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The critics and By the Sea

posted 8 years ago by paulo-almeida-895-341693
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"The film was panned by the majority of the critics who could only find the cinematography worthy of praise.They complain that the film is ponderously slow"

this is a report from Malik "Days of Heaven" in 1978. 30 years later the movie has a 93 metacritic score and is universally praised by the movie critics. So which critics are right? the ones from 1978 or the others who reviewed the movie 30 years later?
Conclusion – Don’t trust the critics. Judge a movie by yourselves.
Its going to be interesting to see what the critics will say about By the Sea in the future.

[–] sfmar 8 years ago

Times change and tastes change for both audiences and critics, that's all there is to it.

Frankly, I've never understood why someone should or shouldn't "trust" a critic. A critic is merely another human being expressing an opinion based on their own tastes and preferences. I often wondered how they make a paid living doing it and finally realized they only make a living doing it because they compose written reviews that others publish. So be it.

I can honestly say I've never used critics' reviews to decide whether or not I saw a movie - not 30 years ago and not today. The only critic a person should trust or care about is themselves.

Who knows - 30 years from now the critical/audience opinion of "Days of Heaven" may revert back to the opinions of 1978.