Interstellar - Part 7

[Rocketman]

Oh, so you just have a terrible sense of humor. That's reassuring.

I won't deny it.

 

[Donut]

I heard Ebert isn't going to review this movie. Is that true?

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Honestly, the internet's handling these reviews better than I thought they would, lol. My favorite Nolan movie is also the lowest-rated on RT, so this is doing little to kill my hype at the moment.

One should. When one realizes that the Prestige has "only" a 78% at RT.

 

[Rocketman]

So yeah, I don't really care about critics or reviews or general consensus. I'm most likely seeing this movie 10 times, I think The Dark Knight Rises is a masterpiece, greatest trilogy ever, Man of Steel is one of my favorite films ever, blah blah blah, only my own opinion matters, you know the routine. That said, I'm seriously losing my mind about this movie. I need to see it now.

 

[flickchick85]

One should. When one realizes that the Prestige has "only" a 78% at RT.

76%, but yeah.

 

[NELLOGISTICS]

Exactly, while I do agree that critics and general consensus should be nothing more than expectations adjustment, at the end of the day nothing matters beside how you feel about the film.

 

[BatLobster]

So apparently all the French critics are over the moon with this movie, a bunch of pure raves just came rolling in. Somehow I'm not surprised, haha.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

What bothers me about the "reviews don't matter" mantra is that that thinking never seems to cover all films. Reviews do kinda matter, maybe that sucks and maybe it doesn't but they kinda do, especially on Superhero Hype.

I use reviews to attack films at times and many others use reviews to attack films. I'm not excluding myself when I say that most on Hype don't follow through on that "reviews don't matter" mantra.

 

[JackWhite]

I'm interested in what Richard Roeper thinks of the film. He's pretty much the only film critic that I take seriously these days.

 

[redfirebird2008]

Reviews setting expectations pretty low. Could be a good thing for us as moviegoers. Don't go in expecting some kind of masterpiece and you'll probably enjoy it. I was pleasantly surprised by Dracula Untold after seeing that it got thrashed by critics.

 

[JackWhite]

Reviews setting expectations pretty low. Could be a good thing for us as moviegoers. Don't go in expecting some kind of masterpiece and you'll probably enjoy it. I was pleasantly surprised by Dracula Untold after seeing that it got thrashed by critics.

This.

When MOS and TASM2 both got rotten scores I scaled back my anticipation a bit. I still saw both films but I didn't go in expecting anything spectacular.

 

[Rocketman]

What bothers me about the "reviews don't matter" mantra is that that thinking never seems to cover all films. Reviews do kinda matter, maybe that sucks and maybe it doesn't but they kinda do, especially on Superhero Hype.

I use reviews to attack films at times and many others use reviews to attack films. I'm not excluding myself when I say that most on Hype don't follow through on that "reviews don't matter" mantra.

For me personally, it really doesn't matter. I see your point though.

I have a REAL problem with critics bashing movies made for children. It's like, really? - we're going to say Cats and Dogs 2 is one of the worst movies ever made? Baby Geniuses is dreadful? You're REALLY going to type up a scathing review of this movie and critique its writing and cinematography? Wow. Good for you, I guess. Unless it's Pixar and they're actually TRYING to make legitimate art films for adults too, I almost feel like childrens movies shouldn't be reviewed by default. It should be left out of the equation.

Just my opinion. I'd take it a little further and apply it to some superhero films, but I'll stop there. [BLACKOUT]Was there really ANY kid sitting in the theater for Raimi's Spider-Man 3 who DIDN'T have a smile on his/her face?[/BLACKOUT]

 

[TheNextNolan22]

[BLACKOUT]Was there really ANY kid sitting in the theater for Raimi's Spider-Man 3 who DIDN'T have a smile on his/her face?[/BLACKOUT]

Me. That had to be the biggest disappointment for me as a youngin'.

 

[IncognitoWalrus]

Just my opinion. I'd take it a little further and apply it to some superhero films, but I'll stop there. [BLACKOUT]Was there really ANY kid sitting in the theater for Raimi's Spider-Man 3 who DIDN'T have a smile on his/her face?[/BLACKOUT]

Actually, just speaking for myself, I was in 5th grade when I saw Spider-Man 3 and I hated it then even more than I dislike it now.

I do think kids' movies should be held to some standard, but you do have a point about how we judge them too harshly. Thomas and the Magic Railroad was my jam back in the day, even though adults would hate it.

 

[flickchick85]

What bothers me about the "reviews don't matter" mantra is that that thinking never seems to cover all films. Reviews do kinda matter, maybe that sucks and maybe it doesn't but they kinda do, especially on Superhero Hype.

I use reviews to attack films at times and many others use reviews to attack films. I'm not excluding myself when I say that most on Hype don't follow through on that "reviews don't matter" mantra.

No I agree, I'm not going to pretend I don't want movies I love to also be loved by most. I love them, so it's natural to want others to see what I see. BUT I've never viewed anything rated in the 70's on RT as "poorly-reviewed" and I'm not gonna start now. Nor the 60's. That's a fine rating, because some ambitious or polarizing films, like the aforementioned Prestige, could never have been true to what they were about and achieved true mass appeal. And hell, there are Best Picture winners with RT ratings like this.

That said, if it drops to the 50's or below on RT, then yeah, my excitement will definitely be lowered a bit, but I could still end up loving it. I've never been one to say that "reviews don't matter," not only because I do believe they matter in the grand scheme for multiple reasons, but also because I actually tend to agree with the critical consensus on most films. But that's just in a broad, "the majority liked (or didn't like) it" sense; Not in a specific, "it was 75% good" way, so scores like this never seem bad to me, and I don't understand getting riled up over them.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Rocketman, I wasn't a kid when that film came out but I was a huge fan of that series and yes I think the 3rd film is crap.

I also disagree that children's films shouldn't be judged, I think children's films should be judged. I don't want kids to watch garbage and mistakenly believe that it is good.

flickchick I agree that a score in the 70's isn't bad but it's treated like it is often times. I guess 70's isn't good if it's a sequel to a film that scored in the 90's but it's still not bad.

 

[flickchick85]

Subjecting to kids to bad films is even worse than subjecting adults to them because the kids are more impressionable, lol. So yeah, children's films should be judged just like all the others, imo.

 

[BatLobster]

What bothers me about the "reviews don't matter" mantra is that that thinking never seems to cover all films. Reviews do kinda matter, maybe that sucks and maybe it doesn't but they kinda do, especially on Superhero Hype.

I use reviews to attack films at times and many others use reviews to attack films. I'm not excluding myself when I say that most on Hype don't follow through on that "reviews don't matter" mantra.

I think film criticism, just like film itself, can be hit and miss. Maybe sometimes it matters, maybe sometimes it matters less. Just like sometimes a film is great and sometimes it isn't.

I'm sure all of us can say we've loved a film that we felt got the short end of the stick from critics, as well as disliked a film that the critics swooned over.

People point to reviews for validation when they find that a critic's views align with their own on a film. I think that's fairly understandable. It's nice when someone else is able to articulate what you loved about something better than you could've in a way that makes you appreciate it even more. Likewise it can feel equally as validating to see others have the same problems you had with a film and key in on those things.

That said...I think reviews are a luxury for us film fans more than anything, when it comes to these big event films that we're all going to see regardless of the reviews. It's ultimately on the viewer to watch a film and react to it, emote with it, think with it, and finally form an opinion on what it is we've experienced. Relying too much on reviews as a crutch to process a movie can be damaging to the experience of moviegoing if you allow it to have that too much of sway over you, IMHO.

Just as a for instance...I really disliked The Fountain. It's at 51% on RT, but that's beside the point. The movie just didn't work for me and I found it to be a chore to get through. But the people who love that movie, really love it and find it to be a masterpiece. And I wouldn't bother trying to convince them otherwise, certainly not by citing reviews. Because on some level I know that it's a movie you just love or you don't and I'm okay with that. Frankly I find that these days we spend so much time trying to quantify quality and impose these "objective" measures on something that is inherently subjective. We've become something of a consensus culture when it comes to movies.

I say screw consensus. I'd much rather a film that gets hotly debated for years to come, than an agreed-upon "good" film that sparks little in the way of rewatchable-factor and ongoing discussion.

That's not directed at you ISS, but you brought up an interesting point that got me thinking. So yeah, there's my rant for the night.

I swear though...if I wake up and this is in the 50s on RT...

Spoiler

I won't care at all.

 

[Poetic Chaos]

Guess my gut feeling that this wouldn't be critically acclaimed was right.

 

[spiderman2]

I am really surprised right now the movie is only at a 69 and that is after only 38 reviews and most the time the more reviews the lower the score gets. Nohl has yet to make a movie that was not consider at least slightly good could this be the first one?

 

[Marvolo]

Ok people lets not start being a bunch of chicken littles.

 

[Black Narcissus]

Guess my gut feeling that this wouldn't be critically acclaimed was right.

I bet ya he still gets a directing nod.

 

[Rocketman]

On the off-chance that this bombs (it won't), I could see one of two things happening to Nolan:

1. He won't be trusted with something original, so he'll be encouraged to take over an existing franchise again (James Bond, Star Wars, Metal Gear Solid, something like that.)

2. He won't be trusted with something BIG and original, so he'll choose to go back to smaller original movies that require no budget, can still make a considerable profit, and everyone's happy, like P.T. Anderson or Wes Anderson or Fincher. I can see him sort of fizzling out gracefully like David Lynch and really hitting the festival circuit hard with an awesome indie-film every five years.

The only thing that I absolutely DO NOT want to see is a situation like M. Night Shyamalan, where the hype and the love was overwhelming for four movies in a row, and then it crashed and burned hard. I don't see that happening to Nolan... BUT, between his name being sprinkled around Man of Steel, Transcendence, the mixed reviews for Interstellar, the mixed reaction to TDKR... I'm definitely pausing for concern. It's basically four movies in a row with his name associated with them where the audience wasn't fully satisfied.

^ I'm not expecting them to be fully satisfied (they never are), but...

If this movie bombs, I can see WB fighting him very hard to do something DC related.

 

[Schlosser85]

I don't care that much about reviews, I've quite liked some movies that weren't critically acclaimed, while I've walked out of some critical darlings not seeing what the hoopla was about.

It's only natural to want to see directors and actors and movies you like do well and receive praise though.

 

[Marvolo]

WB isnt going to lose faith in Nolan after a single misstep. That's absurd. The man always comes in under budget, and his successes far outweigh a single misstep. He is WB's golden boy.