- I read movie reviews to help me decide which movies to see.
- I read movie reviews to validate my opinions about a movie after I have already seen it.
- I read movie reviews to help me appreciate a movie more. Caveat: I also read IMDB for this purpose.
This last point is the one I want to discuss because it is the least obvious.
Movie critics help us decipher between "good" movies and "bad" movies. I understand that rating art is inherently tricky. However the art of movie making has much more structure, and therefore rateable criteria, than... say... painting. If most most critics give a movie a high rating, it is likely a good movie based on the standard set of rating rules which make a movie "good." This doens't mean that the average person won't enjoy the movie. I'm sure a lot of people came out smiling after seeing Kazaam.
This brings me to No Country for Old Men, which I saw Saturday. This movie is good. Really, really good. This is the kind of movie that your unborn child is going to be writing a paper about in their college film class in 20 years.
I am glad I read some reviews of this movie before I saw it. Since I knew I was about to see a good movie I prepared myself to closely watch each scene and look for metaphors, pay special attention to the lighting, and keep my mouth shut so I didn't miss any important lines. It is like getting a very expensive dinner at a posh restaurant. You know a lot of time and effort went into the dish so you eat it slowly and savor it.
After I saw the movie I re-read the movie reviews and liked the movie even more. Critics understand the craft of film-making more that I do and their insight adds to my appreciation.
Go see this movie. I understand I am getting your hopes up. Trust me. It helps.
