XKCD makes online ratings easy to understand

[Josh]

[nosh]

[HAS ONLY ONE REVIEW]

Or 40. The first few ratings are invariably shill.
It almost makes you wonder if that's part of their contract. 

[TaoPhoenix]

Randall Munroe is a minor deity.

[40hz]

Yep. Randall Munroe nails it. Again.

[daddydave]

My rule of thumbs for movie ratings:

Ignore the (5 star) Netflix ratings, and go by the (10 star) IMDB ratings, because you get a bit more diverse (and international) group doing the ratings.

Anything with a rating over 8 is suspect. It is probably either one of the following (there are exceptions):

• Something with A Good Message but no story and no interesting characters (these always seem to find their audience, to the delight of lazy directors).
• Or, an old movie that people have irrational nostalgic feelings for, not because the movie was great, but because of where they were in life at the time.
• Or, a 20 year old movie that was 5 years ahead of its time. Exactly.

Anything with a rating 5 of less has universal negative appeal, I haven't had much luck finding "undiscovered gems" in that category.

So an IMDB rating of 6 to 8 seems is where I check for movies that might be worth watching, if they have 100 votes or more.

[Renegade]

I'm skeptical of some ratings. e.g.: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1020885/

Lesbian Vampire Killers was hilarious. You can't take it seriously, which is why I suspect that it scored low. But it's just a riot. 5.3 at IMDB and 27% or 4/10 at Rotten Tomatoes:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lesbian_vampire_killers/

Cherry 2000 - Scored 5.1: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092746/

Great flick!

America: Freedom to Fascism by Aaron Russo (Trading Places, etc. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0751567/ ) - Great flick! 7.8 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0772153/ I'd say it's way under-rated.

Idiocracy - 6.4? Under-rated - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/

Titanic - 7.6? Really? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120338/

At the end of the day, I think my tastes just don't line up very well with popular opinion.

[mahesh2k]

I never go with box office earnings and star ratings.

Prometheus was crap movie, still it made decent earnings. There was whooping 4 stars out of 5 in many reviews. Those who are born before 90's know how crappy today's scifi have gone.

That said, some of the movies, like Justin Beiber's never give up, twilight and hunger games have their own cult increasing the rating on other review sites by clicking from multiple IP's. So there is no point in ratings these days. 

[nosh]

I just viewed 2010 for the second time (after a gap of years) yesterday, it may not be a classic like its predecessor, but just a 6.7 rating? Seriously??
The scene where Lithgow fights his fear of heights made me feel like I was there. Amazing stuff.

That said, some of the movies, like Justin Beiber's never give up, twilight and hunger games have their own cult increasing the rating on other review sites by clicking from multiple IP's.

Don't forget to add Bollywood slop to that list. Most Bollywood flicks are grossly over-rated by hyperventilating fans. While other countries are increasingly questioning religion, we're building temples for our movie stars.

[wraith808]

In the end, the success or failure of a movie depends on critical mass and the ability to hit a cross-section a combination of things, not the opinion of one particular person.  Even hitting that, it still doesn't allow for individual tastes.  It's sort of like that conversation we had on why people make new software.  I usually try to find a couple of critics that seem to grade and think the way that I do, then follow them.  It's better to me than some random cross section- whether it is critics or the general masses.

[mahesh2k]

True that. I stopped watching bollywood movies when they decided to dub hollywood and southie movies in Hindi and troll on channels like UTV movies and Movies OK channel. The translation, ass == pichwada in horrible dubbed voice is gross, makes me want destroy my TV set.  

[Renegade]

I do not get Bollywood movies at all. The massive choreography and singing and dancing and bad rich guy fighting poor good guy for the girl... My eyes glass over and I move on to other things. Quickly. I've tried. Can't do it.

[daddydave]

In the end, the success or failure of a movie depends on critical mass and the ability to hit a cross-section a combination of things, not the opinion of one particular person.

The reason I am more dependent on popular ratings than most people is that I have found the best movie critics can make a crap movie sound awesome and an awesome movie sound like crap. So I am trying to blunt the effect of relying on one particular voice to decide what movie to watch.

Plus I don't like to watch movies alone. If I am the only one who enjoys the movie, it is not a "win" at my house. So popularity means something, although it obviously doesn't mean everything.

Even hitting that, it still doesn't allow for individual tastes.  It's sort of like that conversation we had on why people make new software.  I usually try to find a couple of critics that seem to grade and think the way that I do, then follow them.  It's better to me than some random cross section- whether it is critics or the general masses.

(emphasis mine)

I haven't had much luck with finding a critic who thinks like me consistently.

[nosh]

I do not get Bollywood movies at all. The massive choreography and singing and dancing and bad rich guy fighting poor good guy for the girl... My eyes glass over and I move on to other things. Quickly. I've tried. Can't do it.

I can empathize. I've lived here most of my life and still don't get the song and dance bit. But an audience of 1 billion+ demands it. (I hope to convert them all someday. )

[mahesh2k]

Convert ? I gave up on that part long ago. 

[40hz]

But an audience of 1 billion+ demands it.

Well there you go! Democracy in action, folks!

Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, a huge song and dance number is a pretty apt metaphor for most of what passes for 'daily life' on this planet.

So without further ado...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pvMCu_YeYU

[Stoic Joker]

In the end, the success or failure of a movie depends on critical mass and the ability to hit a cross-section a combination of things, not the opinion of one particular person.  Even hitting that, it still doesn't allow for individual tastes.

With the formulaic cookie cutter Pablum that they're trying to passoff now days... Meh ...Probably. But movies like Airplane had universal appeal. It was impossible to sit through without laughing your ass of...and still is if you can find the original complete non-PC sanitized version. Last time I saw it on TV I went ballistic because most of the best lines had been removed.

[TaoPhoenix]

But movies like Airplane had universal appeal. It was impossible to sit through without laughing your ass of...and still is if you can find the original complete non-PC sanitized version. Last time I saw it on TV I went ballistic because most of the best lines had been removed.

Shh, ssh, now now, it's going to be okay. Just sit back and drink your milk and have a cookie. Because it's nice and clean For The Children! You wouldn't want those innocent snowflakes to hear a bad word now would you? I mean, they might be ruined forever, and need therapy for forty years!  /Grumpy

Anyone who has ever uttered the words "For The Children" in sincerity forgot what school hallways were actually like.

[Stoic Joker]

Anyone who has ever uttered the words "For The Children" in sincerity forgot what school hallways were actually like.

You Damn Straight! 

...I knew this was a bad day to quit sniffing glue! 

[wraith808]

F*ck the Children

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNcgTMpcgn0

(sorry if the video doesn't show up... youtube is blocked from work but I'll fix it later if necessary)