people don't seem to be liking this as much as the critics... - Sorry to Bother You (2018) Discussion

[–] Frogarama (12942) 6 years ago

Well let's see... Went to Rotten Tomatoes, expecting the possibility of seeing an offensive audience review.

This was just an experiment.

Clicked on the link for all audience reviews. This was the FIFTH ONE (only one page of reviews anyway):

Cul A. B
July 5, 2018
black people are dumb. STATISTICALLY, I mean.

Here is a screenshot: https://imgur.com/Sm0y7Qn

Link to the audience reviews: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sorry_to_bother_you_2018/reviews/?type=user

Didn't expect the experiment to turn out like this, actually. I thought I would be looking for more subtle commentary.

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[–] exatera (3953) 6 years ago

I was referring to the movie's IMDB rating, though. 6.2 is far from great.

Not too many reviews there yet, but the negative ones do make some valid points.

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[–] FilmBuff (7234) 6 years ago

It's going to be impossible to get an accurate gauge of audience response from Rotten Tomatoes, for obvious reasons.

The trailer makes this look really interesting, and it's something I'll definitely see. I'll pop back in and offer my opinion.

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[–] exatera (3953) 6 years ago

I just don't understand from the previews how "talking white" can make anyone super successful - if that was the case, all the white people would have been rich.

I'll wait for more reviews to trickle in before I decide if I want to see this in theater - normally I go for movies that are guaranteed entertainment.

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[–] FilmBuff (7234) 6 years ago

I go to the theater to see movies that pique my interest, usually based on the trailers, the director, or the stars. I don't see films based on critical praise, though I will sometimes opt not to see something that's been panned. I completely ignore audience reaction.

While I don't know any way to know ahead of time that a film will guarantee entertainment, the trailer seems the best gauge, for me anyway, of a film's entertainment value. I found my way into a theater to see a number of films that were massively entertaining-- Napoleon Dynamite, Tangerine, Idiocracy, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night--that I likely would have missed if not for having been hugely entertained by the trailer.

Will this film live up to the fun of the trailer? Who's to say? Probably not, but I'll give it a go. I figure, Boots Riley is about as unappealing a character as I've ever met, but if the trailer looks good enough to make me overlook that, the trailer must look awfully good.

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[–] exatera (3953) 6 years ago

Well, I can't say I've found the trailers in the past to be very reliable predictors - for instance, Knocked Up didn't look funny or interesting to me at all based on the trailers, but in reality turned out to be both, and sweet and heartfelt to boot.

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[–] samoanjoes (56646) 6 years ago

I saw the trailer a few months ago and it looked promising. I went to rotten tomatoes earlier and saw it at 94%. I haven't heard anything from anyone who wasn't a critic but so far, there's nothing to show me that it's not at least worth checking out. Also, I think we should respect any director who goes by the name "Boots Riley".

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[–] Cathexis (112) 6 years ago

The movie's terrific. Scathing, loopy, hilarious social satire in the vein of John Carpenter's "They Live" shot through with "Idiocracy." I haven't seen such a wildly imaginative film in a while. I'm curious where you get the idea that people aren't liking it as much as critics - the film is currently only out in 16 theaters. Where are you getting your data? From Moviechat? RottenTomatoes? Neither of these are particularly good measures of reception.

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[–] exatera (3953) 6 years ago

I mentioned this earlier - it has a pretty low rating on IMDB. It seems to be slowly creeping up, but is still far from stellar.

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[–] BrentLovesMovies (173) 6 years ago

I just saw it... I am not sure what to think of it ... yet.

But I can tell you that Most people just won't like it...

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[–] modica (4169) 6 years ago

If most people don't like it; I'm going to love it. Will be seeing it tomorrow night.

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[–] modica (4169) 6 years ago

I can't say I loved it. I liked the first half, but the second half just lost me completely. This is one case where the people were kind of right.

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[–] SlackerInc (1101) 5 years ago

It’s really more than the first half that was good. Probably at least the first hour. But the last 20 or 30 minutes is really ridiculous and bad, and even most of the critics praising it realize this (you can find hints about that in their reviews) but they are grading generously.

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[–] modica (4169) 5 years ago

Yes you are correct, I liked a lot of it, until it just got all schlock horror and then it lost me.

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[–] CraigJamesReview (1715) 6 years ago

Just reviewed it, explaining most of it.

Have a short review of this movie if anyone is interested. If you feel there is something I could be doing better, I would definitely love to hear it. Review here - https://youtu.be/miThEuOvkig

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[–] Satan2016 (25525) 6 years ago

The IMDb rating has jumped from 6.2 to 7.4 in 11 days. 1* votes are 7%.
Reviews mostly positive with some fake 1*s. Several don't find it funny.

Metascore is 80. http://www.metacritic.com/movie/sorry-to-bother-you

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[–] exatera (3953) 6 years ago

As of right now on Rotten Tomatoes it's rated 95% by the critics and 65% by the viewers.

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[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 6 years ago

I liked it. Much of what one would consider "social commentary" was actually just lighthearted ribbing on the story's path to a creative series of major changes.
Great movie! So many memorable moments (loved the un-argument). I would recommend John Dies at the End to you if you liked this movie.
I hope Boots' next movie is as wild.

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