Who are critics writing for?

More and more I find myself completely fed up with critic reviews of books and movies. Especially movies. In the last few months I watched two movies that were given rave reviews by Entertainment Weekly, so I had checked Rotten Tomatoes and found both had an 89% fresh score by critics. Both sounded original and interesting and both had great casts. The first was The Lobster with Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz. This was a bizarre nightmare of a movie where single people are turned into the animal of their choice if they cannot find a mate and marry. They also hunt singles who have decided to escape the system and live on the fringes of society. Literally hunt and kill. Obviously this is a satirical look at our society expectations of marriage and fears about remaining single. It had funny moments in the ridiculousness of it all. The problem was two-fold. One, it was long and mostly boring despite the bizarre content. Critics seem to ignore entertainment value completely when they write reviews. The other problem with this movie is that it was not original. I am NOT an independent movie expert by any means. I have little knowledge of who movie directors are. Neither does my spouse. Yet, right away we both noticed that the camera work reminded us of a Lars Von Trier movie called Melancholia (which I am a little haunted by and he hated. 79%fresh, by the way). We assumed this was the same director. Nope. So for all the critics raving about how original The Lobster was…then why did it remind two people who know almost nothing about movie-making of another director’s work? Not too original, in my book.

The other movie I unfortunately watched was A Bigger Splash with Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, and the incredibly drab girl from 50 Shades of Grey. Melanie Griffiths’ daughter. Still scratching my head on that one. If your acting M.O. is to be expressionless and boring, you should at least be stunning to look at. Now, Ralph Fiennes was gonzo in this movie. Total over the top, scenery chewing acting. I admit it was quite a performance, but that didn’t make it fun to watch. It was uncomfortable. This movie is basically rich and famous people acting like assholes. That sums up the whole thing. It was well acted other than the most boring girl on the planet, but the movie was stupid. And, again, not entertaining.

So, okay. Maybe I just didn’t happen to like these two movies. But I also recently saw the sci-fi movie Passengers with Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence, and I am annoyed to see it received a 31% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I will admit, this is not the greatest movie ever made. It doesn’t fit neatly into a particular genre. It has some very convenient plot points. That all said, I was entertained. Visually, there was a lot to look at and be impressed by. I was also impressed with Chris Pratt’s acting. I have only seen him in comedies or action movies, so to see him in a drama was a surprising change and he did a great job with it. Was the ending a “Hollywood ending?” Yes, I suppose it was, but I think despite the gloss of the movie, it still posed questions about survival, isolation, humanity, and love. It doesn’t dig too deeply into any of these, and that seemed to bother the critics the most, along with the all-too-convenient plot points. Fair enough. It’s not an especially intellectual movie or one that takes major risks. But – IT WAS ENTERTAINING. Yes, I am yelling. I feel like critics have completely forgotten this aspect of movie-watching in their reviews. Several reviews I read actually seemed like positive reviews…they praise the acting, praise the special effects…yet give it a poor rating because it’s fluff. So what? I personally like fluff in my movies. A little cotton candy is good for the soul! Chris Pratt isn’t bad for you either; here, have some eye candy:

Rant over. Movie critics have lost their credibility for me though.

In the book world, I just finished reading Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood. I recommend if you are a Shakespeare fan as it is a modern interpretation and retelling of The Tempest. Now I have to go read The Tempest. I also recently read The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler. This book is a little slow to get moving, but ultimately I enjoyed it. Mermaids, circuses, magical realism. It’s a lot like Passengers in my thoughts on it – maybe not the greatest book ever, but I was entertained while reading it.

Currently I am reading The Yoga of Max’s Discontent. So far, it has leaped into the story with all the gracefulness of a lumbering bear. But, yes, I am entertained, and so I carry onward.

I hope your current reading/TV watching/movie going is entertaining you. If not, pick up a different book or change the channel. There are too many options out there these days to waste time on anything that bores you!