Opposite reactions to "reviews"?

[marc weber]

Is it just me? Or is anyone else captivated by exceptionally poor reviews of books and movies? Especially customer reviews?

For example, Abel Ferrara's film, "The Blackout," is not well liked on Amazon...

DVD, 13 new from $1.42, 20 used from $0.98.

5 star: *
4 star: *
3 star: *
2 star:
1 star: ******

Some pull quotes: "One of Abel's worst films." "The film is just a disaster." "There is nothing of any artistic merit in this travesty of moviemaking..." "If you make it past the early scene, I suppose you can survive the rest of the movie." "ONE OF THE WORSE MOVIES-MAYBE THE WORST!" "This is terrible." "If I could give this film negative stars, I totally would." "...a pointless film."

When I read stuff like this, it often just makes me click the "buy" button. (I'll post back after I've watched this "travesty.")

One of my other favorite films is Mike Figgis' "Hotel."

DVD, 26 new from $2.94, 85 used from $0.01.

5 star: *****
4 star: ***
3 star: *
2 star: **
1 star: ****************

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Certainly I've experienced the attraction of the MST3K-class films, the "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" and "Sssssss!" and their ilk. Big-budget stuff like "Starship Troopers" and "Showgirls" can be just as deliciously bad, too.

[Jesper de Jong]

I guess you do this because with films it can make them interesting or funny precisely because they are bad.

With other items, for example books, it's probably different. A bad book is not interesting or funny, it's just boring and a chore to read.

[marc weber]

Ernest Friedman-Hill wrote:Certainly I've experienced the attraction of the MST3K-class films, the "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" and "Sssssss!" and their ilk...

"The Brain that Wouldn't Die," "Death Race 2000," "Le Mans," "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians," or "Santa Claus" (the jaw-dropping 1960 Mexican version!)...



But there's irony in liking these. I actually like "Hotel" for what it is.

Maybe I just have bad taste. Or am genuinely enthralled by the Emperor's clothes.

[Tim McGuire]

I also love negative reviews of "classic" books, films, and music

see if you can guess the works being discussed:

The main reason why I gave this movie 1 star is because the showdown between Rocky and Apollo Creed at the end is very disappointing. I was expecting a big climatic boxing match, but I was appalled at just how boring and short it was. Rocky didn’t even win the damn World Heavyweight Championship belt from Apollo Creed because the referee stopped the contest too soon. Right before the credits at the very end of the movie, Rocky looks so retarded screaming, “Adrian!” over and over again. What a lackluster conclusion.

Had nothing (repeat, NOTHING) to do with the Cival War. If you want a movie about the Cival War then watch GLORY, the best Cival War movie ever made. It is nothing more than an Episode of Dynasty with nice sets and costumes.

If you’re going to make such an excellent documentary, why make it about about a band that nobody has ever heard of?

But if they had left out that “F” word their would not have been any dialog at all.I do not think gansters used that word way back then anyway!

What a load of rubbish. War is ugly and brutal, but it is not “insane.”

These are from http://www.cynical-c.com/?cat=85, a collection of one star reviews of famous works.

[fred rosenberger]

isn't the purpose of a review to help you figure out what movie you want to see? Seems to me like they are doing EXACTLY what they are supposed to do.

[marc weber]

fred rosenberger wrote:isn't the purpose of a review to help you figure out what movie you want to see? Seems to me like they are doing EXACTLY what they are supposed to do.

[marc weber]

Tim McGuire wrote:...see if you can guess the works being discussed...

I think I only know 2 of these: Rocky and Spinal Tap.

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Second to last one has to be "Scarface".

[Mike Simmons]

Had nothing (repeat, NOTHING) to do with the Cival War. If you want a movie about the Cival War then watch GLORY, the best Cival War movie ever made. It is nothing more than an Episode of Dynasty with nice sets and costumes.

Probably Gone With The Wind.

[Mike Simmons]

What a load of rubbish. War is ugly and brutal, but it is not “insane.”

This one, I'm not so sure. There are probably many good candidates. My best guess though is Apocalypse Now.

[Bert Bates]

We study our reviews very carefully. Here, fwiw, is what we like:

- We like to hear about how our readers succeeded.
- We like 4 and 5 star reviews
- We like a few 1 star reviews
- We really hate 3 star reviews

We hope to invoke some sort of passion in our readers, positive is better than negative, but negative is better than indifference.

[marc weber]

marc weber wrote:...Abel Ferrara's film, "The Blackout," is not well liked on Amazon...

Some pull quotes: "One of Abel's worst films." "The film is just a disaster." "There is nothing of any artistic merit in this travesty of moviemaking..." "If you make it past the early scene, I suppose you can survive the rest of the movie." "ONE OF THE WORSE MOVIES-MAYBE THE WORST!" "This is terrible." "If I could give this film negative stars, I totally would." "...a pointless film."

When I read stuff like this, it often just makes me click the "buy" button. (I'll post back after I've watched this "travesty.") ...

Loved this! Riveting, edgy, and experimental enough to be intriguing without getting lost in itself. This is the type of filmmaking that drew me to Abel Ferrara in the first place (with "Dangerous Game"). As Steven Jesse Bernstein said, "I like to think when something disturbs me that it is important." And this is disturbing. 4 stars.