending”
The ending was the plot twist.
I found that same movie slow and kind of boring… until the plot twist at the ending.
Since then, I always assume that either the reviewer “didn’t understand the ending”, or I “didn’t understand the ending”, so most reviews are useless.
I’m now wondering how pig was reviewed. I love fucky action movies and anything with Brad Pitt or Jason Statham. Pig was slow and boring but I still loved it.
Edit: 97/84 so pretty good, despite my utter lack of taste in cinema.