Critics' Darlings: The Films of 2003

[Chris Knipp]

Points well taken. And noble sentiments.

Needless to say, reading reviews after seeing a film means more. Whether to read them beforehand is an individual matter.

But you'll grant that we all go to the movies with prejudices. Having responded negatively to Vendredi Soir, I'm inclined to think that the generally admiring response her film got in France was due in large part to Claire Denis's excellent reputation there prior to the film's coming out. Not everyone is as high minded and unbiased as you.

I believe in revising opinions too -- but also in staying true to one's gut reaction, if there was one.

I agree about the unreliabilty of Rotten Tomatoes, but I don't think you can trust any of these numerical ratings no matter who does them. Sometimes like our elections in reality it's way too close to call. And then there is the manner in which time alters judgments: people rave about a film and six months later forget it, or on reconsidering or re-seeing it, find that it comes alive for them at last -- or is much less brilliant than it originally seemed. I have little use for numerical ratings, and think Ebert and Roeper's Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down system is probably better.

The value of a really well written review is that it creates a world of discourse for those who read it. Whether they agree or disagree with it, they cut their critical teeth by forming responses to it and to other good criticism. This is what you're saying about Rosenbaum, whose reviews I should read more of to find out what all the fuss is about.

I felt I was badly misled by David Denby's review of Thirteen, which I read before I went to see it. Often people do read reviews to see if a movie sounds worth seeing; and some reviewers, perhaps the majority of the popular ones, consider it their function to send us to see a film or warn us off. Denby gave me no inkling of how unpleasant this film would be to watch. It made me nervous and downright sick at the stomach. Now that's a gut reacton!

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