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Be Suspicious of Online Movie Ratings

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Re: Be Suspicious of Online Movie Ratings

#141

Post by petra »

curun1r wrote: post #37
intopieces wrote: post #7

I'm wary of any website that offers reviews for things they are also trying to sell, like those online systems for buying games (Playstation Network comes to mind). Why would a profit-driven enterprise allow anything to create a negative impression for the user? Amazon seems okay because they have such a wide variety of items: They're getting paid either way.

The problem with most online reviews is that they usually only collect reviews from those who are motivated to submit a review. This usually skews reviews towards the 1 or 5 star ends of the spectrum because 3-star reviewers aren't really motivated to go through the hassle of submitting a review, unless they're the type of person who obsessively reviews everything (think Yelp! Elite). The only real way to get past th…

Still with regards to books,on Amazon alot of books get a relatively high score(4+) and it's hard to filter good vs bad books using the score.

Re: Be Suspicious of Online Movie Ratings

#142

Post by octo_t »

Udik wrote: post #137
ciaranm wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought the Martian was excellent. You'll notice that the user-rated % is higher than the critics, at 94%. From the video game aggregation space, you tend to see the type of thing you're suggesting (games that are big-budget-questionably-reviewed) have _much_ lower user-scores than critics. I would be surprised if user-rated movies was different.

De gustibus non est disputandum . At least, not on HN. However, would you put The Martian almost on par with 2001? Would you rate it more than Blade Runner? I wouldn't do either, no way. As for the video games space, well, I don't know it enough. But I suppose you could argue that video games are different from movies in that they require a much higher level of engagement, both in terms of time and concentration - no…

To be honest, I preferred the martian to 2001. Might have just been the mindset that I watched 2001 in, but it felt the like 3 or 4 films in one and sort of dragged.

Although I would rate Blade Runner higher than the martian. Your mileage may vary, one size does not fit all etc etc.

Re: Be Suspicious of Online Movie Ratings

#143

Post by [deleted] »

abruzzi wrote: post #44
eridius wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious, what was the 95% fresh movie that you thought was the worst movie in 2 decades?

Snowpiercer. I'm sure some people love it, but I could not think of a single redeeming thing after I got done. I honestly preferred "The Room", (though that ones 'quality' was unintentional.)

[deleted]

Re: Be Suspicious of Online Movie Ratings

#144

Post by rm_-rf_slash »

bostik wrote: post #63

Oh wow, that's rich. Quoting from the article: Sites like Rotten Tomatoes that aggregate movie reviews into one overall rating are being blamed for poor opening weekends. The best part is that the quote above even provides a link to the reference they are using for the made statement.[0] In effect, the studios are complaining that news of the films' crappiness are spreading too fast . Let that sink in. The studios co…

Hollywood has known what to do when they're selling shit for years: crank up the marketing to get as many people buying tickets as possible before word gets out that the film sucks.

As a result the costs of films go way up to the degree that we're pretty much stuck with Oscar bait tragic dramas or the same lukewarm franchises we've had shoved down our throats before we were old enough to chew.

Re: Be Suspicious of Online Movie Ratings

#145

Post by moron4hire »

octo_t wrote: post #142
Udik wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

De gustibus non est disputandum . At least, not on HN. However, would you put The Martian almost on par with 2001? Would you rate it more than Blade Runner? I wouldn't do either, no way. As for the video games space, well, I don't know it enough. But I suppose you could argue that video games are different from movies in that they require a much higher level of engagement, both in terms of time and concentration - no…

To be honest, I preferred the martian to 2001. Might have just been the mindset that I watched 2001 in, but it felt the like 3 or 4 films in one and sort of dragged. Although I would rate Blade Runner higher than the martian. Your mileage may vary, one size does not fit all etc etc.

Blade Runner is one of my favorite movies, but it has some serious problems, almost all of which are due to it being based on a Philip K. Dick novel.

Re: Be Suspicious of Online Movie Ratings

#146

Post by moron4hire »

knowaveragejoe wrote: post #132
lemevi wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think engineering and or technically minded movie goers find Snowpiercer a lot harder to enjoy than maybe a critic who can discount such issues and focus on plot themes and movie making. There is so much that doesn't add up when you try to imagine how the people on the train solved all the problems they would have faced. It can make films harder to enjoy when you can't pretend that technology is just magic. There a…

Agreed. The physical impossibility of the train is what got to me(where did all these soldiers come from? did they march through the nightclub and kindergarden wonderland cars?). That said, it is very well produced and if you can set aside the technology aspect of it I would say it's among the better sci-fi movies in recent memory.

Actually, I kind of liked that idea, that they did march through the nightclub, etc. I mean, the rest of the movie was rather trite (though not the worst I've encountered), trying to imagine life on the train was one of the best parts for me.

Re: Be Suspicious of Online Movie Ratings

#147

Post by rm_-rf_slash »

eevilspock wrote: post #113
bostik wrote: post #63

Oh wow, that's rich. Quoting from the article: Sites like Rotten Tomatoes that aggregate movie reviews into one overall rating are being blamed for poor opening weekends. The best part is that the quote above even provides a link to the reference they are using for the made statement.[0] In effect, the studios are complaining that news of the films' crappiness are spreading too fast . Let that sink in. The studios co…

> When a bunch of reviews can undo the effects of a massive, weeks or months long marketing push, I'd say it's time to rethink your product strategy. Whenever a debate about advertising pops up on HN, many people defend it as the necessary way for consumers to find out about good products. Healthy free markets depend on informed consumers, but to think that advertising results in informed consumers makes little sense…

I think the best way to learn about what is good or not is through the opinions of people you respect or agree with enough to take their word for it.

Centralized example: Yahtzee Croshaw of the Zero Punctuation video game reviews eschews any semblance of a ratings system because it's a little absurd to boil down a complex opinion into a number. Watch a review and get a sense of whether you'd like the game or not.

Decentralized example: plug.dj (before it went down. Dubtract.fm kinda sucks) let users get in line to play one song for a room. Some rooms can have you waiting 3 hours to play one song so if you're gonna wait that long you're gonna play a banger.

Yeah it's more effort than a numeric ratings system but you get what you pay for with your time.

Re: Be Suspicious of Online Movie Ratings

#148

Post by Majestic121 »

thenomad wrote: post #127
eevilspock wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When a bunch of reviews can undo the effects of a massive, weeks or months long marketing push, I'd say it's time to rethink your product strategy. Whenever a debate about advertising pops up on HN, many people defend it as the necessary way for consumers to find out about good products. Healthy free markets depend on informed consumers, but to think that advertising results in informed consumers makes little sense…

That'd be nice, but it hasn't happened yet. I'm not going to make a grand sweeping statement here, but certainly, I've found out about multiple useful products via adverts. I actively don't want them to go away completely. I am very interested in hearing about new products in a number of spaces. If people can pay to let me know, briefly, about their thing that they think I might find useful, I'm cool with that.

Did you actually have a need for those products before hearing about them?

I find myself very often in the situation were I hear/learn about a new cool thing, and I want it absolutely right now (The last example was a colleague bringing an Oculus to work, I almost ordered one the spot)

However, I try to wait a bit before actually buying anything big (like one/two weeks), and I find that most of the time I don't actually need/care about the product I was so hyped about.

This is one of the part that annoy me the most about advertising, especially if it is well targeted : It creates a new need and offers (sells) its solution, more than it helps me to fulfill a real need.

Re: Be Suspicious of Online Movie Ratings

#149

Post by draugadrotten »

laumars wrote: post #111
bostik wrote: post #63

Oh wow, that's rich. Quoting from the article: Sites like Rotten Tomatoes that aggregate movie reviews into one overall rating are being blamed for poor opening weekends. The best part is that the quote above even provides a link to the reference they are using for the made statement.[0] In effect, the studios are complaining that news of the films' crappiness are spreading too fast . Let that sink in. The studios co…

I've seen a tendency for Hollywood to blame everyone bar themselves for a long long time. eg generic plot lines are blamed on the cost it takes to produce movies because movie goers demand the latest greatest special effects. Which isn't a complete lie, but then you have a movie like Skyline that manages to have excellent effects and at a fraction of budget of the big box office movies (though sadly Skyline was poor…

> The problem with the movie industry is that they are so self absorbed that they think people owe them a decent living. But in reality they're a luxury.

Another way to look at that, is that when I afford myself a luxury, I want to be treated well. Today, when I go to the cinema, I am treated like a potential criminal - I am spoonfed threats about being prosecuted for piracy if I take a photo of the cinema screen with my mobile phone camera and I am spoonfed 20-30 minutes of advertising before the movie I paid to see. None of that gives me a sense of "luxury", but rather a pretty seedy feeling of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. So the next Friday, I light a scented candle, pour a cognac, put some brillat savarin on the table and turn on Netflix's latest series. Now, that's luxury.

Re: Be Suspicious of Online Movie Ratings

#150

Post by eevilspock »

Majestic121 wrote: post #148
thenomad wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That'd be nice, but it hasn't happened yet. I'm not going to make a grand sweeping statement here, but certainly, I've found out about multiple useful products via adverts. I actively don't want them to go away completely. I am very interested in hearing about new products in a number of spaces. If people can pay to let me know, briefly, about their thing that they think I might find useful, I'm cool with that.

Did you actually have a need for those products before hearing about them? I find myself very often in the situation were I hear/learn about a new cool thing, and I want it absolutely right now (The last example was a colleague bringing an Oculus to work, I almost ordered one the spot) However, I try to wait a bit before actually buying anything big (like one/two weeks), and I find that most of the time I don't actua…

"Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need."

"We're consumers. We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don't concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy's name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra."

– Tyler Durden, Fight Club

(Swap out a few of the products in the second quote for gadgets, cars and porn to make it better fit the HN demographic.)

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