I'd like to take this thread and discuss how reviews have shaped and continue to shape both the success of a movie and the future status of a 'cult classic'.

I was reading an article in the Chicago Tribune recently how the Dark Knight, Iron Man, and Indiana Jones all made hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office, while such flops as Space Chimps, Swing Vote and Speed Racer all did miserably. While the argument still stands that if enough money is put into advertising, the movie should do pretty damn good (see Spider-Man 3, ugh), Speed Racer is an exception. Due to both terrible reviews and, well, one of the most unappealing trailers in history, the movie flopped mega-jumbo time. I think with the advent of such review aggregate sites such as Metacritic, RottenTomatoes, etc. where reviews are somehow given a numerical score and compiled into a larger list, we are entering an age where word of mouth, actual interest in a movie is being quickly supplanted by reviews by "noteworthy" or "prestigious" journalistic institutions.

I admit, there have always been critics skewering movies since the birthing of movies, but with the internet and the rapidity of access to the internet and a compiling of other peoples' opinions on a movie, we are entering an age where a person no longer has to even go see a movie to know whether or not they are going to like it. Did you like True Romance's character Floyd? Then you should like Pineapple Express since James Franco does such a bang up job. Are you a fan of older film noir's conventions? Then I'd recommend Tarantino. Now, these are all valid assertions, but doesn't that take out the whole allure of going to see a movie? Or is it a valid reason to either see a movie or not?

The same goes for cult classics. Scarface, Big Lebowski, etc. were either moderately praised/scorned, yet developed a large following over the years. With this iTunes generation, where entire albums are left unheard in libraries of tens of thousands, are we really giving our movies a chance when they're buried in stacks piling up to the digital ceiling?

I am not making any assertions here, merely presenting questions. Feel free to discuss, I'll be back in a few.

Boyo is this forum dead or what. The only section still breathing seems to be the indie rock section. Okay, see you Metacritics in a little never. Adios!

SDABO

I wouldn't say reviews and criticism are driving the success of movies. As you mentioned, older classics have grown their own following through word of mouth. There are plenty of reasons why people choose certain movies over others. For your average movie goer, actors or actresses prove to have that "star" value. The genre or marketing factor in. Another that may go overlooked is the familiarity with something in the movie. Plenty of people are familiar with spiderman, batman, and other comic book heroes and so are more likely to know what to expect from it. While your example of Speed Racer is justified, I would probably say poor marketing contributed to its demise. But I wouldn't doubt that word of mixed or poor reviews does end up getting around.

I think the movie industry is in poor shape. I think there are plenty of movies that ultimately fail because people have been disappointed and reluctant to spend $10 on a movie that won't be worth seeing.

I would point to the success of Gran Torino as evidence that the movie going populace is willing to embrace a movie with a solid well known actor in a movie that is funny, entertaining and mildly thought provoking. I feel however that Hollywood as a whole is just trying to outdo itself week in and week out. Instead of producing movies that will age well, it's as if they are more interested in targeting calculated audiences and producing movies that "advertise" blu-ray ie: Hellboy 2. Read what Del Toro had to say about the film and he stated that one of his major focuses on that project was to show off nice looking visuals that would look even nicer on blu-ray.

In this sense, I can totally agree that too many films are likely to just keep piling up to the digital ceiling. The industry is very much a digital one and I am disappointed by the lack of timeless classics in recent years. Sure, some studios throw us a bone and there is the whole independent side to the industry that has popped up but for movies playing in the multiplex down the street, it gets stale. These movies get supported by the movie going public regardless of the criticism.

Food for thought: Slumdog Millionaire had a budget of $14 million while Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull had a budget of $185 million.