Do You Watch Movie Trailers?

Recently there has been a bit of a spotlight on movie and film trailers.  Why? Well firstly because of the Super Bowl Half Time show which featured many new and extended trailers for upcoming movies.  And secondly, because of a news story that broke recently where cinema owners have asked for shorter movie trailers.

This raises an important question that we like to ask all movie fans - Do you watch film trailers?  For us answers can fall into three categories:

100 % Yes - I make a point of watching movie trailers as soon as I hear they have been released.

50 % Sometimes - I am not fussed whether I see them or not. If one comes on I will watch it but make no real effort to.

0 % No - I make every effort to avoid catching a glimpse of a movie trailer.  It gives too much away and ruins the film for me.

We fall into the first category. We love films. We love trailers. We will look for the latest news to see when a trailer is released to make sure we see it as soon as possible. However, we do know some people who are totally the opposite of ourselves and they will sit at the cinema with there eyes shut and hands over their ears during the trailers to make sure a film is not spoiled.  

What are your views on film trailers? Do they give away too much or do you love them as they are? Does it matter whether it is a film that's not released yet? If the film has been out for a few years but you are yet to see it does it make a difference to you about watching the trailer.

Let us know your thoughts but commenting below. We will of course reply and look forward to the discussion.

Should You Go To The Cinema?

 

As movie lovers we have watched films both at the cinema and at home on either DVD or Blu-Ray disc.  But which is better? We thought it would be fun and interesting to do a head-to-head of both to see what comes out on top.

 

Cost

When it comes down to choosing something to do, cost is always one thing that is looked into especially in more recent times.  The average cost of a cinema ticket in 2013 was $8.13 in the US and £6.53 in the UK.  Obviously these prices are only estimates but it gives us something to work with. On average a new DVD in the UK costs around £10 and a Blu-Ray costs around £15-20.  These numbers will vary along with cinema ticket prices - as obviously it will cost more to watch  an IMAX or 3D film at the cinema.  On face value to actually watch a film it seems that going to the cinema will come out on top. There are however other costs involved, like travel and snack costs (we have a separate section on snacks). The costs for sweets, popcorn and drinks at the cinema is extortionate and is almost nearly 3 times as more expensive that if you purchase them in shop.  This added with travel costs we are going to give this head-to-head to DVD/Blue-Ray. On average it would be cheaper to buy a DVD or Blu-Ray disc compared to going to the cinema.

 

DVD/Blu-Ray 1 - 0 Cinema

 

Comfort

For us, nothing beats the comfort of your own home.  Your familiar surroundings - everything is how you like it.  At the cinema however it isn't.  You rarely get to choose where you sit. You have no control over the lighting and you are limited to your seat. It is very difficult to stretch out which can be a problem as films are generally lasting for longer and longer these days.  This has not stopped movie theatre chains like Odeon trying to make the cinema experience more homely and luxurious, however this comes at an added cost.  Home comforts really are the best and cannot be matched by going to the cinema.

 

DVD/Blu-Ray 2 - 0 Cinema

 

Atmosphere

There is a certain atmosphere at the cinema that is impossible to recreate at home.  It's cliché but it is magical.  The big screen, dimmed lights and loud speakers makes watching films at the cinema all that more special compared to being at home.  Although it may be less comfortable especially when the cinema is packed but when there is a funny scene and the whole cinema erupts in laughter that atmosphere is special and unique.

 

DVD/Blu-Ray 2 - 1 Cinema

 

Snacks

We have already looked at the cost of snacks but lets look at the snacks themselves.  In our eyes, cinema snacks cannot be matched. Yes, you can buy popcorn from the shops and eat it at home but it is not the same as cinema food.  The popcorn, nachos and drinks albeit overpriced taste much nicer at the cinema and are worth the extra money.  Of course at home you can cook your own dinner and can pretty much have anything you like but for us cinema snacks win.

 

DVD/Blu-Ray 2 - 2 Cinema

 

Quality

Now this is a difficult one. Unless you go to the IMAX a normal cinema screen can sometimes look a bit blurry. The majority of people at home will have a HD screen to watch a film on making the screen quality better but obviously smaller.  At the cinema though the sound is very good. Loud and clear - it really adds an extra element to the film you are watching. You can feel the sound vibrations which really improve action films etc. At home their is a limit as to how loud you can have the sound.  This is a shame and unless you have a home cinema surround system it will not be the same as at the cinema.  Overall we think the cinema just edges it because of the large screen size and the sound effects are much better.

 

DVD/Blu-Ray 2 - 3 Cinema

 

Time

Watching films takes time, obviously.  Films generally range from anywhere between 75 minutes to up to 3 hours.  This is a long time to be out and it generally is nicer to watch longer films at home. At the cinema you do not get a break where as at home you can pause it.  There is also the added bonus of saving time as you will not need to travel to the cinema. Time-wise watching a film at home is better, you will save time and can watch a movie when it suits you rather than having the hassle of getting to the cinema and having to watch a film at a set time.

 

DVD/Blu-Ray 3 - 3 Cinema

 

Release Dates



Transformers: Age of Extinction can be seen in the cinema
 long before it can on DVD

 

There is only one winner here in the last category -  Cinema. The films at the movie theatres come out a long time before they appear on DVD or Blu-Ray which means if you wait to see something at home, you can be waiting months.  There really is no arguing in that if you want to see a film as soon as it comes out you have to go to the cinema to do so. 

 

DVD/Blu-Ray 3 - 4 Cinema
 

And the winner is...

The winner is Cinema. That concludes our head-to-head and we believe that you should go to the cinema over watching a DVD/Blu-Ray at home. Of course other circumstances can change this but if you have the opportunity to go to the cinema - take it, it is a great experience and very enjoyable.

 

Let us know what you prefer and why by commenting below.

Question Time: What Movie Sequels Would You Like To See?

This is a simple question. What movie sequels would you like to see come out in the near future? There are no rules - you can literally pick any film. It can be for any reason as well. You may have loved the first one, you may have hated it and would like them to have another go. If you have any reason for a sequel then name them here.

 

Name the original and then suggest a title for the sequel. We will get things started:

 

 

1 - "District 9" - District 10?

 

"District 9" came out in 2009 and what a film it was.  With a relatively unknown cast the film hit the big screen and achieved good reviews and had a successful run.  The story of a human turning into an alien managed to win over the crowds and the film, albeit an action based sci-fi tuened out to be very emotional.  Director Neill Blomkamp has already spoken about the chance of a sequel.

 

 

2 - "RocknRolla" - The Real RocknRolla?

 

Earlier we posted a review for "Snatch" (2000) at M+F Reviews.  During that review we spoke of Guy Ritchie's other films one of which was "RocknRolla" (2008).  An enjoyable but typical Ritchie film, it ends with a message appearing on the screen, 'Johnny, Archy and the Wild Bunch will be back in The Real RocknRolla'. Now we enjoyed the film and with a message like that appearing at the end it would only be fair that we are treated to a second film.  Rumour has it that Ritchie is planning a trilogy but as of yet nothing has been confirmed.

 

 

Let us know what you would like to see by commenting below. The possibilities are endless! 

How To Rate a Movie: Movie Ratings Explained

Rating a movie is something that we all do, consciously or not.  It may be in the form of stating Film A is better than Film B or it may be something more involved like the compiling of a list.  Either way people ask why movies are rated, what the ratings mean and how to rate movies themselves.  Over at M+F Reviews we review and rate each film we have watched and we do this with our own rating system.  This feature will aim to look at why we rate movies to see if we really need to, what the ratings mean to the person rating them as an individual and also different ways to rate movies with some helpful tips along the way.

Why do people rate movies?

Movie ratings - you see them everywhere. Whenever a new film is released part of its promotion has ratings from various sources plastered over the movie posters and trailers - but why?  Nearly every film that is released will have a movie rating that claims that it is the best film in however long, or that it is excellent or tremendous.  However, you know as well as us that each and every film cannot be rated 5/5 stars or 10/10, or whatever format the film has been rated in.  It is quite obvious that these movie ratings have been chosen from the reviewers who did enjoy the film and gave those ratings. This is the problem with film reviews and it is one that is often overlooked and forgotten about - movie reviews and ratings are an individual opinion. They are not fact or universal.  It is this important factor which is imperial to anyone looking at movie reviews or looking to do there own.

Back to the question - why rate a movie? Why do we not just watch a film, accept it for what it is and move on? Why is there a need to rate the movie?  Many people would say, 'it's just what we do,' or 'it is an easy way to list films we have seen.'  As we rate movies ourselves we believe that both of these reasons are true but I also think there is a more biological reason - it's natural.  From anything to everything we always rate things and compare them to others eg. Car A is better than Car B. Of course it does not have to be rated on what is 'better' but it could be on what person is funnier - basically the scale of what you are using to rate something can change and this is no different to film ratings. 

So, is it essential to rate movies? No, we do not think it is but it is something that people will continue to do even if people tried to stop.  Not every person will compile lists or keep a record of their ratings but that's okay. As long as people are accepting film and forming an opinion on it then the film has in its most basic form been a success.  For us here, we love film discussion and talk and ratings form the basis of this.  It gives us an overview of what we think of a film or movie and if people ask us why we rated it like that we can then go into more details. We believe film ratings are good for movies. They provide a point of discussion. 

What do movie ratings mean?

This again is an open ended question.  To us, movie ratings can mean a lot of different things.  It can be as simple as ordering the films you have seen into a list with favourites first or it can be based on a much more sophisticated formula or rating system.  It really does depend on those who are giving the ratings. There is a difference between say a list of films in order of our favourite films compared to ones that are actually critically good films.  For instance, personally we really enjoyed the Transformers franchise films and would have them on our list of favourite films, however we would not rate them above 8/10. You would think that if they are on our list of favourite films then they would be rated highly (either 9/10 or 10/10) but for us there is a difference between enjoying a film and rating a film. We believe you can enjoy a film but still not rate it highly, otherwise each film we rate would be 8/10 or 9/10 as we enjoy a lot of films.  It is a difficult idea to understand.  Our ratings are based on what we think of a film and yes enjoyment plays a part of that but we do not solely base our reviews on our enjoyment of a film.

How should I rate a movie?

So how should you rate a movie then? Here we will look at the different ways to rate movies.  Now there are so many different ways we are unable to list them all but we will take some examples and show you.  If you are looking to rate a movie then you need to know what you are rating it out of. This can be a number of things from a percentage out of 100 to giving a film a number of stars.  The second thing that you need to do is to understand what each rating represents, for instance the difference between a good and bad film rating. 

 

What rating system should I use? 

Well this is completely up to you and how you find it best to rate a film.  Some sites and people use a rating out of 10.  This is what we use at M+F Reviews.  Similarly you can use a system that rates a film out of 5 or even 3.  Obviously the lower you go the harder it becomes to distinguish each film.  You can also do something not that different and give each film a percentage out of 100.  This can be very accurate but can be quite difficult to pin point exactly what each films movie rating should be.  There are other ways you can rate movies as well. Below you can see examples of different rating systems. 

 

Out of 10: Very simple and probably the most popular way of rating movies.  Once you have watched a film you can give the film what you think it deserves with 10 being the highest and 1 being the lowest.  For us at M+F Reviews we have stuck to whole numbers but you can go to decimal points if you wish.  This gives you more flexibility but we also suggest that if you are using decimal points that you have a clear structure on how you rate each movie as it is important that you stick by your rating after you have made it and not to change it once you have watched another film.  A great example of the "Out of 10" movie rating system can be seen at IMDb; they have the option for users to rate each movie out of 10 and they have compiled an overall Top 250 list of the top rated movies of all time.

 

Out of 5:  Again this a very popular way of rating a movie.  Rotten Tomatoes employ this rating system for their users but also use an "Out of 10" system for their critics ratings.  Users can rate each movie out of 5 stars and this includes half stars.  Another feature that they use is then giving an overall percentage of the audience who liked it.  The percentage they use is the amount of  people who have rated the movie 3.5 stars or more. 

 

An example of a film rated 4/5 stars.

 

Kids-In-Mind: Now this is a very specific way to rate movies.  As you can see they are rating films based on the suitability for children. By choosing three areas that they think films should be rated for children (but more so for the parents) they can get a three point score for the film and its suitability for children. 

MoovieBoozer: This rating system for us is great. Its fun and different.  The ratings are based on the amount of beers it would take to make a film enjoyable or good. The best rating is 'A Toast' also known as 'One Beer Movies.' The worst is called a 'Six-Pack' or a 'Six Beers Movies'.

 

Other ways: Of course there are hundreds of ways you can rate a film.  Some are very complicated as outlined  here by Sweet Popcorn and Late Nights.  Others can be kept very simple. 

 
 

An Example of a Movie Rating and System 

Example of M+F Rating of "The Wolverine" (2013) from Movie and Film Reviews

 

At M+F Reviews we use a simple "Out of 10" rating system.  Each film is given a number between 0 and 10. It works as we know what the difference is between each possible rating. We know that a film rated 5/10 is neither good or bad as for us it is completely average.  A film that is rated 0/10 is terrible in all aspects, storyline, acting, soundtrack etc.  Luckily we have not found a film that warrants this rating yet. 

 

Lets look at a film we reviewed recently, "The Wolverine" (2013).

 

We rated this film 5/10.  We felt the film was not as good as previous X-Men related films and that it could have been a lot better.  However, we felt that Hugh Jackman's performance was very good - he kept the movie from being a really terrible one.  For us the storyline was disappointing as well as the lack of other major characters. We did enjoy the film though.  For us this was a classic average film - some things were good and some were not and this is how we came to our rating of 5/10. The full review can be found here.

 

Ask yourself - "Does it work?"

 

At the end of the day the ratings system you choose to use should answer yes to both the these questions:

1. Does it work for you?
2. Does it work for your audience?

If you answer yes to both of these questions then you will have no problems with your movie ratings system.  It is important that your audience understands and can make sense of your ratings and that they are also something that you can stick to in the long run.

 

Things to remember:

• Decide on what rating system you want to use if at all
• Know the difference between each rating
• Stick to the rating you have given the film at the time
• It is personal, do not change your review because someone else disagrees with you

 

This concludes our movie ratings feature.  If you have any questions on how to rate a movie, or a question on how we rate movies please do not hesitate to ask.  If you have any comments on this feature please post them below as we would love to hear your own thoughts on how you rate movies yourself. 

Question Time: What Actors Would You Like To See Work Together Again?

With rumours starting that  "The Wolf of Wall Street" pair Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill are to work together again on an Olympic bomber drama called ‘The Ballad of Richard Jewell’ we want to ask what actors you would like to see team up again.

 

We will get things rolling with our picks:

 

1 - George Clooney and Brad Pitt

 

We loved these two working together in the Oceans franchise and would like to see them collaborate again. Clooney has recently teamed up with Matt Damon who also starred in Oceans for "The Monuments Men" (2014). It would be great to see Clooney and Pitt back together for a film that could be as good as their previous collaborations.

 

Pitt and Clooney in "Oceans Eleven" (2011)

 

2 - Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz

 

These two came together for Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" (2012) and worked very well together.  A great balance on screen - both bringing a range of skills for the audience to see. It would be interesting to see if they could work together again and produce something as entertaining as Django.

 

Waltz and Foxx in "Django Unchained" (2012)

 

Let us know who you would like to see back together by commenting below.