Review of the Reviews

The movie I selected to talk about is The Town. This is personally one of my favorite movies of all time. I thought Ben Affleck did a wonderful job directing this movie and had a strong performance as well acting in his own movie. I looked up this movie on Rotten Tomatoes and for the most part it received incredible reviews. One of the reviews I thought complimented the movie the best was from Matthew Turner from View London. "This is a hugely enjoyable thriller that confirms Ben Affleck's talent as a director, thanks to a strong script, great set-pieces and terrific performances from a note-perfect cast". I feel that Turner summed up his opinion well about the movie and got straight to the point. His overall tone was very positive and really wanted to make the reader check out this movie. Turner brings up good topics about the movie and really focused on Ben Affleck's superb directing because this was a statement movie for Affleck, he wasn't exactly viewed as a successful director and this movie shut critics right up. He also talked about the very strong cast, Jeremy Renner did an excellent job as the supporting actor to Affleck. His bank robber role as a spontaneous rebel was played very well.

Despite all of the very positive reviews that The Town received, there will still some who disliked the movie. I found a bad review on Rotten Tomatoes from Eric Melin from scenestealers.com. Melin argued the predictability from a typical bank robbery movie. "Affleck is a little wooden... and most of what happens outside of the actual bank robberies themselves is pretty predictable". Melin has always questioned his directing ability and feels that The Town didn't help improve Affleck's status in his eyes. Melin thought the cast was talented, but Affleck himself lacked an emotional standpoint. The tone from Eric was very direct and aggressive. He wasn't afraid at all to put this movie down.

I most strongly agreed with one of Matthew Turner's quotes, "Affleck's direction is superb, firmly cementing his talent as a director after Gone Baby Gone." I felt that Ben Affleck couldn't have done a better job directing this movie. He picked a well thought out story and added the perfect cast for a movie like this. His acting himself only strengthen the movie as well for I am a very big fan of some of the movies he's been in as an actor. One of the quotes that I agreed with from Eric Melin was, "Even if you can see where this movie is going a mile away, though, “The Town” does look fantastic and the robbery and chase scenes are well done. It just feels so familiar—like a song you’ve heard a million times on the radio. When it’s on again, you sing along, but the moment it ends, you’ve forgotten it again". Even though I enjoyed this movie very much, Eric does have a point about the familiar sense the movie has. Most bank robber movies go along the same lines and this one seemed to follow that line in some ways. 

After looking at both of these reviews on The Town, I think that even if I didn't see the movie and was basing my first impressions on these reviews, I think the positive review from Matthew Turner would have the bigger impact on me. The way he went on and on about how well Affleck directed the movie and had many exciting scenes and so on, it just seems more compelling than Melin's review. I believe that the key factor on how a film critic wins a reader over to the critics argument is by being very passionate and direct with their facts.

If I were to write a one page film review on a movie, I would want to make sure I strongly embrace my opinion to the reader and give as many facts why about it. I think that talking in depth about the cast and plot of the story is very important to the reader. For some people, one actor/actress can be the sole reason why they see a movie, so its important to praise these things.

1. What is the first movie that really made a strong impression on you? The first movie that made a strong impression on me was Saving Private Ryan. I've always been very interested in war movies and when i saw this film, i thought it really captured what it was like to be in a war and some of the sacrifices that had to be made during battle.

2. What are 3-4 of your favorite genres? War, Mystery/Thriller, Comedy, Horror

3. What are 3-4 of your least favorite genres? Romance, Silent, Musical

4. What are your five favorite films? Moneyball, Saving Private Ryan, Inception, Dark Knight, The Fighter, The Town

5. List three characteristics of what you consider to be a good movie? A good plot, good actors/ actresses, and a interesting setting

6. What are some of your least favorite movies? Transformers, Fast n Furious, Captain Phillips

7. List three characteristics that you consider to be a bad movie? Bad actors, bad plot, bad special effects

8. If you have any favorite directors list them? Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, David O. Russell

9. What are your favorite actors/actresses? Leonardo Dicaprio, Tom Hanks, Mark Wahlberg, Margot Robbie, Ben Affleck

10. List three films that you consider it important for people to see? JFK, Saving Private Ryan, Blood Diamond

11. What's your oldest favorite movie? Ferris Bueller's day off

12. What's the best movie you've seen that has been released in the past 2 years? Unbroken

13. What are the next five films on your "queue"? Interstellar, American Sniper, foxcather, focus, Gone Girl