Not surprising. Fanboys gonna fanboy.
For all of the tons of merch the fandom may buy en masse, the previous statements upthread that much of the SW fandom actually hates the franchise they claim to cherish has serious merit.
Unless I know someone and trust their judgement, I don’t really care what the fans in general may think.
I personally liked TLJ, and while I won’t pay to see TRoS, I will see it eventually.
Agreed; I was happily surprised.
Like how the casting of Dominic Monaghan, Greg Grunberg, Keri Russel, and other folks in JJ Abrams’ “usual suspects” stable (great actors they may be) just screams “this is a JJ Abrams joint”.
No Jedi abilities required to raise that one to your mouth!
Tastes like Force Lightning going down, and then you keep repeating stuff like “These are not the droids we are looking for.”, “It was better than Cats. I will see it again and again.”
I think he should have left star wars alone the first 3 originals where the best anyways
cant recommend the despecialized version highly enough though you have to get it from sketchy sources. if you dont care about it being HD, there were double disc DVDs with the original versions released. although even there, there was the minor 80s change of adding the “new hope” title.
Hm. May I disagree?
In pop culture as well as “high brow” culture, there might not be a general consensus about what makes a piece a good piece. However, bad stuff often can be identified easily. The interesting bits happen when people start bickering about what’s good and what’s not. I do seriously think that it is the job of an art critic is to be able to distinguish craftsmanship from dilettantism or just crowd-pleasing kitsch. I really love reading several reviews from different outlets and try to guess where the critic in question is coming from. It’s enlightening. Also, I do trust critics more than fans. Rotten Tomatoes is the best example why.
Just to give some background where I am coming from:
I grew up reading German texts, and even as a kid I liked reading, listening and watching critics arguing about literature. Watching Helmuth Karasek, Sigrid Löffler and Marcel Reich-Ranicki arguing about books - and, in some occasions, about films - was truly opening my mind for how to approach literature from different perspectives. I did, on many occasions, trust Reich-Ranicki’s verdict on books, but the guy was absolutely blind for some gems. Also, if the trio dug into a book, and exchanged sick burns on air about it, the publishers allegedly started the presses the same night: sales would go up most definitely. Everyone wanted to know what they were mad about first hand. And this, still, is my approach in many cases. I wouldn’t spend money on most films which get terrible reviews, but I sure as hell want to see some of them anyway to see for myself what’s the deal.
Notable exceptions are some films I know I want to be visually and acoustically overwhelmed with. Star Wars is one of those: this can be shit, but I want to see it in cinema anyway. Didn’t work for Solo, for various reasons, and I didn’t even much regret it. But I am looking forward to see RoS. It’s a personal shut up and take my money moment, but I am definitely going to read the bad and good reviews before I go.
Of course you ‘may’, friend; I don’t ever expect everyone to feel the way I do.
That said, please do understand that the part of my comment you quoted is only my personal methodology for choosing what tv shows and movies I’m willing to watch, not any kind of guideline for meant for anyone else but me.
I’ve found that I tend not to be very impressed by films that lots of other people seem to love, and the more hype such films receive, the more wary I am.
Like Titanic and Jerry McGuire, for instance; both very successful movies which made lots of money and won prestigious awards… and I hate them both, respectively.
So I reiterate again; other random people’s opinions of movies are pretty irrelevant to me, because I have my own set of standards for what entertains me, and it usually doesn’t jibe with the popular consensus. (There are some notable exceptions, of course, because “only a Sith deals in absolutes.”)
Your own reasoning for what films you’re willing to watch is valid, for you. Nevertheless, I remain much more likely to listen to friends and associates whose judgment I trust and respect over anyone else.
Most of the time I don’t even bother reading the reviews until after I’ve already watched something, and want to compare others’ perceptions with my own.
probably everyone who was excited to see it already saw it this weekend. But i really feel like Star wars criticism is so tainted by political viewpoints and fan expectations that its almost like a Rorschach test at this point. Do what you want, but I feel like its best to go into these things and judge for yourself. there are some films that are so bad that you wish you never spent your money on them. and maybe in those cases it would be nice to know ahead of time, but star wars is always a fun ride to me. maybe after Ive seen them and start to have questions about details and am curious if other people are thinking what Im thinking, Ill check the reviews. But I generally wanna see something for myself and make my own judgement.
In this case I loved it. I loved the last two movies too. critic and nerd opinions be damned.
it is crazy to see that everyone is disgruntled by something. some people hated the last one and loved this one. some are saying the opposite. some say Solo was amazing. Some say it was terrible. some say return of the jedi was amazing. the critics hated it when it came out. one thing seems to be certain. everyone seems to have an opinion. Most people do seem to agree the Mandelorian is pretty good and baby Yoda is cute so at least we have that. until the last episode comes out next week and people start saying its ruined now. lol
I will never pay to see any Disneytainment.
Feel sorry for those that have shelled out cash to float this bloated corporate fish.
Ohh look, a plastic baby yoda… oooomeeegoooshhh, take my mohneiers
\
i spoke to soon about the universal love for baby yoda.
Its plastic merchandise… who or how is that possible to love ffs?
It’s probably not for you then. It doesn’t have to be for you. It’s just a fun thing that, like all fiction, can sometimes have emotional resonance. But in the end you are free to go watch or do something else. Its no big deal. I don’t care about sports for instance, but the cool thing is I don’t have to watch it.
I think this is a case of “if I can’t dance, it’s not my revolution”
If there was a hypothetical communist revolution, Star Wars won’t be going away. The merchandise might disappear, but the stories and characters won’t.
If people want or need escapism from how shit the world is right now then let them have it. Mass burn out helps no one.
I saw it. Overall I liked it. I think it is the best out of 7, 8, 9. I wish the whole Emperor plot line had been there from the start and lead up to this climax. Will probably have to see it again to see how good of a film it actually was, but I was pleasantly surprised it wasn’t horrible.
I very much agree on hating those, but I have to admit both are examples of good filmmaking. That might sound schizophrenic at first, but my loathing is on a personal level, not on a level of mastery of the art of filmmaking. That’s kind of the point I wanted to make in a different form. To come back to the original question: RoS seems, as far as the critics are concerned, to be lacking in the department of “technical” storytelling. Pace, character development, use and misuse of “technical” means of filmmaking (a certain Mr. McGuffin seems to have appearances which seems exceptionally bad) etc.
That doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the film, as well as “technical” brilliance means I can’t loathe others.
That’s a very good point, but the problem is I can’t trust the aesthetic and you are SO going to like it judgment of VERY few people, it turned out. Even my oldest and well-versed friends developed some likings and dislikings I can’t fathom. I learned that the hard way. I seriously like to be challenged by films, but I started The Buttery Effect some years ago when some of my friends were full of praise.
It turned my stomach. Everything about it was just wrong. I couldn’t finish it. And this is just one example. A very dear friend likes some specific genre films, horror and splatter included; we just disagree on that and don’t even agree to disagree because there are some notable exceptions which are seriously entertaining and seriously good films (Jackson’s Braindead was a revelation for me). And, it works reciprocally. I recommended The Wages of Fear to some friends, and they hated it.
So, I do read the reviews. I do trust some people to some extent, but I learned to be prepared to be surprised.
Last, not least, I fiendishly enjoy a seething criticism full of details why something is terrible because I hone my own judgement on that. If I watch a movie afterwards and can agree with the criticism, I admit to feel a bit smug, or even something like being cultured. If I can’t agree, I enjoy bickering with my friends about why it was good anyway, and also admit sometimes feeling smug about it.
I even caught myself mansplaining why a film would be artistically good to a friend.
Oh shit, am I mansplaining to you and Ken why everyone should read critics even from people they haven’t been following closely?
Well, for me, it works. Ken and you and everyone else, well, you do what works for you. I keep reading some reviews written by people who could be called Bob and be your conservative uncle. (Not the racist one, though. That one, I skip. Hopefully everyone does.)
