I’ve been toying with this idea for a while, even back when I was editor of Film Threat a couple years ago, and I think now is the time to try it out. Simply, for as much as I think professional critics do bring something to the table when it comes to cinema conversation, I’ve also been aware of how often the audience and the critics seem to drift apart, especially when it comes to mainstream releases. In an effort to explore this a bit more, I’ve come up with the idea of Audience Reviews. Here’s how it’ll work:
1.) Every week, I’ll post a Review Template for a mainstream film or two coming out that weekend under the title “AUDIENCE REVIEW: MOVIE TITLE.”
2.) That weekend, in the comments section of the template, you, the audience, should post your thoughts on the film. Don’t post anything before the release of the film, however, as this is an experiment for the regular audience that watches these films, not for the folks who may be getting advance screenings.
3.) Come Monday, I’ll assemble, from the bits and pieces in the comments, an actual review for the mainstream film, including selecting a star rating based on way the comments skew.
4.) Said review will be credited to “the Audience” and will forever exist on Film Threat like any other review.
What do you think? Cool idea or absolute trainwreck waiting to happen? I guess we’ll find out. So, for our inaugural week of audience reviews, here’s the mainstream releases hitting cinemas this weekend. See ’em, comment away and let’s see if we can get an actual review out of this insanity.
AUDIENCE REVIEW: HOT TUB TIME MACHINE
AUDIENCE REVIEW: HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON
Wow, what a terrific idea!
As you can tell from my intro to Finding the Red Baron: An Interview with Matthias Schweighofer, it irks me when critics aren’t original and mimic each other! Thankfully, we at Film Threat are always unique and sincere in our opinions. I’m all for hearing the viewers’ opinions about film! They are the ticket buyers and the voices that truly count. Go Film Threat viewers!
Adam, it’s baby steps. There’s potential for greatness and potential for abuse and manipulation of this idea, and I’d like to see how it plays out for a while.
Besides, our door has never been shut to anyone interested in writing for us and we’ve already got a system for accepting new writers (check our About link and Contact Us link above if this is something you’re interested in).
Its a great idea to shine light on what the every day joe thinks of new movies, but can you also provide a way for the regular joes to write and submit full reviews?
Us regular folks can be all over the place(look at NetFlix reviews), but can still have some useful insight. Using yourselves as the filter might just work…
Goddamn this idea is excellent. Once again you guys f*****g top yourselves.