Post by mylungswereaching on Jan 30, 2010 16:13:48 GMT -5
What type of criticism do you consider fair to movies and what is not?
The complaint I hate the most is when people complain about things that are inherent to the genera. Complaining about a movie because it contains standard plot devices of the genera doesn't make any sense to me, unless your complaining about the genera as a whole or your complaining that they were done really badly. If you don't like the genera, don't watch the movie.
Examples, complaining about a science fiction movie because it has ftl travel when ftl travel is impossible. Faster than light travel is a standard plot device that is necessary for many SF stories.
Complaining about super hero movies because they had a big fight scene at the end of the movie. A super hero movie without a showdown between the good guys and the bad guys at the end isn't a super hero movie.
Complaining about a war story that it was too violent and too many people were killed. I can't understand people who want a pretty war movie. War is inherently ugly.
Complaining that a slasher movie is too gruesome.
What brought this up was many of the complaints that I read about Avatar. While I liked the movie a lot, I realize that there are a lot of good reasons not to like the film. The biggest being that anyone who has watched a lot of movies, tv or read books can figure out the entire plot in the first 10 minutes of the movie.
Good complaint, the main scientist is using standard lab equipment wrong. They spent hundreds of millions of dollars to make a movie but couldn't spend 2 minutes to teach an actress how to hold a pipette. Little thing add up.
Bad complaint, one of the main Mcguffins used in the movie is a scientifically impossible substance and its called unobtainium. The movie is science FICTION, of course there is going to be some science that is fiction. A substance with impossible properties is is a standard science fiction plot device. It's name even makes sense to me in the real world. Scientists find some incredibly useful stuff that should be impossible and they have no idea how it works. I can see them nicknaming it unobtainium as a joke and having the nickname stick.
The complaint I hate the most is when people complain about things that are inherent to the genera. Complaining about a movie because it contains standard plot devices of the genera doesn't make any sense to me, unless your complaining about the genera as a whole or your complaining that they were done really badly. If you don't like the genera, don't watch the movie.
Examples, complaining about a science fiction movie because it has ftl travel when ftl travel is impossible. Faster than light travel is a standard plot device that is necessary for many SF stories.
Complaining about super hero movies because they had a big fight scene at the end of the movie. A super hero movie without a showdown between the good guys and the bad guys at the end isn't a super hero movie.
Complaining about a war story that it was too violent and too many people were killed. I can't understand people who want a pretty war movie. War is inherently ugly.
Complaining that a slasher movie is too gruesome.
What brought this up was many of the complaints that I read about Avatar. While I liked the movie a lot, I realize that there are a lot of good reasons not to like the film. The biggest being that anyone who has watched a lot of movies, tv or read books can figure out the entire plot in the first 10 minutes of the movie.
Good complaint, the main scientist is using standard lab equipment wrong. They spent hundreds of millions of dollars to make a movie but couldn't spend 2 minutes to teach an actress how to hold a pipette. Little thing add up.
Bad complaint, one of the main Mcguffins used in the movie is a scientifically impossible substance and its called unobtainium. The movie is science FICTION, of course there is going to be some science that is fiction. A substance with impossible properties is is a standard science fiction plot device. It's name even makes sense to me in the real world. Scientists find some incredibly useful stuff that should be impossible and they have no idea how it works. I can see them nicknaming it unobtainium as a joke and having the nickname stick.
