I'm going to regret hopping into this, but I think it's absolutely okay to be critical of anything, be it popcorn or Oscar bait, because the discussion of what we did and didn't like about a film is a huge part of the discourse and can help give us a sense of camaraderie or laser focus our feelings in a way we couldn't express on our own. What I don't like and find depressing is when that discourse becomes hostile, and your mileage will vary on what that means, but when a discussion feels unfriendly to positive interpretation, that's when I check out. I don't think that's been happening here though.
Imo, you have to be able to analyze and critique elements of all kinds of movies to be a halfway decent film critic so there’s definitely merit in critiquing a movie like this based on elements that define the medium as a whole.
watching this later tonight finally but every movie is worthy of analytical discussion and its just downright more fulfilling to engage with something. theres nothing more insulting then saying "turn your brain off" and enjoy something lol
When I was a little kid I would always hate when my mother or another adult would say something like "it's just a movie". There is so much to talk about.
I liked RLM's thoughts on the movie and it echoed a lot of my issues with it. That said, I came away accepting the movie's shortcomings while still enjoying it on the whole. Nothing's perfect.
I agree with all this too. Criticism is fine but it is absolutely possible to take something way too seriously and demand something out of a piece of fiction that it just wasn't meant to give you.
Is it that ridiculous to think that there are things that make dumb movies good or bad? Even regarding Marvel movies, there's a significant quality difference between CA: The Winter Soldier vs The Marvels
big takeaway here: like what you like. dislike what you dislike. engage in thoughtful critique when applicable (i.e. don't be a dick), but don't let someone else's thoughts completely overshadow yours or your ability to enjoy a film they might not, while simultaneously being able to note the shortcomings of something you might enjoy. there's room for nuance beyond just simply saying "_ is good" or "_ is bad".
I appreciate them because they come from a perspective of working filmmakers instead of an academic approach. I watch pretty much everything they make even though they are usually doing a lot of the blockbusters I don't watch anyway.
Even though I enjoyed The Marvels and feel it absolutely did not deserve to bomb, TWS is a much better film and there are definitely things about The Marvels I would change. I guess the real difference between viewers sometimes is just down to how much you can forgive before a film stops giving you what you want. Turns out I can forgive a lot.
This was great, loved it. Maybe my favorite theater experience of the year. I'm not even sure what to critique. I loved the weird last act. At first, I thought maybe too long to get there. It seemed like those last 20 minutes before crashing to the rings took a long time. I wonder if things progressed in real time. The brother's death did feel a bit anti-climactic. They spent more time with him than the sister so I wasn't expecting that. But so impressed with everything overall. My favorite things are the retro feel of all the space stuff. And the guy that played Andy was seriously great.