One of my favorite past times has been sitting down on a Saturday afternoon and reading the weekend papers, in particular the arts section and its movie reviews. In fact, I used to turn with keen interest to the reviews of Byrne and Stratton and find out what the latest batch of box office movies had to offer. Their insightful and often amusing reviews not only gave me a good idea of what I would be spending my money on but also develop my knowledge of the industry but giving important background information on the directors and stars. Moreover, the reviews themselves didn’t simply give a plot by plot summary of the film but actually mixed their personal opinion with a well developed analysis of the films genre, acting, directing and cinematography.
Unfortunately this is no longer the case.
Over the past year the quality of film reviews has deteriorated into plot summaries mixed in with the complaints of reviewers and their self-obsessed personal tastes. Quite simply: they no longer review films but simply vent about how the films aren’t to their own personal taste. Now this of itself is not a problem, an objective review is boring and lacks engagement. However, when a review is completely dominated by personal opinion it fails in its purpose in helping the reader decide whether to spend their hard earned money on it.
The main reason for this is that my personal taste often doesn’t coincide with that of the reviewer. Therefore, unless the reviewer and I happen to have similar personal tastes I am hamstring by reviews that have no meaning for me. But the problem is this: a movie reviewer’s job is to review the film for everyone NOT just themselves. Hence, it is the job of the reviewer to provide enough information and analysis of the film to help the reader decide whether it is suitable for them. They need to be able to look outside their narrow view of the world and endeavor to convey the essence of the film to a generic viewer.
A fine example of this self-obsessed reviewing style was on show this weekend with Sandra Hall’s review of the new horror film Paranormal Activity. Her review consisted solely of a diatribe against Blair Witch Project and similar style films along with a rant against my generation of film makers and their ambition to make it in Hollywood. Now this would have been okay if she bothered to justify this comment with relation to the film. However, she singled out only one complaint about the film and devoted only a single paragraph to discussing the demerits of the film. This was self-obsessed reviewing at its worst and is reason enough to sack this talentless hack and hope that she never gets a published review in a newspaper ever again.
Moreover, this is not the first occasion that Sandra Hall has done this. Like Miranda Devine, she often just blurts out her own personal opinions and often forgets that people may have a contrary review or even, this will come as a shock to her, appreciate films and genres that she may not. In fact, I often avoid her film reviews because they are so horrendous.
So to all the film reviewers out there: pick up your game and start writing proper reviews. I want your considered opinion not your own personal rants.
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