How often do you disagree with the consensus of professional movie critics?

I don’t go for “the consensus”; I have a couple of critics I follow whose mindset is close to mine.

I have only seen three of those movies:

Florence Foster Jenkins, which I did not watch until the end, was way overrated.

Mad Max, Fury Road was a great film, I loved it. Much better than the original Mad Max movies.

The Lobster was hilarious and I loved it too. But there is no middle ground on that movie. As I was walking into the theater, old ladies from the previous showing told us to not waste our money. And people were walking out of it at the end. Those of us who stayed clapped at the end.

I don’t read the reviews. The reviewers don’t/can’t address the reasons I choose particular movies, so it’s hit or miss at best. I’d rather just go. If I don’t like it, oh well.

Before opening your question, I thought about movies the critics hated, but I ended up liking (which I couldn’t think of even one).

Your above listing of the opposite is probably much more common for most people (like me) who aren’t very good (or patient) at identifying all of these ‘nuances’ that the critic enjoyed.

I’ve never walked out in the middle of a movie, but considered it on more than one occasion.

Mostly, I’d just sit there thinking….‘Please be over now….PLEASE be over NOW…..”

@canidmajor

I dislike looking at reviews before I see the movie as well, but I love watching/reading the reviews after I see the film.

I don’t really read film reviews. If a movie interests me then someone else’s opinion isn’t going to dissuade me. If it doesn’t then someone else’s opinion isn’t going to sudden spark my interest.

That said, on occasion I will read a film critic’s writing on a movie that I’ve seen, as it can be interesting to hear/read someone else’s take, but I haven’t much since Roger Ebert died.

A professional movie critic is just some guy or gal with an opinion who was lucky enough to find a publisher. Their view on a move is simply their view based on their proclivities.

Just like art critics or literature critics. Pushing their own tastes and agenda.

I don’t trust any of them.

@elbanditoroso

So does that mean that your opinion doesn’t matter either when your’e recommending a movie to a friend?

And I disagree that critics simply “push their own tastes and agenda”. Most critics that I respect realize that their reviews are simply their own opinions.

@rockfan

Not to answer for someone else, but to be fair, you’re likely to know the personal tastes and proclivities of a friend and thus can probably make a reasonable assessment of what they might like.

@rockfan – yep, 100% – my opinion is no more valuable than anyone else’s.

I like Rotten Tomatoes because it gives a consensus of critics and fans, which provides a more balanced view.

^^^^
Second !

I’ve found the critics I generally align with and value their reviews much more than a consensus. Unfortunately, my favorite was Roger Ebert who has died. I also generally prefer to read the reviews after I’ve seen the movie.

FWIW, @zenvelo I might have been one of those old ladies who would have told you not to waste your money on “The Lobster.” I found it too gratuitously violent and the characters very unpleasant. I walked out.

But I loved “Kubo and the Two Strings” @rockfan . Probably went because of positive reivews and was totally entranced.

So if I read them, I take the reviews with a grain of salt.

A great band name, right there….

A Grain of Salt

I never read reviews before planning on seeing a movie either, my mind is my own biatch!
Sometimes I might stumble across one after i’ve watched it & even though they may share my opinion, good, bad or indifferent, I don’t place great stock in what they have to say.
Seriously, movie critics are a waste of space, stealing a living.

The Hackfrauds are the only film critics I trust.

Often. A student of movies and movie-making all my life, I consider myself a better critic than most “professional” ones I read nowadays. In fact, I HAVE been a professional movie critic.

By the way, “professional” only means the critic is being paid to state an opinion—not necessarily an opinion that’s better or wiser than yours or mine.

I loved Roger Ebert’s reviews, which I found was almost always spot on.
The SF Chronicle has a moron named Mick LaSalle doing film criticism, and if he likes a film, I usually hate it, and the reverse.
I have a deep understanding of cinema, and have seen more movies than anyone I know (up to 80 each month). MLS is a good writer with no understanding of film.

Of the movies you nearly walked out on:

Anomalisa: Interesting. I love Charlie Kaufman, but this is a minor work. 7/10
Inherent Vice: I didn’t care for it.4/10
Under the Skin: Incredible and fascinating. I can see why you almost walked out, but I bought a copy just to loan to people. 9.6/10
Dear White People: Didn’t see it.
Florence Foster Jenkins: I don’t care for Meryl Streep, and this film has too many I Love Lucy moments for me to like. 4/10
Kubo & the Two Strings: Brilliant. Animation like nothing I have seen. 9.2/10
Mad Mad: Fury Road: I am a huge Road Warrior fan, and I was waiting 13 years for this, from when it was first announced. 9.8/10
Sausage Party: Didn’t see it.
The Lobster: yes, this is odd. Not for everyone, but different from the usual fare. 7.8/10
Logan: The best of the Wolverine/X-Men films. 9.2/10

@filmfann What’s funny though is that I’m a fan of most of their previous works, such as

Being John Malkovich
Adaptation
There Will Be Blood
The Master
Sexy Beast
High Fidelity
Philomena
Witches of Eastwick
Mad Max 2: Road Warrior
Shrek 2
Superbad
Dogtooth
3:10 to Yuma

I usually disagree with some or most of reviews. I figured that out long ago, and started working on the skill of getting information rather than opinions from reviews, so that I could guess whether I’d like the thing or not.

(Roger Ebert was pretty consistent and smart but I didn’t agree with him on several things. I more often was closer to the opinions of Gene Siskel.)

I agree with you @rockfan about Mad Max. I find The Road Warrior to be excellent, and Fury Road to be an annoying waste of effort. For me it’s about making some degree of sense. I can somewhat believe that post-apocalyptic maniacs would behave as in the first, and that the action might play out a bit like that. The action and behavior in Fury Road is more often than not blatant silly nonsense to me.

I do not recall ever agreeing with the critics. If they rave about a movie, I know it will be terrible to me. Everyone has an opinion about anything, and there is no valid reason why the opinions of critics should be better than anyone else’s!