Premiering today is a new section in the site - Cool Movies Critics Disrespect.
Just as there are acknowledged trash cinema classics that are absolutely terrible, every once in a while, a movie comes along that critics completely miss the boat on.
To me, it seems important to set the record straight, not only out of principle, but because lackluster audience response or tasteless critics might keep fans of trash cinema from discovering some real gems.
Why might critics revile an excellent movie? Usually the reason is that something in the movie got to them emotionally. Most people these days, and this includes critics, don’t like to be made uncomfortable.
Now, if you make a movie whose obvious purpose is to outrage the audience, such as some of the torture porn movies like the Saw series, critics have their self-defense system ready. They have preemptively hardened themselves to endure all manner of grossness.
It’s a different matter if the movie sneaks up on them and sucker punches them. I suspect this is what happened to Roger Ebert, an otherwise excellent critic, who was so appalled by the world view of The Hitcher, that he gave an incredibly competent, poetic and well thought out thriller a zero star rating.
Another reason critics can miss the boat is lazy thinking. For example, if your brain is turned off, In Bruges will seem to be the latest in a series of Tarantino knockoffs. That’s how a lot of critics have it pegged. Instead, it is an excellent black comic thriller and actually quite original in a lot of ways. I will be writing more extensively about In Bruges tomorrow.
To find Great Movies Critics Disrespect, use the dropdown menu on the right side of the page under the heading Categories by clicking on the small downward pointing arrow head or just click on the Great Movies Critics Disrespect link at the top of this page after the word ‘Category’.
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