inazsully said:
Maltin and Ebert are both movie snobs. They need a couple of regular people with the ability to not require an Oscar type movie to give it a good rating. Most of us just want to be entertained.
What I find important for reviews is to find movie reviewers that are in your camp already. For me, its Kenneth Turran and Manhola Dargis. Go to Rotten Tomatoes, find films that the general public disagreed with you and find a reviewer that agreed with you. Kenneth Turran hit it out of the park with films like Superman Returns while a bunch of other reviewers were all gah gah over it.
Reviews are definitely subjective, so it is best to find a reviewer you agree a bunch of the time. Also, it is good to be able to read between lines in order to get a feel for what the reviewer didn't like about a film.
In general, I think reviews from Tribune are better with TCM and classic films as they've been around long enough to filter into their appropriate categories. I typically won't watch a 2 star or lower film on TCM, unless there is an actor I'm trying to watch.
dishsubla said:
You make a good point, as I have often been frustrated with the 4 stars maximum on Dish/Tribune although they do have HALF--stars, so there are more than 4 steps. However, Yes, I have preferred for a long time more steps and stars go give a more accurate rating for material on Dish. Sometimes that is the primary frustration I have with the rating on Dish as opposed to just disagreeing with the star ratings.
It works both ways. A four star system allows for a gentler classification of films. 1 is trash, 2 is okay, 3 is very good and 4 is outstanding. The 10 star system splits things up and a subjective reviews can based a film from 6.5 (pretty good) to 3.5 (yak!) where it could be just a 2 star film. IMDB shows what is wrong with the 10 star system. 10 stars is almost impossible to obtain, while garbage films could rate 4 stars, when they should be just 1 of 4. How does one rate Citizen Kane, Gone with the Wind, Network, Missing, Mister Roberts, Shadow of a Doubt, Witness for the Prosecution in a 10 star system? They'd all be 3.5 to 4 stars in a 4 star system. Simply noted, 4 stars is easier to judge on and less subjective. One can still disagree, but there is less room for subjectiveness.