How Do You Decide Which Movies to See?
Submitted by evildonut on Sat, 09/18/2004 - 02:12
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After reading jim's comments about the lack of anticipation of seeing Wimbledon, I read the rottentomatoes.com review. I realized that the reviewers seemed rather split, and that basically I didn't care what any of them thought. I wrote this basically because I wondered how other people view reviews by "professional" reviewers, and it just ballooned from there. I guess this same poll could go for books, music, etc., but I personally think I have different methods for different media, so I am limiting this to movies. Inspired by k3vin's discussion of the influence of reviews on his ultimate feelings about the film.
I can't believe nobody mentioned this great 'collaborative filtering' project called MovieLens (check it out - www.movielens.umn.edu). You rate movies you've seen then it predicts, based on how your ratings compare to others for the movies you've seen, how much you'll like the searched for movie. It's come a long way since they started it and now includes the ability to suggest titles that aren't already in there, and to have a 'buddy list' so that you can include your friend's predicted ratings when you search for a movie. It is linked to IMDb. Over time I think I have rated all the movie I can remember seeing (and didn't fall asleep during) amounting to a whopping 991, and I'm only 25! (For those of you who don't feel like doing the math, that is - order of magnitude - a movie a week for 20 years... ok, so I don't have much of a social life, or maybe I just really like movies ;)
ooh, thanks for the suggestion! i knew i had good friends :)
I research them on Oscarwatch, Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB. I also watch trailers at Apple.com, which might get me interested, but Rotten Tomatoes might talk me out of it. Lists influence me a great deal. Good buzz, from you or other people who've seen it, will also play a role in my decision. Director, actors, and genre are influential, too. I approach certain genres with greater caution (comedy, romantic comedy, and sci-fi). It's easier to choose a good movie from several years ago, because they stand the test of time. The rubbish tends to drop off the radar after a while.
Actually, I read every single movie book I can get my hands on, and thats how I decide......
What sorts of movie books?
Anything. I go down to Northwestern University and I spend hours and hours reading about film.
I cant really think how i decide. because i can enjoy a serious film such as "Deer Hunter" but i can enjoy a stupid comedy "Mr.Deeds" / "Dodgeball" just as much. but i do watch anything a certain actor / actress / director does too. like wes anderson movies. i think it just comes down to what i like the sound of.
A combo, to be certain, but I am particularly fond of working through long lists (like the 1001 Movies To See Before You Die). I'm not particularly concerned with the source (pro/amateur) of the list; I just love lists (of course). Some choices are based on having heard about a film enough times from enough credible people (including Listologists!) to intrigue me. Sometimes in the process of checking one film out, I learn about others that strike me as compelling; or sometimes I just stumble on them by accident. Almost any of your choices are valid for me at one time or another, but usually in combination. And of the "actor/director/writer/producer" factor, director is definitely the most influential for me.