Friday, August 21, 2009

My thoughts on reviews and how they are quanitified...

Reviews are shitty. They really are, that's just a fact of life. They are shitty because they are opinions. Opinions are shitty, too. See, everybody has opinions, which means that everybody has dissenting opinions. As such, you're not going to agree with me all of the time. That's okay, I'm just voicing my opinion, and I encourage you to do the same. We can disagree on movies, video games, comics, music, or anything else that is meant to entertain us. Just remember that when opinions on such things are made, they're not attacking you, they're critiquing something, and if you like it, then that is swell. I might not, but that doesn't make me feel like I'm a better human being than you are. I might be, but that's beside the point...

People will always tell you that you're entitled to your opinion because it's just how you feel, and it's not fact, so it's okay to feel a certain way. That's generally true, but there are occasions when opinions are wrong. Many will disagree with that statement, but it's true. If you're of the opinion that a certain group of people should die just because they are a different skin color, or have different beliefs, then that is a wrong opinion. It doesn't matter if it's just emotion or how you feel. That is wrong. Sorry, but them's the facts, people. Like if you say, "The Godfather" is a bad movie. You might not like it, but it's not bad. There's a difference here.

However, I will not spend any time here arguing against racism, social prejudices, or anything else that doesn't involve mediums of entertainment. I'm just illustrating a point that opinions can be wrong. I will focus most of my reviews on comics and movies, as those are my two favorite forms of entertainment. Everything is based on a five-star scale. The rating is as follows:

0 Stars - Abysmal, the absolute worst example of it's kind.
1 Star - Very Bad, very few redeeming qualities, if any.
2 Stars - Bad, but has a few good spots; watchable/readable.
3 Stars - Good. A fun way to spend an afternoon, but it's disposable fun.
4 Stars - Great. Has faults, but very few. Will be remembered for years to come.
5 Stars - Best of the Best. It will go down in history as head of the class.

See, I'll rarely ever give a 5-star or 0-star rating. 4 Stars is great, basically the best. However, 5 stars is reserved for the rare ones that come along and change the way the medium is perceived. Just because I give a movie a 4-star review doesn't mean I don't love it. There's a chance that a 4-star review will become one of my favorite movies.

This leads me directly to my next point. In the rare event I do award anything 5-Stars, it's based entirely on that piece of entertainment. I would give "Ocean's 11" 5 stars, and I would also give "The Godfather" 5 stars. That doesn't mean that in my eyes, "Ocean's 11" is just as good as "The Godfather," it simply means that "Ocean's 11" is perfect for what it is. The same can be said for "The Dark Knight." It's not as Earth-shattering as, say, "Casablanca," but both movies are 5-stars in my eyes, because they are perfect for their genre, and they accomplish everything they set out to do perfectly.

So, when I rate "Transformers" 4 stars along with, let's say, "Casino," I'm not stating they're in the same class. "Transformers" is far inferior to "Casino," yet it is a fun fucking movie and is a personal action favorite. It is important to view these movies in relation to their genres. I hope this kind of clears things up for future reference.

No comments:

Post a Comment