The Power of Personal Movie Reviews

A lot of people claim that baseball is America's favorite pastime, but movies are really America's favorite pastime. Consider this, if you go to a dinner party and there are several individuals there in regards to age, sex, and race, do you think everyone at that party is going to have the same interests? It's very unlikely. However, one interest that almost every American shares is movies. Some people might enjoy dramas and others might enjoy comedies, but movies nonetheless.

Movies are fun to discuss and can lead to opinionated yet harmless discussions. If you're at a dinner party, you can provide your own verbal movie review. This is very productive as far as socializing goes, especially since everyone interprets a movie differently. How a film affects one person can differ greatly from how it affects another person. Personal movie reviews, whether verbal or written, sometimes hold more value than professional ones.

While a professional movie reviewer might receive a paycheck for what he or she is doing, that individual is still only one person. Therefore, their opinion can only hold so much weight. It's when hundreds, or even thousands, of people leave their own analysis that it becomes significant. And this, of course, is much more beneficial for someone who is looking to find more information on a movie they are considering for rental or purchase.

There are many advantages to personal movie reviews, but one of the biggest advantages is that if these critiques are left online, the reviewers will often have an opportunity to leave a star rating. The following is a simple example. If 546 people leave a rating for A Beautiful Mind and the rating is 4.5 out of 5 stars, people are going to be inclined to watch A Beautiful Mind. However, if a 'professional' movie critic says A Beautiful Mind is just average and slow in parts, the person listening, or watching, is not likely to watch A Beautiful Mind. Simply put, this is a case of 546 opinions versus 1. Which do you think holds more value? 546 of course, the numbers don't lie. That being the case, it's important that you look for personal movie reviews and ratings the next time you're in search of a good movie. The days of the professional movie reviewer are over.

If you're not familiar with movie reviews and ratings, here are two tips. One, sign-in to whatever movie reviews site you're visiting. In most cases, it's not possible to leave a comment or a rating if you don't have an account. Your opinion holds value; therefore, it should be recorded. And don't worry; most film review sites are free. A second tip, but in regards to when you're looking at reviews, is to pay careful attention to the titles of people's critiques. You can usually find out all the information you need to know based on a reviewer's title. Now you know how to avoid all the misses and enjoy all the hits. One thing everyone can agree on is that there's nothing like a good movie.