I am terrible at assessing a film’s artistic merits even though I generally like reading the academic viewpoint. Most movie reviews are simply opinion pieces basing films on their entertainment value to the review writer.

I don’t like giving star ratings although I can appreciate why people like them.

I admit that I am wary of my initial reactions to a film. Actually, my opinion of a film can change depending on the mood I am in. As I get older, I find it harder for a film to amaze me, even films that most people would consider “groundbreaking.” I think I tend to favor films that affected me emotionally on my initial viewing.

I don’t understand why many people think that other people should have the same opinion of something as they do.

Big Hungry, I think I’ll summarize my likes and dislikes for “District 9″ under the Film Junk podcast post.

This got me thinking.
The old question is there a perfect 10 women out there. Or do we all just settle for less in the end. Ok back to movies….

So is there even a perfect movie out there? So is there even a perfect Genre for movies? Are people too Highbrow with certain Genres? If someone does not like a movie because it is from a certain Genre is that like being a movie racist (Genrist)? Not seeing what is on the inside that counts? http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=genrist

And more important what does Reed think? He hates a lot of good movies or maybe he is just very reserved in his rating and is waiting on the perfect movie? How can one that likes SciFi so much, not like D-9? This Genre question should be on a Cantankerous Episode.

If you only think 4 stars should go to films that drop your jaw instantly…isn’t that a bit blind for the long haul?

I firmly believe that a film can’t truly be assessed until at least 5 years after its release. If we went by star ratings how many of us in our late 20s, 30s would hate, dislike, or even disregard films that we saw in theaters over a decade ago? Big Lebowski? Most people didn’t get that during its release…no jaws were dropped…now a decade later, the same people regard it as a masterpiece.

Time passage is the ONLY true critic.

By the way, I really hated Drag Me to Hell. I really love the Evil Dead films. Go figure

For me personally, as a “critic” I guess, the genre of film matters not when assigning my personal star rating. It’s just that horror films and genre films don’t impact me as much as a good human drama story. But that’s just me. A perfect score from me is a rare breed. There are so many elements that need to come together just right for a perfect score. I don’t think I’ve seen one yet this year (maybe Anvil! or The Girlfriend Experience).

I need a movie to have me sitting in my seat throughout the credits pondering what I just saw. I want a movie to have me sitting with jaw open. I want to be thinking about it for days and itching to talk about it with friends. And just for me personally, a movie about a girl possessed by the devil isn’t likely to do that – or a movie about three guys in Vegas trying to remember what happened the night before. I may come out of the movie smiling, I may have a had a good time, I may have laughed a bunch of times or been shocked about something. But am I thinking about it a week later? Probably not.

Just thought of another one: The Class. That’s one that really brought something new and interesting to the table, had great acting, fantastic dialogue, interesting story and had me thinking about it for days afterwards. THAT’S a perfect score movie to me.

Whether genre and seriousness of intent should effect rating depends on who is the audience for the review. We want to know whether a film delivers the kind of entertainment we are looking for. To a gore hound Three on a Meathook may be a better film than The Seventh Seal. And I don’t think we can properly rate a film in a particular genre if we don’t have at least some appreciation of the genre. This particularly applies to more extreme genres like sexploitation, porn, gore and gross out humour. If the subject matter doesn’t appeal then one is unlikely to appreciate aspects of plot, acting, cinematography, etc. But I think that one genre which is often rated unfairly on podcasts which normally concentrate on action and fantasy genres is that of romantic comedy. While there is a fair bit of agreement when it comes to praising standout examples – e.g. Four Weddings and a Funeral – mediocre examples – e.g. Four Christmases and Marley & Me – are sometimes treated as bad movies rather than competent but unexceptional examples of a genre of which the reviewer is not overly fond.

You guys tend to give out a perfect number of four star reviews.

I have been using flickchart http://www.flickchart.com/ and the genre thing comes up when I am looking at two movies wondering which one I like better.
Genres do matter but so does the movie itself and that is more important. What happens when a movie shares two or more genres? hum… a good movie is a good movie but some genres do have more good movies.