Before I get into my rant, I will let it be known that I use Metacritic, primarily because it is a good way to save yourself from blowing some hard-earned cash. On with the show.
You know what I never understood? Review-score systems in film critiquing that necessitate utilizing a number to wrap up the film's review? It may sound rediculous, but think about it. "Saving Private Ryan" opens to rave reviews, Roger Ebert praises it by summarizing "This film embodies ideas. After the immediate experience begins to fade, the implications remain and grow." and proceeds to give the film 4 out of 4 stars. Lets break it down, 4/4 stars means 100% of quality in the film, then that must mean 0.5/4 stars must mean 12.5% of the film means quality. If this is the case and the film is horrible, it puts emphasis on what the film lacks in quality.
Where this concept works is as viewers, we end up drawing out own conclusions of the film based on a number granted to it, rather that reading into the thoughts of opinions of a so called trained professional. Since we have been trained throughout life to grasp onto the notion that a number, especially a percentage being the identifying factor to the fullness of a sum. So a film gets 3.5/4 stars, we say to ourselves, "Well shit, if the reviewer says that it 87.5% of a good film, that must mean the bad outweighs the good!", which gives the film an automatic pass.
These numbers last, that is part of the problem.
In 1982 "Blade Runner" & "John Carpenter's The Thing" opened during the busy summer movie season to mixed reviews to poor reviews. Now presently these two films are widely considered modern classics, due to a slow burning cult following over time, and a re-examination of the themes and story-telling techniques. There was underlying factors to the failure of both films at the box office though, both were released in a relatively yuppie era that portrayed sci-fi films as family friendly ("Star Wars" & "Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind")and both films were released near the release of "E.T.:The Extra Terrestrial" (in the case of "The Thing", the same day). An underlying theme that both films share is paranoia and self-identification, and during the time of their release, our country was going through our own paranoia due to the Cold War and the rise in cases of the previously ignored H.I.V. virus. Critics gave both of these film a "number", which for many years were associated to the film amongst the casual viewer.
We have 2 directors who knowingly make films that deal with social issues and taboos, and they are dismissed because more comparisons are drawn to the surface details. I personally believe that the some of the poor reviews were made partly because the critics behind them were afraid to face themes presented.
Now I stated that I used Metacritic, and I do so with good reason. Not every movie that releases on a week to week level will change my life. Metacritic allows me to read a short summarized thesis on different critics. The most negative review on the website might state something that I am looking for in that particular film (less often than more). But it is the words that I associate with movies, and that is why I don't use a number to characterize how I feel about a film. Sure I have a scale, but I feel that wording them rather than scoring them numerically promotes the reader to examine both the positives and negatives.
Sure, it may sound forced..... but thats why I criticize films, because I'm
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