# The Worst Movie Critic in America **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 25, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527 "2014-03-25T15:47:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527/81 "2014-03-26T16:22:39Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > OK, hold on. In [this](http://www.chicagonow.com/sarah-takes-on-movies/2013/10/diane-keaton-at-the-movies/) picture from last October she looks like she’s about 13. It still doesn’t explain the writing style If she’s 13 or anywhere close to it, her father must have either had her very late in life or adopted her or else he has aged prematurely. Very prematurely. Looks more like a grandfather. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527/82 "2014-03-26T16:44:13Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > Is “tomfoolery” OK? Monkeyshines? Flimflammery? Flapdoodle? My guess is that she’s doing it for the free reviewer tickets and churns out a no-brainer review - possibly before seeing the film - in order to justify getting them. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527/83 "2014-03-26T17:00:37Z")
But how is she getting free tickets to screenings that aren’t yet being screened? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527/84 "2014-03-26T17:02:38Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > But how is she getting free tickets to screenings that aren’t yet being screened? Horseplay and monkey business. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527/85 "2014-03-26T17:52:16Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > Horseplay and monkey business. It’s Duck Soup to have A Night at the Opera. ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527/86 "2014-03-26T20:23:18Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Sorry, forgot to leave a [link](http://www.chicagonow.com/sarah-takes-on-movies/category/movies)to her reviews. Maybe you can leave a comment. I think you’ll be the first. Ever. I clicked that link. I feel bad for having done so. I’m blaming it on you. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527/87 "2014-03-26T20:38:24Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > In Sarah Takes On The Movies Sarah the Movie Critic is Sarah. ChicagoNow is the Website. > > Sarah the Movie Critic lives in Chicago. She must review new movies like Captain America the Winter Soldier. Will she succeed? Will she fail? Will she review new movies? > > I enjoy Sarah Takes On The Movies. The reviews are funny and don’t use too many words. The review comes out March 35th, 2014. Thanks for the good laugh of the day. ~presses “like” button for this post~ ---
**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:** [March 26, 2014, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527/88 "2014-03-26T20:59:55Z")
If I hadn’t actually had to edit drivel like this for most of my life, I’d probably laugh a lot harder. It was physically painful to read. I once read a novel that was written something like this, back when self-publishing was new. It was for a review for a newspaper and I was slack-jawed through most of it. The writing wasn’t the half of it; the thing was full of logical problems, time errors and other ridiculousness. I kept it; it’s on my bookshelf right now and the title is _As Time Goes By_. Somewhere, someone thinks he wrote a novel and a mean woman wrote a mean review in the paper about it. I think I have PTS from that experience. Thanks for the flashback! :eek: barf smiley ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527/89 "2014-03-26T22:47:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Horseplay and monkey business. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > It’s Duck Soup to have A Night at the Opera. I call, er, Sheboygans on this post. Horseplay =/= Horse Feathers. Otherwise, loved your post, **Exapno**. ---
**Author:** ![llcoolbj77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb9ed0/32.png) [@llcoolbj77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/llcoolbj77)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527/90 "2014-03-26T22:50:30Z")
My dear, sweet nephew\* writes a movie review blog. He is 15. And while his grammar isn’t perfect, he is clever and insightful. He even has his own rating system. I think I’m going to tell him to submit his blog to ChicagoNow. \*He is my father-in-law’s long-time girlfriend’s son. (They’ve been together for several years, but won’t get married as they are both widowers). But I’m 36 and he’s 15, so he feels nephew-ish. ---
**Author:** ![llcoolbj77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb9ed0/32.png) [@llcoolbj77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/llcoolbj77)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527/91 "2014-03-26T22:55:16Z")
Here’s a sample of my nephew’s blog. He was 13 at the time. [Sam's New and Classic Movie Reviews: Hobo With A Shotgun CR: #4](http://dhchc.blogspot.com/2011/08/hobo-with-shotgun-cr-4.html?m=1) ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527/92 "2014-03-26T23:16:12Z")
> [@llcoolbj77](#): > > Here’s a sample of my nephew’s blog. He was 13 at the time. [Sam's New and Classic Movie Reviews: Hobo With A Shotgun CR: #4](http://dhchc.blogspot.com/2011/08/hobo-with-shotgun-cr-4.html?m=1) It’s okay, but I admit I laughed at “This film is supposed to be a modern day 70’s exploration film…” ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527/93 "2014-03-27T00:12:06Z")
> [@llcoolbj77](#): > > Here’s a sample of my nephew’s blog. He was 13 at the time. [Sam's New and Classic Movie Reviews: Hobo With A Shotgun CR: #4](http://dhchc.blogspot.com/2011/08/hobo-with-shotgun-cr-4.html?m=1) His review is all kinds of awesome in that Robert Hamburger kind of way. It reminded me of [realultimatepower.net](http://www.realultimatepower.net/index4.htm) and that was so successful it made me flip out and kill people when some chick dropped a spoon. Sadly, our dear Sarah misses her mark if she wants to go down as one of the greats in the ‘it’s so bad, it’s good’ category. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527/94 "2014-03-27T01:02:16Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > No, because that opens the door for terms like “gumption”, and that’s where I’m gonna have to start to killin’. Okay, don’t get all persnickety on us. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527/95 "2014-03-27T02:41:34Z")
This reminds of “Sixty Second Preview”, the old radio commentary on upcoming movies. No matter how bad the movie they’d still give it a good review. And when the movie was so dire nothing good could be said about it, they’d mention the actors in the flick and how it was a “light hearted romp”. So is Sarah either a movie studio plant or a person so desperate to see her name in movie posters she’ll praise anything? ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527/96 "2014-03-27T02:44:55Z")
She likes simple declarative sentences. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527/97 "2014-03-27T05:45:49Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Probably not. > > Honestly, I don’t know if she’s getting paid, but when I wrote that it was under the (now mistaken) assumption that she has the same job that Gene Siskel once had. Apparently she’s just a bad blogger. > > Why doesn’t **Equipoise** go for that job? 🙂 **Equipoise** is far too busy watching movies to take the time to write about movies. But she is a fine writer. ---
**Author:** ![Calatin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Calatin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calatin)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527/98 "2014-03-27T05:49:51Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > This reminds of “Sixty Second Preview”, the old radio commentary on upcoming movies. No matter how bad the movie they’d still give it a good review. And when the movie was so dire nothing good could be said about it, they’d mention the actors in the flick and how it was a “light hearted romp”. So is Sarah either a movie studio plant or a person so desperate to see her name in movie posters she’ll praise anything? She gave _The Wolf of Wall Street_ one star, so I doubt she’s a plant. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527/99 "2014-03-27T14:15:58Z")
I agree that her being a plant is pretty far fetched. I think she just really likes movies and wants to blog about them but isn’t really very good at the writing part. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527/100 "2014-03-27T17:34:32Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Sadly, our dear Sarah misses her mark if she wants to go down as one of the greats in the ‘it’s so bad, it’s good’ category. In Sarah Takes On the Movies Sarah plays Sarah the Movie Critic. Shagnasty plays one of Sarah’s readers. Exapno plays another one of Sarah’s readers. Sarah is a blogger in Chicago. Her readers are not in Chicago. The movies are on the screen. The screen is in Chicago. Chicago is in Illinois. Illinois is in the United States of America. The United States of America is in North America. North America is on Earth. In Sarah Takes On the Movies Sarah tries to be good. Sarah does not succeed at being good. The readers wonder whether Sarah will become so bad that she becomes good. Will she succeed? Will she fail? Will she team up with Robert Hamburger? Sarah Takes on the Movies is funny but very predictable. It is a fun blog but definitely not a thinking blog. It is good to read a movie review by Sarah the Movie Critic. Cameron Diaz should play Sarah the Movie Critic in the movie version of Sarah Takes on the Movies. Shagnasty should play Shagnasty. Exapno should play the harp. That would be funny but predictable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-critic-in-america/684527.md?page=6)