Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for August 02, 2022

Does anyone quote reviews anymore?

there are a lot of professions like that for good or ill!

To be fair, I didn’t give a d@mn about film reviews even before smartphones.

I give this comic two thumbs down.

Rat, didn’t you hear what Goat said? He’s a professional. It means he gets paid to do what those 7 billion people do for free.

Cold Rat , Cold !

love Rat when he’s so sensitive and nurturing…

Seven billion phones? And all of them smartphones with data plans? That sounds more than a little exaggerated.

But he gets paid and publishes books, right? Right???

Bob, Bob the movie man, some films he likes, some he pans!

That has been going on ever since YouTube launched

There are 8 billion people now, so more reviews!

Movies are for the fans, not the critics. I really don’t care what some snobbish, self-important blowhard thinks about the latest film. The only blowhard whose opinion on films matters to me is me.

Who reads reviews anyways? Definitely not Hollywood.

The Siskel & Ebert estates have a valid claim to sue any social media company using the thumbs-up/thumbs-down “like” features!

I learned many decades ago to ignore professional film critics, what they look for has nothing to do with how entertaining a film is.

Rat’s personal film critic squirt gun is filled with Rotten Tomato juice. Who can blame him? It has all been down hill since the Double Secret Probation version of “Animal House”. Who’s with me? AAaaaaayyyaaaa… ToGA ToGA ToGa

“NOPE” Nope.

I generally do not like the movies that critics rate highly.

Everyone’s got an opinion…..just watch TicToc

“And what is the use of a book . . . without pictures or conversations?” Alice pondered before her adventures in Wonderland. Today, she’d wonder, “And what is the use of a movie . . . without gratuitous violence and explosions?”

That’s what movie, book, and drama critics are for.

Do cynics think that IMDB reviews are somehow inflated, like Amazon has been accused of? Regardless, I have found that any show or movie with 10K+ IMDB reviews averaging >9 are generally worthwhile programs. There are undoubtedly exceptions…see below ;-)

Rat is Right.

Do those 7 billion people get paid for their reviews?

And everyone of their opinions usually stink…..

Rat obviously does not know the difference between a professional and an amateur.

The thing is, does anyone listen to the 7,000,000,000 people with phones? I know what genre I like.

OMG!!! I am stealing that last line HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Rat’s giving too much credit to the influence of critics. Too many critically reviewed movies were box office smashes and vice versa.

I go to rotten tomatoes for reviews. The audience reviews, definitely not the critics.

At his age, he’s also got one in his Depends.

I’d rather have a reviewer, one whose tastes I know align with mine, than a critic. To paraphrase Spider Robinson, “A critic tells you if it’s Art. A reviewer tells you if it’s any fun to see.”

I love rat’s comment!

Judith Crist panned THE SOUND OF MUSIC,for all the good it did her.

oh I stopped regarding reviewers back in the 80’s. If there’s a movie I like, I will like it, regardless of what a so called film critic thinks of it. Some of the best movies have been the worst criticized.

Not all smartphone owners do that.

Except most folks post on their cellphones don’t give actual reviews. For most it’s always something like “It sucked, 0 stars. Dont waste your money.” or “That movie was really awsome! Just tell them to shup up and take my money. Two thumbs way up.” Nothing actually telling you why the movie was good or bad. Totally unhelpful, like most professional film critics.

In my tenth grade English class we had to do movie reviews. Were we to do what most folks posting a review on a cellphone does, my teacher would have failed us. But it did teach me something I already suspected, the professional film critics are over paid. Anyone can be a film critic, and could before the rise of cellphones.

Rat’s The Film Critic Critic!!

“League of Super Pets” was horrible.

Rat is so acerbic that Robert’s job should go to him!