Movie critics whose judgment you trust

Nathan Rabin, former editor of AV Club is a pet critic of mine. He currently runs a website called The Dissolve.

I used to trust the hell out of Ebert. Only a few times did he completely miss for me, but for the most part? I went to him first. Now, there is a big hole where Ebert used to be.

I trusted Siskel & Ebert. Other than them, I trust Leonard Maltin.

Most of the people on Channel Awesome.
Not sure about Suede.

Doug (aka The Nostalgia Critic) and Brad Jones (The Cinema Snob) are the ones I trust most.

Rotten Tomatoes Reviews. We share likes.

regdog said:

Me

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That'd be a bit difficult to negotiate. You'd have to watch a movie before watching it to find out if it's worth watching ;-)

Seconding the A.V. Club and the Dissolve.

Also, Film Critic Hulk. The ALL CAPS gimmick can be a bit grating, but if you can put that aside, you'll find some of the most thoughtful analysis of movies and pop culture on the net.

Shadow Dragon said:

Doug (aka The Nostalgia Critic) and Brad Jones (The Cinema Snob) are the ones I trust most.

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Do they even watch new movies?

I just go on Rottentomatoes to see the overall 'score' now, then watch the trailers.

I used to love Mr. Cranky but at the same time it's pointless to read reviews of films you don't want to watch

Celia Cyanide said:

Do they even watch new movies?

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About a year or so they have done out-of-character mini-reviews. Brad (and Diamanda Hagan. ALL HAIL HAGANSTAN!) tend to do "backseat insights" whereas they reportedly say their opinions on their cars just after watching it.

Doug, meanwhile, tends to do his reviews as a Vlog alone or with his older brother Rob. I prefer these since they feel better thought out and The ones with Rob offer a good counterpoint. Overall, I like to know Doug's opinions but they tend to be more personal than professional.

LOG said:

Most of the people on Channel Awesome.
Not sure about Suede.

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I really like Doug, Nostalgia Chick, Brows Held High, Cinema Snob and Diamanda Hagan. I watch every now and then Obscurus Lupa, Suede, JesuOtaku and Linkara when they are reviewing something that catches my eye, but as of late I'm prefering Linkara's Pokemon LPs than his comic reviews.

Recently, I've been watching more videos of PushingUpRoses, Maven and Paw and I'm having a blast! Can't believe I didn't pay them attention for so long.

I really don't pay much attention to the rest since they either cover subjects I'm completely unfamiliar of (Like ToddInTheShadows or Angry Joe) or find them way too gimmicky or obtuse. I'm not fond of the whole story arc some of them do from time to time, to be frank.

Sometimes I like the idea to do reviews like that myself. But then, I think it would be hard to do another job like writing. Especially since it seems quite time-consuming.

As a general thing, I trust Village Voice movie reviewers.

I haven't disagreed with one yet, so....

Mark Kermode

regdog said:

Me

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Her.

Michael Phillips is in pretty close tune with me I find.

I trust me. I ain't famous--yet--but since watching movies is such a personal thing, my view is the one I rely on most.

In the old days (meaning when I was young...damn...) I used to read Clyde Gilmour who wrote for the Toronto Star. He hated everything. Even if the movie was a blockbuster, critically acclaimed by the universe, Oscar winner...he'd find something to carp about. But he was pretty objective about the good and bad points and that was in his favor.

Ebert was right more often than he was wrong, but his ego got in the way at times. Most critics have a pretty large ego, anyway, and Ebert was no different. However, he sometimes changed his mind on movies he initially gave the thumbs down to, so there it is.

Maltin is also pretty objective, but other than him, I really don't bother reading what the critics say. If I like a movie then I like it.

Hanson said:

As a general thing, I trust Village Voice movie reviewers.

I haven't disagreed with one yet, so....

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That might actually be a problem IMO.

This thread is making miss Roger Ebert... *sighs* His reviews were quite insightful - whether or not I agreed with them.

I'll second Nate Rabin and the rest of his old AV Club team (Phipps, Robinson, Tobias) now over at The Dissolve.

For older movies, I like Jamie Rich at DVDTalk and Gary Tooze at DVDBeaver.

Shameless plug: I really trust the opinions of my team of critics over at Under the Radar: http://www.undertheradarmag.com/reviews/category/cinema

Does anyone else here write their own film criticism?

I see that there was some love for Channel Awesome - but no one mentioned Film Brain? I find his Project Reviews and his tweets to be a very good and fair opinion.