Movies and Critics

I will say this once:

I do not always agree with the critics on movies.

Sometimes, the critics will love a movie I hate and sometimes they will hate a movie I love, though other times I do agree with them. However, I would never make a decision to see a movie soley based on the critics reviews.

Often, if I on the fence regarding whether to see a movie or not, I will check the reviews. For example, I did this for the lego movie. I saw the previews for it and thought I might like it, but really wasn't sure. I am not a big lego fan, but it did look kind of interesting. So I read the reviews and it appeared that the critics liked the movie, so I saw it.

And guess what?

It was 'just ok', I am not going to write a full review of it, but the storyline wasn't all that great, and the song "Everyone is Awesome" is annoying, however, it is cute in some parts, and it funny at times, but I could easily live without seeing it (Well movies aren't food, water or air, so no one literally needs them to survive but you know what I mean).

I'd probably give it a 6.5/10 or maybe even a 7/10 at the highest, but I certainly wouldn't rate it as high as the critics rated it.

That's just a recent one. There have been some movies that the critics gave GREAT reviews, but I didn't like. For example, As Good as it Gets. The best thing about that movie was that the dog was cute and the when the guy started getting attached to him/her (sorry, can't remember the gender, if it was even stated). The plot was boring, the characters were annoying and they made mental illness seem funny and I think the movie kind of made people with mental disorder seem 'bad', but the critics liked it.

Oh, and then there was The Kids Are All Right. The humour in that one really wasn't my type. It also included stereotypes about homosexuality, which is not my think at all. I'd give about a 3.5/10 or maybe a 4/10. Yet, it was nominated for best picture and received very positive reviews. What?

There are numerous other examples including Chicken Run (I think I walked out of that one) and Black Robe (that I had to watch for school, and I missed it in class so watched on my own and turned it off because it was so boring).

Also, there have been some movies that I really liked, that the critics did not.

For example, I really like The Outsiders, but that did not great reviews, I also really liked the movie 'About Time' and that only received mixed reviews. Same with the Lorax and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie trilogy.

You may be thinking 'Do you EVER agree with the critics?'

The answer to that is yes, but not all the time. For example, I really liked Catching Fire and so did the critics. We both thought Saving Mr. Banks was a pretty good and neither of us liked Yours, Mine and Ours (2005). We also both agreed that 'Good Boy' (I don't know if anyone remembers this movie, it came out about about 10 or 11 years ago), was just okay.

But do reviews influence my desicion to see a movie? Usually not. If I am interested in seeing a movie,I will see it no matter what the reviews say and if I have no interest in seeing a movie, the reviews will not change my mind, but if the movie sounds like it might be good, but it easily go they other way as well, the reviews may have some influence on whether I choose to the movie or not, but not a ton. I will ask other people what they think, see if anyone wants to go with and find out more about the movie from other resources (eg: Kids in Mind)

Thanks,

AP

Album Review: Help Your Self (Sean McCann)

More than a month ago now, Sean released his third solo album, 'Help Your Self'. I have listened to it a few times, and I think it is his best work so far, musically.

Before I review, I would like to explain what the album is about.

This album is about Sean's 'road to recovery'. He quit drinking about 2 years ago and now, he has a album that tells the story of his rehabilitation. As the title suggests, he used self-help methods. He has mentioned writing songs, to be "therapeutic".  For more information on this album (and for why he left Great Big Sea), check out this article right here: http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2014-01-25/article-3590233/Helping-himself/1

The songs are pretty good, very personal, but doesn't mean bad (and it should never). The album opens with the song "Fire. A slower, mellower song, that probably has deeper meaning. But I can't figure it out. After this song, the album gets longer. Drinking is discussed in (obviously) Red Wine and Whiskey. The album gets to it's darkest place in Hold Me Mother, a very sad song that he describes as "a love letter to (his) mom". "Wish You Well" is about his departure from GBS (see previous post or telegram article in the paragraph above). He then goes on to "Help Him Self" in the title track, "Help Your Self". There are few more songs, and then the album ends with "For a Long Time Now"; a song about his wife.

Overall, a good album, not one song I dislike. 4.3/5.