'Rediculous' Customer & Critic Reviews

[Lemmy Caution]

A review of California Dreamin', another one of those very good Romanian films you haven't seen yet. The writer of this review is from Yugoslavia, so overlook the occasional English errors (though the spaces before the commas drive me nuts). I really like when he gets "objective."

0 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Horrible Horrible Horrible Horrible !!!!,
3 December 2007
1/10
Author: mladenilic from Yugoslavia

I just came back from the theater and I have to say that watching this movie was a very painful experience , like the title say , this movie is horrible!

My girlfriend is a student at the art university, the film directing section, so she often goes to see alternative indy films and she asked me to go with her to the independent film festival and we chose this movie because of the good ratings here on IMDb. What a mistake!!!

Okay, I'm going to be objective as much as I can , now. The director did a bad job here. A lot of scenes are cut in a very crude way. But , compared to the cameraman's work, he was great!

I don't know how heavy was the camera or how weak and amateurish the cameraman was but this is probably the worst problem of the movie. There isn't a single scene , not a single shot, were the camera doesn't shake. They had a chance to shoot some really good photography but they ruined it by shaking the camera. The faster the camera moves ,while following the actors, the less you can see. He couldn't even zoom right , a lot of shots were blurry because of that.

The actors were okay, at least the leading ones. But there were scenes were you could see the actors watching the camera and ,probably,reading cue cards or taking the directors orders behind the camera.

The story was nothing special, to say at least. The plot was very simple and ridicules in my opinion. Too many stereotypes and too many clichés. Even if it's ,by some chance, based on true story ,it still sucks.

Do I have to say that this movie is unbelievably boring? No, I don't.

Don't be fooled by the ratings and good reviews . The wast majority of people who voted and wrote good reviews are from Romania . It is ,therefore, clear that the majority of Romanians ,who voted, gave this movie such good rating just because it's a Romanian movie and not because of the movie itself.

I don't think anybody could honestly say that this movie is good.

Don't waste you're time , see something else. Anything else!

[MichaelB]

Don't be fooled by the ratings and good reviews . The wast majority of people who voted and wrote good reviews are from Romania . It is ,therefore, clear that the majority of Romanians ,who voted, gave this movie such good rating just because it's a Romanian movie and not because of the movie itself.

An interesting theory, given that most of the negative reviews of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days on the IMDB seem to be by Romanians.

[M]

Shouldn't that be 'the wast majority of people who woted'?

[cshe]

A lot of scenes are cut in a very crude way.

Given the circumstances of the film, this comment was particularly funny.

[Lemmy Caution]

Don't be fooled by the ratings and good reviews . The wast majority of people who voted and wrote good reviews are from Romania . It is ,therefore, clear that the majority of Romanians ,who voted, gave this movie such good rating just because it's a Romanian movie and not because of the movie itself.

An interesting theory, given that most of the negative reviews of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days on the IMDB seem to be by Romanians.

Most of the reviews are by Romanians and others from the region, and are positive. Though they spend a lot of time lamenting the fact that they've once again been stereotyped as surly, bumbling rubes. Reminds me how super-defensive the Chinese are about their image abroad.

[MichaelB]

Most of the reviews are by Romanians and others from the region, and are positive. Though they spend a lot of time lamenting the fact that they've once again been stereotyped as surly, bumbling rubes. Reminds me how super-defensive the Chinese are about their image abroad.

I did specifically say "most of the negative reviews" - if you select the 'Hated It' option, you'll see that the first seven reviews, including all the one-star ones, are by Romanians. And by the time a non-Romanian starts contributing, the star rating has already climbed to six.

[patrick]

If you have thirty minutes to kill, this thread is amazing.

Dear lord...I have some friends who are obsessive compulsive (the type of people who own multiple copies of films because the different versions have different packaging/bonus features) but that thread puts them to shame. All that fuss over a slipcover having a tear in it - I saw the Halloween slipcovers, and if they're something that excite you, there's something wrong with you/your life.

Having worked retail for far too long, I can say that at all of the jobs i've worked any customer who is constantly returning things is flagged as suspicious, and with good reason. "Sillymonkey" seems to think that the fact that she spends an excessive amount at Best Buy somehow cancels out the extra work she's heaping on the employees - guess what, if you don't buy that extra copy of Lake Placid 2 some other jackass will.

Holy shit...I think this quote takes the cake:

Let me recount a story about someone in my non-immediate family. He is rich as hell and looooves to screw with retail stores. He will do some of the things sillymonkey does. He will try to return damaged goods. He will return a cartload of items. He'll even try to return items without reciepts. He seems like a pain in the ass but he does this to see which companies really want his business. If he has good experiences, he will spend $20000 in one crack at that store. Granted he is one in a million, but imagine if you are the manager who screws up that chance. That is why you need to treat every customer equally no matter how difficult they may be.

Assuming that this is a true story, what the hell is wrong with people?

[Lemmy Caution]

Most of the reviews are by Romanians and others from the region, and are positive. Though they spend a lot of time lamenting the fact that they've once again been stereotyped as surly, bumbling rubes. Reminds me how super-defensive the Chinese are about their image abroad.

I did specifically say "most of the negative reviews" - if you select the 'Hated It' option, you'll see that the first seven reviews, including all the one-star ones, are by Romanians. And by the time a non-Romanian starts contributing, the star rating has already climbed to six.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I was going back to the original review I cited, and talking about the IMDb reviews of California Dreamin'.

I can well imagine the IMDb reviews of 4,3,2 are rather polarized.

I expect these films will become more widely seen (4,3,2 just opened in NYC last week), and American reviews will come to dominate.

Is there a Romanian cinema thread here?

[arsonfilms]

Holy shit...I think this quote takes the cake:

Let me recount a story about someone in my non-immediate family. He is rich as hell and looooves to screw with retail stores. He will do some of the things sillymonkey does. He will try to return damaged goods. He will return a cartload of items. He'll even try to return items without reciepts. He seems like a pain in the ass but he does this to see which companies really want his business. If he has good experiences, he will spend $20000 in one crack at that store. Granted he is one in a million, but imagine if you are the manager who screws up that chance. That is why you need to treat every customer equally no matter how difficult they may be.

Assuming that this is a true story, what the hell is wrong with people?

So he bases his support of a company based on his interaction with a couple of staff members... and then rewards whichever company has staff that will put up with his shit?

I worked retail in high school and college, transferring from a rural store to an urban store when I went off to an urban school. At the rural store, we bent over backwards to keep as many people happy as possible, because most of our customers were the same ones, day in and day out. The urban store, by stark contrast, had substantially more instances of theft, scams and customers ODing on heroin in the bathroom. If a customer even raised their voice to someone on the staff we would call security. You can't base the quality of a store on how well people take your shit. The best you can do is see how helpful people are when you are polite. If they ignore you when you need help, go somewhere else. Good, knowledgable, patient retail help is hard enough to find without intentionally trying to piss them off.

[patrick]

The best you can do is see how helpful people are when you are polite. If they ignore you when you need help, go somewhere else. Good, knowledgeable, patient retail help is hard enough to find without intentionally trying to piss them off.

Exactly. For what it's worth, I work for a store that could technically be considered a "reseller" (although the things we buy at Best Buy are generally for rent, usually titles we forgot to order or under-ordered) and the staff at the local Best Buy have been nothing but pleasant to us - but then again, we don't make fools of ourselves.

I honestly don't know what the best part of the thread was, the original poster pulling the race card, that Ryel poster claiming that not liking a movie or a video game falls under "customer satisfaction," or "Sillymonkey" talking about how wealthy Asian collectors fly to her house to take a look at her Best Buy exclusives and have secret DVD conventions in Switzerland. I'd actually like to know more about the latter!

"Does my Family Guy Freakin' Sweet Party Pack intrigue you?"



"Oh, I see you're a man of discriminating taste...perhaps this will suit your fancy"

[Antoine Doinel]

sillymonkey just posted about how she also returned q-tips to a grocery store

used?

They scratched her poor sensitive ears, you see.

Perhaps sillymonkey wasn't so crazy after all.

[tavernier]

Nice story...

[SoyCuba]

Either there's some foul play going on with the votes or the so called fact that women mature earlier than men has just been proved incorrect (all those votes of 9 are from under 30 year old females).

[Antoine Doinel]

Is there a reason why you were looking the demographic rating breakdown of Meet The Spartans in the first place?

[tavernier]

To post it here so you could respond, of course.

[SoyCuba]

Is there a reason why you were looking the demographic rating breakdown of Meet The Spartans in the first place?

I actually noticed this thanks to the 'movie's' message board as I was looking for stupid posts such as this for laughs:

Im from europe, I seen the first scenes and i found it funny.. its not out yet in europe but it is on internet. I check imdb an i look at rating and amount of votes? I doubt this movie is such a bad parody. I think the rating is probably a misrepresentation of the true quality of this film and the avarage rating people would give it. Either due to the types of people voting, or maybe somekind of mass sociological reasons. I think if all people would wathc it neutrally and also with some basic knowledge required (seeing the orginanl and whatever they r joking at in the movie) and then would come o imdb and give their vote.. this movie would get a much better rating on the general movie list, and maybe even higher on the parody movie list..

I realise that's propably just someone trolling, but it is a funny post just the same. Here's two more posts from this person from the same thread:

well first of all i just said im from europe so you know a bit more about me.. you r insecure??? second of all it is true that europeans are averagly better educated and more intelectual.. also have a higher iq on average and are less vulnerable to mass manipulation.. but i dont care even if that is true! I mean cats are not as smart as humans but i still love em!

and

hmm im affraid your post is below my standards, i will not lower yourself to your level in argument coz it will just be pointless and not productive to this thread, but to not totally dismiss this post i want to show you i do understand your mind and only problem it is very closed and basic way of thinking your using, i said to you that i dont mind how people are, there is those who are very low on knowledge about how the world works but have a good heart and this is what i care bout, like i said Cats are stupid but i love em.. i have a stupid dog/ compared to humans anyway and i love him, you r stupid too! but i love you! its not bad to be stupid.. but if your in any way interested in knowing the truth about things you can always educate yourself.. most humans can be geniuses just by training.. iq's can be made higher bby proper training.. so if you care about it you can change yourself! and i still think there is very special people in america! for example i love the bands Tool and Isis.. and maybe a lot of americans in this forum are on my level of reasoning and maybe even more educated.. but you dont seem to be on my level which is allright though i still love you

[bunuelian]

This thread needs some refocusing.

[domino harvey]

Amazing ending to this featured IMDB review of Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams:

Joanne Woodward in another frustrating Oscar nominated performance.

As a middle aged woman, Joanne faces a breakdown not helped when she accompanies her mother, a very old-looking Sylvia Sidney, to the movies and have her mother drop dead in the theater. This would be enough to set anyone off. Given Woodward's past movie history, it does not take much to accomplish this.

No matter where she is, she can't get her mother out of her mind. Her mother seems to be all over the place waving to her even at the top of a staircase.

Both Woodward and Sidney were Oscar nominated for best actress and supporting actress respectively. Mercifully, they both lost.

The fact remains that life has enough frustrations and even though dying is a part of it, we don't need the constant reminder. Get a life Ms. Woodward.

[arsonfilms]

I suppose the same logic could be applied to anything, really... It could be a forum madlib!

take... Transformers: The fact remains that life has enough frustrations and even though humanity's reliance on machines is a part of it, we don't need the constant reminder.

or what about... There will be Blood: The fact remains that life has enough frustrations and even though Oil companies are a part of it, we don't need the constant reminder.

Citizen Kane: The fact remains that life has enough frustrations and even though News is a part of it, we don't need the constant reminder.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: The fact remains that life has enough frustrations and even though Chemicals are a part of it, we don't need the constant reminder.

The fun never ends!!!

[colinr0380]

I suppose the same logic could be applied to anything, really... It could be a forum madlib!

And of course:

Away From Her: The fact remains that life has enough frustrations and even though Alzheimers is a part of it, we don't need the constant reminder.

Or at the opposite extreme:

Death And The Maiden: The fact remains that life has enough frustrations and even though being convinced that you have run into someone who tortured you during your political activist days, beating said stranger to a pulp, tying him to a chair and then putting on a mock show trial in your home with your husband as judge, jury and executioner while wildly threatening everyone with a gun is a part of it, we don't need the constant reminder.

Or the most honest one:

Battlefield Earth: The fact remains that life has enough frustrations and even though John Travolta is a part of it, we don't need the constant reminder.

And of course:

Away From Her: The fact remains that life has enough frustrations and even though Alzheimers is a part of it, we don't need the constant reminder.

(Wait, didn't I already do that?)

[domino harvey]

From the DVDBeaver review of Becoming Jane:

There's a certain feminist revisionist quality that finds its way inevitably into films like the recent Pride & Prejudice with Keira Knightley that bugs me, as if Jane Austen's heroines weren't feminist enough for our taste.

#-o

[Michael Kerpan]

There's a certain feminist revisionist quality that finds its way inevitably into films like the recent Pride & Prejudice with Keira Knightley that bugs me, as if Jane Austen's heroines weren't feminist enough for our taste.

#-o

What's wrong with this particular observation?

[Belmondo]

There's a certain feminist revisionist quality that finds its way inevitably into films like the recent Pride & Prejudice with Keira Knightley that bugs me, as if Jane Austen's heroines weren't feminist enough for our taste.

#-o

What's wrong with this particular observation?

A very good question. Austen's heroines were hardly feminist by any modern standard - they waited in those drawing rooms until a man came calling; and having fully realized women characters is quite different from having feminist characters.
Nevertheless, Keira Knightley did seem a tad more modern than even Jennifer Ehle who did a nice job in the 1995 version. I suspect that the real answer here is length. The movie has to wrap it up in two hours so the pacing makes everything seem more contemporary, while a miniseries can let us linger on those long looks so fraught with meaning, and somewhat closer to Austen's vision of her characters and the slower pace at which they lived.

[domino harvey]

An Amazon.com customer's take on the Cary Grant Collection (the good one with Only Angels Have Wings/His Girl Friday/etc):

I really don't know what the fuss is about with these old films. My boyfriend purchased these and this past Sunday a friend of ours came over to watch Cary Grant back to back. I literary had to fight to stay awake. I think I slept through most of the two films we viewed and I probably didn't miss a thing. Cary Grant may be a good actor but oh what garbage. Can you honestly tell me these types of films were actually relevant enough to put out on DVD? Hackney plots that go no where with tons of nonsense dialogue as filler. Stupid, irrelevant, and just plain awful. Who the hell could like such things? Yes I was brought up on the Star Wars generation but I can appreciate good acting. I love all the films which deal with classical novels but these types of films are just bad. I guess like everything else they have their fan base but keep this celluloid slush away from me. Recommended for an alternative to a sleeping pill.

[Quot]

I literary had to keep from laughing.