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Bend It Like Beckham was a good movie. That being said, when I saw it, I found it to be a sterling example of a weakness I've always found with Rottentomatoes.
As you may know, the movie got pretty darn close to 90% on the tomatometer. That's an unusually high score. Does that mean that it's better than all the movies that got a lower score? Absolutely not, although one may expect that. What it means is that, although it's not in the top 10% of movies ever made, it is an undeniably good movie. You'll laugh while you watch it. You'll leave the theatre with a smile on your face, and you won't feel cheated at having spent your time and money on it. It's almost impossible to deny that it's a cute, fun little movie, and if you were to review it, I'm sure that you would join the vast majority of other reviewers in giving it a positive review. That being said, there are many movies with a more polarizing effect upon critics and audiences that are obviously much, much better than this movie, but will get a significantly lower rating. For this reason, when I'm checking rottentomatoes, I find it much more useful to use their links to read a few full reviews than just to look at the straight numerical result.
Point is, it's a good movie. Go see it. In the theatres, if you're so inclined. But don't expect to add it to your DVD collection.
Posts: 2804 | Registered: May 2003
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Just adding (as a newbie) to the discussion - having read past columns on the site, I have to say that I agree with most of OSC's book reviews, and disagree with most of his movie reviews!
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I agreed completely with his reviews on Pirates (both viewings) but must respectfully disagree with "Sylvester Stallone is never, never, never intentionally funny." Oscar remains one of my favorite movies.
A lot of what disappointed him in Spy Kids #d - which I also agreed with - was, I believe, due to the movie originally not being a Spy Kids movie. From what I understand, it was supposed to be a stand-alone movie that the director was poressured into making another sequel, so the Spy Kids mythos had to be shoehorned in. The horrible tacked-on ending is evidence of this.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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quote:having read past columns on the site, I have to say that I agree with most of OSC's book reviews, and disagree with most of his movie reviews!
Yeah, I've noticed the same for me... I think part of this is that OSC used to write book review columns and as a writer himself he shows his understanding for writing, and respect for fellow writers, in his book reviews.
When he's OSC is doing movie reviews, it seems like he's usually reviewing movies he goes to see for fun and doesn't have his professional reviewer's cap on... seems like he also has a tendency to see (moreso than books) a movie as being a commentary on American life, and if he sees a movie as having a shallow commentary on politics/morality/culture/religion he's more likely to give it a hard time. (Maybe this is because movies ARE more likely to be shallow, since it's more challenging to tell a good story in a movie than in a book?... but still OSC does seem to have a tendency to jump on a movie if he thinks it's shallow and doesn't like its message -- Pleasantville, American Beauty -- while pardoning shallow movies if he likes the message -- Sweet Home Alabama, Maid in Manhattan.)
Ah, enough rambling, off to work... anyway, I like OSC's reviews, they're fun to read and usually interesting, but I definitely like his book reviews more than his movie reviews...
Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
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