Tag Archives: Dr. Strangelove

Do Movie Scoring Sites Affect What You Watch?

A few weeks ago, I started thinking about the impact of movie scoring sites on society’s decisions to watch films. Sites like Rotten Tomatoes, Flixster, and Metacritic.

In my humble opinion, most movies these days lack the emotional content to create a worthy film. We are in the age of remaking, rehashing, and blowing things up. Every movie seems to be superheroes, animation, and action-filled nonsense.

A perfect example: after much wearing down, my mother got me to watch The Expendables. FINE, MOM!

Sly Stallone in The Expendables
Sly Stallone in The Expendables

Before agreeing, my first thought was to look at my Flixster app to see if it was worth watching based on the percentage of likes. Against my better judgement, I decided against those results, watched it, and, to my chagrin, thought it sucked. It was another plot-less movie masked with big bangs and bigger muscles.

I have to say that before coming to DFA, I would probably have thought this movie was as awesome as my mother did. Film school has really changed the way I view movies. My mother has no concern for the plot; she just likes the action.

I immediately went to Flixster and it agreed with me. This movie was not well-liked by the critics, but more than half the audience liked it. Another movie that is actually one of my favorites is called Teeth. In that case, the audience did not like it but the critics rated it very well. Then there are movies that both audience and critics love, like Dr. Strangelove.

An iconic moment from Dr. Strangelove.
An iconic moment from Dr. Strangelove.

Once the movie industry spots a trend, they jump on it like zombies on flesh. So, I asked some DFA students whether they value the opinions on scoring sites. Most said no, but they believe a non-film student would because film students have a different thought process and different taste than the average viewer. My view now parallels the critic’s percentage versus that of the audience when it used to be the reverse. I’m looking at the editing, the effects used (example: Mr. Disappointing Monster in Cloverfield), and the execution of the story.

Let me know what you think.

 

By Digital Film Academy Student Blogger Harley Page

Return to blog homepage.


® GI Bill® Is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits by VA is available at the official U.S. government website at www.benefits.va.gov/gibill