Controversial Movie Reviews

I was just loooking through my Movie Reviews and made a list of the ones I wrote where I had 3 or more people say it was not helpful. I was surprised when a list of about 18 movies came up out of about 180 movie reviews which means about 10% of my reviews are somewhat controversial. Here is the list of my controversial movie reviews:
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
The Savages
Expelled
Atonement
Made of Honor
You Can't Take it With You
Get Smart
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Jesus, theGreat Debate
Smart People
Nazi Medicine: The Cross and The Star
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Nim's Island
Frontline: Bush's War
Flawless
America's Godly Heritage: Wallbuilders

Okay, I know some of these are controversial movies or films because they are either political or religious. I totally get that, but "Nim's Island" or "You Can't Take it With You" I just do not get.
What about the rest of you reviewers. Do you also have controversial reveiws? What movies are they? //let's Talk About it...

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Permalink Reply by jcranma on August 4, 2008 at 10:04pm: Cheryl, I'm sorry to hear that you have been targeted with "not helpfuls" due to this thread and the discussions in it. I stay off the NF community group, and the next thing I read are people getting "hit jobs" and people grouping to target reviewers and what not.

I've been fortunate to avoid on the big screen and keep myself from getting dragged through the batch of war related films (Although a significant other keeps adding them to the queue ) . I'm quite happy that most of them are box office failures (with the exception of "Valley of Elah" which is very different and should have had better box office results). Their manipulative and preachy ways rub me of the wrong way that no awful film could. I don't know why, but that Academy Award joke by Stewart(??) on the war related films is flashing through my mind right now.

About that Prince Caspian review, I had to add that comment because of this conversation I had with some people in my social circle. Some were convinced that it is Christian propaganda and trash without even watching or having read the material. I was shocked to hear of it from people who should have better analytical and reasoning skills due to their "education" (I should know, I was there with them all those years!!). It is not art, but it is non preachy tentpole flick. It should have been released during the late fall/ winter times though. Nobody could match Tony Stark and his box of scraps ^_^; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Cheryl Bailey on August 5, 2008 at 3:35am: Some people like to shoot the messenger without first hearing the message. I love the CS Lewis films, which have symbolism but are not preachy like you say. However, I wrote a positive review on the Dark Knight movie which lots of people like and got shot down for that as well as my Get Smart review stating it was good but I'm a Baby Boomer who was a fan of the original and loves Don Adam's porttrayal best even though I thought it was a good remake. What is kind of weird is that I do think this blog may have attracted undue attention because all this happened after chatting on the 30th.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Cheryl Bailey on July 31, 2008 at 9:30am: Well, I guess I'm putting myself out here a little to much and have angered someone because today I noticed every single movie I reviewed was hit with a not helpful all in the course of about 5 hours. This is unusual because some of the movies are not watched all that much. It will probably knock me back as well, but they can only vote not helpful once.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mist604 on July 31, 2008 at 9:44am: Sorry to hear that, Cheryl. It seems to be going around. :\

In another thread, someone stated that a Netflix "friend" actually contacted them and asked him to rate certain reviewers down.... Really sad.....; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Cheryl Bailey on July 31, 2008 at 11:10am: What is wrong with these people. Several of the reviews had never had a negative comment before. Like how many people are watching Finian's Rainbow? When each and every movie is given a negative in one day it is very smelly. Do people think by tearing you down it builds them up? I am not even in the top 100.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by AltonKJD on July 29, 2008 at 8:39am: Looking over my reviews seems my reviews of Closer, Interview and In the Valley of Elah were panned, notwithstanding each was a positive review and had some thought included, even if one might disagree. Suppose Elah and Closer may be slightly contraversial, but certainly not Interview.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Cheryl Bailey on July 29, 2008 at 8:54am: I did not find your Closer review but read Valley of Elah. I had not really been interested in that movie but gave your review a plus because it was a good review and made me want to see it. To me if a review is well written it deserves a helpful comment whether I like the movie or agree with the reviewer. There are also people out there who just mark not helpful for the fun of it.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Alex DeLarge on July 29, 2008 at 5:04pm: I enjoy writing reviews for mostly selfish purposes, though it's nice to see helpful clicked more often than not. I like to watch a film and let it simmer a bit, stir occasionally, before I serve my review. To actually think about a film and put thoughts into words can be excrutiating...but highly rewarding. A film becomes a part of me, it belongs to me despite the writer or director's intentions; I experience it through the lens of my own existence and bring the ideas into focus. I always attempt to explain "why" I like (or dislike) something and not rely on trivial responses. A few times during the writing I experienced an epiphany, a new revelation, which caused me to change my mind: IN BRUGES is one. As I began to philosophically dissect the story, it dawned on me that this was more than just a hip gangster flick and I cut through the layers to the juicy marrow beneath. To contrast this, I felt JUNO should have been aborted by the 30 minute mark and immediately wrote an appropriate review. Of course, I watched the entire movie because I don't feel comfortable sharing my opinion unless it's informed and complete. For me, the act of writing makes me love watching films that much more!
PS. Hope you like my reviews.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Cheryl Bailey on July 29, 2008 at 7:00pm: I absolutely love your reviews. I may not agree with the way you saw each film because we all have our own opinions and this is purely subjective. But I would mark each and every one of your reviews helpful because they are well thought out and intellegent. Writing for me is sharing a piece of myself with others.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Alex DeLarge on July 29, 2008 at 7:12pm: Thank you very much.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by jcranma on July 30, 2008 at 2:31pm: I agree. My decision to review films has a selfish component to it. It clears my mind, and I find out more about my likes and dislikes. Another reason that I like reviewing and members review section of NF is that I don't trust the pro critics. Over the years, it seemed that they can't tell the trees from the forest. More importantly, they revealed FAR too much details that it ruins the experience especially if one pays for ticket, concessions, and etc. I still check the pro critics out, but only in the form of RottenTomatoes metrics.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Cheryl Bailey on July 30, 2008 at 6:50pm: Right. Who 's to say their opinin is any more valid than yours? I try not to read too many details until after the movie so it won't color my own interpretation. However, someone told me that my reviews were too personal, but that is what reviews are about, revealing yourself along with what touched you as you watched. That is my opinion anyway.; ▶ Reply to This