Hacker News Reader

Comment by seabombs | Hacker News Reader

I often enjoy reading movie reviews more than watching the movie they review, even when I do enjoy the movie.

I can't usually describe that well why I did or didn't like a movie, so it's fun when I read a review that does put into words how I felt about it. It gives me a deeper perspective on my own feelings about the movie.

Shout out to Vince Mancini, my personal go to film critic.

View on HN

I get this. Often I'll watch a film that seems just "so so". Then, I'll read a review and gain a new appreciation for the film. I'll see things in the film I'd previously missed and understand it in new ways.

Richard Brody of The New Yorker and Ebert's website are particular favorites of mine.

There is reverse of this - have some movie you liked a lot in the past, and show it to somebody who hasn't seen it, ie a date. Suddenly I'll notice little impurities, small missteps, lack of depth of some character or logical error in some reasoning. Maybe the subconscious eagerness to please them and share the experience I've had changes perspective.

My favorite movies review was for a film in the late 90s. The name of the film escapes me, but at the time it had full page ad in the paper with quotes from the review. It said “Watching X like a beach vacation”.

I randomly stumbled upon the full review and the rest of the line was “… and you’re not invited”.

I feel similar, but haven't seen a "film" worth a review in ages. It's always the same problems: glacially slow pacing, one-dimensional characters, dialogue and plot insist on injecting politics or memes (that are probably stale by the time it's released), etc.

Do you have any recommendations that aren't that? I just want to watch a real movie made in the last 20 years.

Highly likely we'll have different tastes, but the last two movies I watched were The Drama and Pillion. Greatly enjoyed them both.

Just a heads up, maybe don't watch Pillion with your parents/kids though...

You're right. I wouldn't bother with a review for any comedy. A sense of humor is very fickle and you usually know if you're going to like it ahead of time based on who is involved.

Bridge of Spies (2015)

A war movie... yes a theme is emerging from these replies. Thanks for assisting making my point.

Maybe you just like reading stuff more than watching stuff.

I think it's my stage of life (40s with kid) where finding the time to watch a movie is often too hard. But reading the review is only a few minutes.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com