A Critical Consensus 25 February 2012

StuckInTheSixties: An assessment of current motion pictures by major American film critics. Film criticism is rated on a scale of 10 (excellent) to 1 (poor). I personally have found this consensus to be very accurate and reliable. Those movies I’ve seen with high ratings were excellent, and those I’ve seen with lower ratings weren’t. The movies are listed according to the critics’ ratings.

When a movie is reviewed by a film critic, that critic might make a smart, intelligent, worthy review ... or they might not. So trying to judge how good a movie is going to be based on a single, or even a few, reviews has an element of chance associated with it. All critics make poor reviews sooner or later.

But when you take the reviews of a large number of critics, and average them out in the way this Critical Consensus does, the critics' rating becomes very reliable.

Title / MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) content rating (G/PG/PG-13/R/NC-17) / Film Criticism

The Artist / PG-13 / 8.7
The Descendants / R / 8.6
Hugo / PG / 8.5
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy / R / 8.4
A Separation / PG-13 / 8.3
Once Upon A Time In Anatolia / not rated by MPAA / 8.0
Coriolanus / R / 7.9
The Secret World Of Arrietty / G / 7.9
Beauty And The Beast 3-D / G / 7.8
Pariah / R / 7.8
We Need To Talk About Kevin / R / 7.8
Miss Bala / R / 7.7
War Horse / PG-13 / 7.7
Pina / PG / 7.6
Chico & Rita / not rated by MPAA
A Dangerous Method / R / 7.5
Sing Your Song / not rated by MPAA / 7.5
Crazy Horse / not rated by MPAA / 7.4
Declaration Of War / not rated by MPAA / 7.3
Everyday Sunshine / not rated by MPAA / 7.3
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo / R / 7.2
Hipsters / not rated by MPAA / 7.2
Oscar Nominated Live Action Shorts / not rated by MPAA / 7.1
Paul Goodman Changed My Life / not rated by MPAA / 7.1
Chronicle / PG-13 / 7.0
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol / PG-13 / 7.0
My Week With Marilyn / R / 7.0
Addiction Incorporated / PG / 6.9
Rampart / R / 6.9
The Adventures Of Tintin / PG / 6.8
Haywire / R / 6.8
Big Miracle / R / 6.8
Norweigian Wood / not rated by MPAA / 6.7
The Grey / R / 6.6
Thin Ice / R / 6.6
Carol Channing / PG / 6.5
The Iron Lady / PG-13 / 6.4
Domain / not rated by MPAA / 6.3
The Innkeepers / R / 6.2
Albert Hobbs / R / 6.1
We Bought A Zoo / PG / 6.0
Extremely Loud, Incredibly Close / PG-13 / 5.9
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star Of Milos / not rated by MPAA / 5.8
Safe House / R / 5.7
The Woman In Black / PG-13 / 5.7
Star Wars: Episode 1 / PG / 5.6
Sherlock Holmes / PG-13 / 5.5
Sleeping Beauty / not rated by MPAA / 5.4
Contraband / R / 5.1
Joyful Noise / PG-13 / 5.0
Red Tails / PG-13 / 4.9
The Vow / PG-13 / 4.7
Underworld Awakening / R / 4.5
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island / PG / 4.5
Man On A Ledge / PG-13 / 4.2
W.E. / R / 4.0
The Viral Factor / not rated by MPAA / 3.7
This Means War / PG-13 / 3.5
Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance / PG-13 / 2.9
One For The Money / PG-13 / 2.4
Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked / G / 2.3

Karma: I liked The Artist, but The Descendants was a better movie.

StuckInTheSixties:

8.7 and 8.6 ...

That's essentially an equal rating.

Karma: Yes. And they were both good, but The Descendants was the best movie of 2011.

My other favs:
Drive
Fright Night
Midnight In Paris
Moneyball
Hugo
The final H. Potter

StuckInTheSixties:

My hunch is that it'll take best picture.

Maybe best actor, too.

Geoff: The Artist won best picture at the BAFTAs.

The co-writer of the screenplay for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy thanked The Artist when he collected his award for "not being based on a book."

Karma: Alvin was robbed by not getting an Oscar nod for Chipwrecked.

Geoff: Humorous as I find that, the fact that it is STILL being shown in cinemas is enough to make me worry.

Karma: I believe it is based on Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Geoff: In much the same way that Orwell's 1984 inspired "Big Brother"?

Karma: And Midnight In Paris is a dramatization of Miss Hilton's sex tape.

StuckInTheSixties:

No, that's "Last Tango In Paris."

"Where's the butter!?!"

Karma: I thought it was Paris Is Burning.