A Critical Consensus 5 May 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.

Each entry contains the film title, the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) content rating (G / PG / PG-13 / R / NC-17), and the ranking on a 1 (worst) to 10 (best) scale.

This Is Not A Film / not rated by MPAA / 8.9
The Kid With A Bike / PG-13 / 8.2
Marley / PG-13 / 8.2
Monsieur Lazhar / PG-13 / 8.1
The Turin Horse / not rated by MPAA / 8.0
Bully / PG-13 / 7.9
The Deep Blue Sea / R / 7.9
Jiro Dreams Of Sushi / PG / 7.8
Footnote / PG / 7.7
The Hunter / not rated by MPAA / 7.6
Gerhard Richter Painting / not rated by MPAA / 7.5
The Raid: Redemption / R / 7.5
Bernie / PG-13 / 7.4
House Of Pleasures / not rated by MPAA / 7.4
21 Jump Street / R / 7.4
Turn Me On, Dammit! / not rated by MPAA / 7.4
Attenberg / not rated by MPAA / 7.3
The Cabin In The Woods / R / 7.3
The Pirates: Band Of Misfits / PG / 7.3
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth / not rated by MPAA / 7.2
Sound Of Noise / R / 7.2
Damsels In Distress / PG-13 / 7.1
The Hunger Games / PG-13 / 7.1
The Salt Of Life / not rated by MPAA / 7.0
Applause / R / 6.9
The Fairy / not rated by MPAA / 6.8
The Island President / PG / 6.8
Natural Selection / R / 6.7
Surviving Progress / not rated by MPAA / 6.7
Chimpanzee / G / 6.6
Love In The Buff / not rated by MPAA / 6.6
The Hunter / R / 6.5
Salmon Fishing In The Yemen / PG-13 / 6.4
Hit So Hard / not rated by MPAA / 6.4
Letters From The Big Man / R / 6.4
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope / PG-13 / 6.3
Warriors Of The Rainbow / not rated by MPAA / 6.3
Goon / R / 6.2
To The Arctic / G / 6.2
4:44 Last Day On Earth / 6.0
Free Men / not rated by MPAA / 5.9
Touchback / PG-13 / 5.9
Safe House / R / 5.7
Lockout / PG-13 / 5.6
John Carter / PG-13 / 5.5
Think Like A Man / PG-13 / 5.5
Dr. Seuse’ The Lorax / PG / 5.4
Safe / R / 5.4
We Have A Pope / not rated by MPAA / 5.3
Blue Like Jazz / PG-13 / 5.2
The Lady / R / 5.0
American Reunion / R / 4.9
Mirror Mirror / PG / 4.9
Woman Thou Art Loosed / PG-13 / 4.8
The Three Stooges / PG / 4.8
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island / PG / 4.5
Life Happens / R / 4.5
October Baby / PG-13 / 4.2
My Way / R / 4.1
The Lucky One / PG-13 / 4.0
Detention / R / 3.9
Wrath Of The Titans / PG-13 / 3.9
The Raven / R / 3.8
Losing Control / R / 3.6
This Means War / PG-13 / 3.5

Karma: Tried to see Avengers, but the film lost sound after 20 minutes.

StuckInTheSixties:

It looks awful to me.

Karma: I'm guessing you feel that way about the whole genre, no?
Iron Man was a great film.

StuckInTheSixties:

I saw most of Iron Man on television. (I got screwed because it was listed as two hours, for which I set the recorder, and it actually ran two and a half hours, so I haven't seen the conclusion.) I liked that. I didn't enthusiastically jump up and down for it, but it was worth watching.

Judging by the ads I've seen, Avengers looks terrible, as does this upcoming turd called "Battleship."

Karma: Batleship looks lame. Avengers looks like a fun romp to me. I'm also looking forward to Dark Shadows.

StuckInTheSixties:

Dark Shadows looks positively repulsive to me.

I'm looking forward to "The Dictator."

Karma: I hope the Dictator is good. His stuff is hit or miss.

StuckInTheSixties:

The little bit I've seen made me laugh.

Karma: Yes, that worries me. All the funny parts are already seen in the adverts.

StuckInTheSixties:

That's always a possibility with any film and its advertisements. They load all the good stuff in the ad, and the film falls flat.

Hence ... A Critical Consensus.

Karma: Most intriguing titles above?
Turn Me On, Dammit!
Love In The Buff