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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shadowdancer" data-source="post: 2459831" data-attributes="member: 515">Ummm, no they didn't. Critics in the '70s pretty muched geeked all over themselves when Star Wars came out. They did the same thing for FotR. FotR was one of the best-reviewed movies of that year. I also think good critics help steer audiences to good non-traditional movies, like Passion of the Christ. That is their most-important function. In addition to RottenTomatoes, I would recommend going to metacritic.com. It is another site which compiles a large number of critics' reviews and ratings. It then assigns a grade to the movie ranging from 100 to zero. I find it to be a pretty good reflection of the overall quality of a movie. Finding a critic whose opinion you agree with is also good advice. When I write a review for the newspaper I work for, I hope I am able to steer some people with tastes similar to mine toward some movies they might otherwise not see. But I also realize not everyone is going to like all of the movies I like, or dislike all of the movies I dislike. Everyone's different, and everyone has different tastes. As for the movie reviewers who take payoffs for giving positive reviews -- yeah, it happens. They are called "tout whores" -- they will tout any movie to the masses in exchange for something they perceive as being of significance. Many of them work for small-market radio and TV stations, or low-circulation newspapers in California or the Northeast. Most are just hoping that someone with a studio connection will like what they write and give them a (better-paying) job. Some just want to see their name included on the posters and ads, thinking it will help them get a better job or at least a job in a bigger market that pays better. Some secretly hope they will get picked by a network to appear on TV regularly like Ebert or Rex Reed or Gene Shallot. Some just like being flown to premieres and press junkets so they can hobnob with the stars. And most have no training in critical analysis, and wouldn't know a good movie if they saw it unless some studio PR hack tells them it's good.</blockquote>

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