Hollywood Bitchslap - Hyperbole For Sale: How Earl Dittman And The Studios Have Destroyed Film Criticism
See also this.
There are reviews, and then there are reviews. Have you ever wondered how such risibly bad films like, um Cheaper By The Dozen 2 could even have a positive quote on its ad? Wonder no more.
The trick is not just to see what the quote is, but who is the critic making the quote. A quote by A.O Scott, Ebert, Roeper means something. You may not agree with their reviews but they at least have some quality control and don’t easily give lavish praise unless it is really good. On the other hand, a quote by Earl Dittman means that the film probably sucks. It probably means studios can’t get a gushing quote from a credible critic and instead rely on such hacks to cheat the uninformed movie goer. I mean, its pefectly fine to go against popular critical opinion and say that something was good. I myself enjoy my fair share of films labelled as rotten, such as Aeon Flux, Equilibrum, Melinda and Melinda etc. But i won’t go as far as to proclaim Aeon Flux as a “mastepiece” or call it an Oscar contender (C’mon, who are you kidding).
When a reviewer so blatantly gives such gushing praise so indiscriminately, it is akin to fraud. And for a public service anouncement, there is even a list here of critics whom you should read with a bagful of salt.
