# Ever thoroughly enjoy a movie and find out the critics savaged it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 4, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965 "2012-12-04T16:01:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965/21 "2012-12-04T23:55:42Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I usually agree with the Tomatometer, but I quite like _Oscar_. 13%. I’ll agree with this. Very underrated. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965/22 "2012-12-05T01:55:32Z")
**The Lovely Bones.** I seem to recall it getting a lot of buzz before it was released, but I didn’t pay attention to what the critics said when it actually hit theaters, and I didn’t get around to seeing it until it hit DVD anyway. Maybe it’s just because a close friend of ours had just died when I saw it (who happened to be the father of another friend who died a few years before), but the movie really struck a chord with me, and I was pretty surprised when I looked it up on Rotten Tomatoes and saw that the critics lambasted it. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965/23 "2012-12-05T02:13:17Z")
Anyone who thinks there’s a James Bond film other than 1967’s _Casino Royale_ that’s worth watching once, let alone twice, is just plain WRONG. Yet somehow, the Rotten Tomatoes site has an extraordinarily large number of wrong people on it, where this film is concerned. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965/24 "2012-12-05T02:21:39Z")
Missed the edit window: I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the 1966 _Batman_, which is to Batman as _Casino Royale '67_ is to Bond, was treated much better on that site, although there are still a lot of WRONG people who rated many of the post-1988 ones higher. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965/25 "2012-12-05T02:28:01Z")
I mentioned this recently in another thread, but **Return to Oz**. Critics are reassessing it these days, but it’s a fine movie and probably ahead of its time. Nowadays, when darkness is a virtue, it’d be very well received. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965/26 "2012-12-05T02:39:32Z")
> [@enomaj](#): > > It’s basically Die Hard on a Supermax space prison. Close. It’s con-air in space. ---
**Author:** ![Trick\_Rider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Trick\_Rider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trick_Rider)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965/27 "2012-12-05T05:23:24Z")
I thought White Noise was an interesting, tense horror movie with a refreshing amount of suspense. 9% last time I checked. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965/28 "2012-12-05T05:40:25Z")
> [@enomaj](#): > > Watched Lockout with Guy Pearce and Maggie Grace. It’s basically Die Hard on a Supermax space prison. Guy has to rescue Maggie after a prison riot that erupts on her fact finding mission. She’s the First Daughter by the way. And Dad is standing by to give the order for a ful assault once she’s rescued. The rest of the hostages will be collateral damage. There’s also a subplot about a briefcase that Guy dumped off to a mystery man. That man is on the prison but he suffers from dementia brought on by stasis. > > So I check out rotten tomatoes after rating it 5 stars on Netlix streaming. 33% critics, 44% audience. What gives? As far as I can tell, critics tend toward the “true art is incomprehensible to common rabble” school of thought that holds that if it’s entertaining, it’s not ART, therefore it is unworthy. I tend to ignore critics and form my own opinions. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965/29 "2012-12-05T06:27:33Z")
“Thoroughly enjoyed” may be overstating it, but I thought _The Postman_ was okay. Rotten Tomatoes lists it at 9% from critics, 51% from audiences. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965/30 "2012-12-05T06:46:48Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > As far as I can tell, critics tend toward the “true art is incomprehensible to common rabble” school of thought that holds that if it’s entertaining, it’s not ART, therefore it is unworthy. Not really. I mean, there are movie critics like that, but the majority are middlebrow. I will say, though, that I tend to be skeptical of some movies with very high RT scores. Critics tend to be generous toward films that offer novelty or prove some sort of point. Currently, a movie called _The Sessions_ has a 95%. > [@](#): > > Based on the poignantly optimistic autobiographical writings of California-based journalist and poet Mark O’Brien, The Sessions tells the story of a man confined to an iron lung who is determined - at age 38 - to lose his virginity. With the help of his therapists and the guidance of his priest, he sets out to make his dream a reality. Yeah, no. I might watch it if my wife gets it but it just sounds lame to me. As for movies I liked that got panned, all I really have is _Not Another Teen Movie_, which wasn’t particularly good. It’s just not as bad as RT made it out to be (28%). There’s one scene I’m particularly fond of: the popular hero has to date the most hideous girl in school but not the conjoined albino twins, no, it’s the arty girl with _glasses_ and a _ponytail_. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965/31 "2012-12-05T14:11:37Z")
All the damn time. Including a depressing amount of what I see in theaters. Starting with—one of my favorites is “GI Joe the Movie.” The animated one, from the 80s. 'Nuff said. Lessie…I enjoyed the Star Wars Prequels well enough and DIDN’T hate Jar-Jar; I liked _Daredevil_; I’m somewhat baffled by the hate for _X3_; I found _Prometheus_ rather charming… Jeez, I’m not sure where I am when it comes to “serious” movies that I liked, but the critics hate. I can’t even think of any big examples…which I hope doesn’t mean I’ve had too narrow a movie watching experience. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965/32 "2012-12-05T14:19:04Z")
I heard a very intense interview with someone in _The Sessions_, maybe it was the actor playing the disabled guy. I can’t remember; I was so busy being incredulous at the entire premise. The thing I do remember is that it sounded like complete idiocy. But I’m prepared to believe a moving with a stupid-sounding premise can be good; there have been tons of them. It’s all in the execution. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965/33 "2012-12-05T14:22:48Z")
Yea, if you could judge a movie by a brief synopsis of its premise, there wouldn’t really be much point in having critics. I mean “a space wizard and a farmboy must rescue a princess from an evil space-station” sounds like tripe to. ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965/34 "2012-12-05T14:45:32Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > Yeah, no. I might watch it if my wife gets it but it just sounds lame to me. It’s not. It’s very entertaining and poignant, with really well-drawn characters. Plus, it has a refreshingly positive attitude about sex and the need for people to both understand and enjoy their sexuality. You should see it if it’s showing near you. But I do agree with you that the view of critics as anti–mainstream entertainment is way, way overstated, if not outright false. If you look at the summer blockbusters from the last decade or so on the Tomatometer, many of them have an overwhelming amount of critical support behind them. This summer had **The Avengers** (92%) and **The Dark Knight Rises** (87%), plus **The Hunger Games** (84%) from the spring and **Skyfall** (92%) from the fall. And last summer you had: **Thor** (77%) **X-Men: First Class** (87%) **Super 8** (82%) **Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2** (96%) **Captain America: The First Avenger** (79%) **Rise of the Planet of the Apes** (83%) It’s pretty hard to look at those numbers and claim that critics (at least in recent years) don’t give a fair shake to mainstream entertainment. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965/35 "2012-12-05T15:51:36Z")
I agree that critics tend toward liking middle brow entertainment. Most of the time, I hate a movie and then find out that it got a high score on RT, rather than the situation described in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965/36 "2012-12-05T15:58:52Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Starting with—one of my favorites is “GI Joe the Movie.” The animated one, from the 80s. 'Nuff said. Sometimes when I’m feeling blue, I pull up the opening intro to that movie (with the fight at the statue of liberty). Always perks me up. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965/37 "2012-12-05T17:40:26Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > I heard a very intense interview with someone in _The Sessions_, maybe it was the actor playing the disabled guy. I can’t remember; I was so busy being incredulous at the entire premise. The thing I do remember is that it sounded like complete idiocy. But I’m prepared to believe a moving with a stupid-sounding premise can be good; there have been tons of them. It’s all in the execution. Don’t know if this will make a difference to you, but it is based on a true story. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965/38 "2012-12-05T18:50:23Z")
Mine is Duets, with Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis. It has a tomatometer rating of 20%. Ouch. Say what you will, I really enjoyed it both the first and subsequent times I saw it. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965/39 "2012-12-06T03:41:30Z")
My usual experience is the reverse - suffering through a bad movie (or leaving early) and finding out the critics loooved it. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965/40 "2012-12-06T04:14:42Z")
Pluto Nash- It was ok, kind of a tongue in cheek sci fi comedy(mob going after a guy living on a future moon with colonies). Going in I expected it to be the worst movie ever based on critic reviews, not even close. John Carter- I am baffled how this movie got a single bad review, it has some mild problems but on the whole is a visually dazzling sci fi adventure. I think sometimes reviewers get too caught up in the popular zeitgeist, a movie like The Postman just starts getting buzz as a turkey and then everyone feels compelled to pile on until the consensus has lost all contact with reality. See the numerous bad reviews Blade Runner received on its release, another case where buzz started that it was a turkey and it just snowballs. Roger Ebert has even done a 180 on his original review. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-thoroughly-enjoy-a-movie-and-find-out-the-critics-savaged-it/642965.md?page=3)