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Never Trust Your Friend's Movie Recommendations #GBE2
Saturday, August 20, 2011 at 11:17PM 
Let's make something perfectly clear. Movie recommendations and criticisms that close friends and associates share with us are very useful when choosing a title to watch. Their reviews from an average movie goer's perspective are what convinces other people to give a relatively unheard of movie such as "The Way Back" starring Saoirse Ronan and Colin Farrell a chance. It's also what causes movie lovers to add a crazy title like "The Experiment" starring Forrest Whitaker to his or her Netflix queue.
Still, it is never wise to always trust movie recommendations from your friends as the sole reason to ignore a title (or even watch a title that you may not be interested in, unless your friend's comments are positive and very pursuasive) or prepare yourself for possible disappointment. Friends may know what they are talking about when telling you that a movie sucks or is the greatest thing since "Avatar" or whatever, especially if they share your preferences in movies. However, many of us often miss out on what could become our favorite films to date by judging a movie's quality based on our friends ratings of them.
"Love & Basketball" was popular during its release and became a favorite film among what seems like a majority of the movie going public or at the very least, African-American movie goers. I have several friends who are among the very vocal and devoted "Love & Basketball" champions that think my utter dislike for this title is outrageous. It is kind of funny and ironic, as I feel the same way about the movie. "Love & Basketball" is outrageous......to me.
On the flip side, I happen to love "Blue Valentine" but know at least two people who do not like this film. One of them, Smurfdok, did not watch it because the subject matter turns him off and the other person is Fiercechick, who saw it in the movie theater and did not become a fan of the film. No matter how much she loves Ryan Gosling, I am in no more a position to convince her to place “Blue Valentine” on her list of top ten favorite films than anyone who can persuade me to enjoy watching a movie as annoying as “Love & Basketball.”
If I refused to check out “Blue Valentine” based on the fact that I know people who do not like the film, I would have missed out on a really good picture. If you are into sporty romance dramas that have a particularly strong focus on African-American relationships at home, in the community and higher education, then asking me if I think you should watch “Love & Basketball” is not the best idea.
The next time a friend (or co-worker, fuck buddy, neighbor or even a bartender who has no friends of his or her own) tells you that a movie sucks OR tells you that a movie is awesome, get a second opinion from, um.....yourself....before overlooking a possible gem at the box office or wasting your time on a title that isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be such as the oh, so boring “In the Bedroom.” Is this movie good (in my opinion)? Yes. However, it is too damn long! Or is it? Don’t take my word for it. Watch “In the Bedroom” for yourself and then let me know if you agree or disagree with my assessment of the boring scenes and lengthy running time.
How much influence does Your friends have on which movies you decide to watch?
Technorati Tags: movie+recommendations, group+blogging+experience, group+blogging+experience+2, gbe2, gbe+2, friends+movie+recommendations, love+and+basketball, blue+valentine, the+experiment+movie, the+experiment+forrest+whitaker, the+way+back, in+the+bedroom+movie
Reader Comments (4)
Depends on the friend!!! But usually they give some pretty good recommendations. I really enjoyed watching Blue Valentine...it was just so heart-wrenching and made me bawl that I just can't watch it again.
hmsgofita,
Good point regarding the friends who are making the recommendations. That is something that I did not consider while writing this post but it is so important. I can understand how "Blue Valentine" moved you so that it's difficult to watch again. I plan on getting it on DVD, so I'll eventually have to watch it again.
This post is about ANY movie though....which could be "Blue Valentine" or even "Kill the Irishman" which is a title that many people never even knew was out in the movie theaters a few months ago. Or it could be about old movies too. For instance, I like "The Departed" and "Titanic" and have relatives who can't stand Leonardo DiCaprio so I may not always judge a movie based off of their recommentations, especially if it's starring DiCaprio. However, one of these relatives also hates "Shutter's Island" and told me to watch "Secret Window" because it's really good. Now, I still haven't seen "Secret Window" yet but Johnny Depp is a good actor so I am looking forward to watching the movie when I get around to it on Netflix or something :)
I totally get you. I'm hesitant to rely solely on one person's opinion of a film. Heck, I even take movie recommendations from my wife with a grain of salt (but don't tell her that!). So when she suggested that I watch Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, I shelved that suggestion for a good long while. But when I *finally* picked up a copy I was instantly won over by this quirky film.
I guess, when the stars are aligned just so, that some recommendations are actually spot on! :-)
Very good post Nicole. It's sort of like book recommendations or parenting advice - I have people I go to for movies, people I go to for books, and people I go to to find out about other things in life, but even if I agree 90% with someone, it doesn't guarantee I'll agree on any one particular film.
Titles are SOOOO important - there are several movies that I didn't watch in the theater because I didn't understand their title, but later rented and loved. (Can't think of one in particular at the moment, but the whole year or 2008(?) sort of ran that category for me - the year of movies like "3:10 to Yuma" and "No Country for Old Men" - I couldn't figure out what they meant - I know Yuma was a remake, but hadn't seen the original.)
And, certainly I don't always agree with friends or the masses. An example? HATED American Beauty, even though I'm probably only one of few who did. Bored stiff from Princess Bride, also an apparent rarity. On the other hand, LOVED Being John Malkovich which I've heard very mixed reviews about from friends.
You just never know what will strike your fancy - nothing ventured, nothing gained in the world of movie-going I suppose. ;)