I don’t let movie reviews dictate my choices, but I do like to look at the occasional review just to see what somebody else thought of something I liked or hated. There are still good television reviewers, but I’m usually at work and they are on the later parts of the morning news shows, so I never see them. YouTube(R) has a great collection of videos designed to malign, laud, inform and parody the heck out of great and lousy movies past and present.
A friend just sent me a review of a DVD celebrating “Phantom of the Opera” in its 25th anniversary performance in Britain. The reviewer, Bobsheaux, is astute, hilarious and silly at turns, thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to provide a synopsis and pick apart aspects of the production at the same time (in its first minutes is a sample, when the man responsible for the stage from above is called out, Bobsheaux quips, “You’re only the Chief of the flies? Couldn’t quite make Lord, huh?”) and make it work in a casual setting. I got a laugh out of it. Good reviews, even if the reviewer hates it, are worth your time.
Once in a while I will go to IMDB (Internet Movie Database) and provide a movie synopsis for a film without one. Some of my favorites were lacking a full overview or had none at all, so it was an enjoyable challenge to see what I could do to solve that issue. So far I’ve done four synopsis from scratch and padded out a half-dozen or so (my most recent being the great Paul Newman comedy “Slap Shot”). It might interest readers to know that not everybody seems to understand what a synopsis is (a description of the plot in detail–including giving away the spoilers–to allow people to see and know about the actual film in its entirety whether they have seen it or not). I’m sure that parents want to go over what happens in a film before screening it for the little ones, or they’re not sure they saw something correctly in a film, so it is a noble job to do a good synopsis and do it right. If a synopsis exists and I am padding it out, I don’t erase another’s work unless it’s to correct the spelling or a glitch in the retelling.
The point is not to insert one’s opinion into a synopsis, though that is expected in a review if you feel people will benefit from how you feel about a movie. I try to keep out of dissing movies, even if I don’t like them. For example, the only movie I ever walked out on was “Altered States.” It was considered a good film, and for what it was I agreed, but it just wasn’t for me, so I would not go on record as saying the movie was bad. It wasn’t.
I think movies are going into a strange grey zone of review-worthy quality these days. So many movies are remakes that it’s hard to take a step back and say anything about them without prejudice. A bit of humor helps, along with a willingness to strike at the un-opinionated truth. I hope there are more good reviews out there, and maybe I can throw in a few of my own. Now I think I’ll sit down and see “Lord of the Flies.”
Susan's Scribblings the Blog 