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Mini-Projects » Source Credibility: Film and Book Reviews
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Source Credibility: Film and Book Reviews
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See the film review for Jaws the Revenge included below.
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Source Analysis: Film and Book Reviews Several years ago a Hollywood production company ran print advertisements for a major motion picture release that featured glowing words from a small-town Connecticut newspaper film critic. The ads appeared only on the West Coast, but this didn’t prevent one alert reader, who hailed from the said small town, from questioning who this reviewer was. The name didn’t seem familiar to him at all. After several checks and a query, the production company admitted to having “made-up” the film critic and his alleged words of praise. Amazon.com has become the country’s leading book retailer. The website permits users to post reviews of books as part of a feedback forum to benefit consumers. Glowing reviews could, of course, influence a person to purchase a text. Booksellers took note. It has since become customary—although not easily known—for book companies or even authors themselves to post glowing reviews of the books that they are marketing. Obviously, glowing words or reviews sell books, movies, and other forms of entertainment. Production companies clearly have much to gain by spreading (or creating) positive feedback from critical sources.
TASK: Select a recent (last 12 months) film or book that—quite frankly—met with poor sales or attendance (some suggestions will be given in class). Using library and Internet research, collect 10 positive statements or reviews associated with the work. For the best results, a variety of reviews are needed. Please use the following distribution guide: - Three full-length reviews from established critics (i.e., they work for a newspaper, magazine, or website) whose reviews were quoted in print or web ads for the chosen film/book/video.
- At least five critical “blurbs” used by the production company in advertisements or book jackets (e.g., “The most hilarious film since Beethoven!”—Gene Shallit)
- Two reviews from public feedback forums found on the World Wide Web.
- Two or more “wildcard” reviews culled from your research.
The “reviews” can range from full-length critiques to brief assessments to published consumer polls to a few words. Cull your reviews from a variety of sources, such as print advertisements, newspaper/magazine reviews, and Internet websites or feedback forums. (Be sure to check official websites.) The strength of your projects rests on your ability to evaluate a variety of source material—the more things look the same, the weaker your conclusions. Analyze the positive reviews. The selected work bombed at the box office—or met with pitiful sales. Can the reviews be trusted? Consider the source. Are the sources trustworthy? Why or why not? Does the advertising for the film match the critical commentary found in the reviews? Were the positive comments used in marketing truly representative of the critic’s original review? Can you verify that the critic actually exists? Can you discern any deceptive marketing strategies? From your collected materials, look for evidence of manipulation by the marketing company. Your team will present your findings to the class, offering a selection of reviews with group commentary on the reliability of the advertising campaign. Examples: In January 1992, the horror film Leprechaun claimed to be “The Number One Film in America!” It certainly was: It was the only new film released in the middle of January. It had no competition. The claim of being “the number one film” was technically accurate but truly exaggerated. This past summer’s Are We Done Yet? (2007, Sony Pictures) offers this critical blurb on its DVD packaging: “Perfect Family Entertainment!” Shawn Edwards, FOX-TV. Note this commentary about Mr. Edward’s film reviews from the following website: http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117955778.html?nav=news&categoryid=1985&cs=1 “Every day, newspaper ads carry dozens of quotes from people expressing enthusiasm and urging that you attend these films. And, frankly, without them, would any of us ever go to a movie? Of course we would, but that's not the point. The point is that Reel Life has pored over the blurbs in newspapers for the past year and we want to salute the critics' boundless enthusiasm -- even though we are confused by some of the nuances of their fervor. For example: Shawn Edwards of Fox TV liked "Nacho Libre" ("You won't see a funnier movie all year!") on June 16 ... and "Little Man" ("The wildest, funniest and most hilarious movie of the year!" ) on July 9. Apparently, a month can make a big difference.” Do you think Shawn Edwards can be trusted????
Alternate Assignment: Working with a team, select a film that all agreed was universally awful and met with poor reviews. Scour the Internet for posted reviews from credible sources (e.g., film critics from respected magazines, newspapers, or popular websites). Read the reviews. Using selection of detail, take blurbs or quotes from the review that--when looked at alone--make the film seem interesting and worthwhile. Fashion this quote so that it might be used in a print advertisement (see the example given below). Put your compiled list of film "sellers" at the top of your page. At the bottom, included the full review or paragraph from which the blurb was taken. Include the weblink and author citation.
The following websites provide direct links to numerous reviews from both critics and movie-goers: www.rottentomatoes.com http://movies.yahoo.com/ www.imdb.com
Here are a few positive things taken from the review posted below. (Note: This film review is Mr. Wevodau's all-time favorite.) Starring Academy Award Winner Michael Caine! "...the film is the fourth in a series that has served Universal Pictures long and well...." --Robert Ebert "you might be too afraid to ever go back in again" --Roger Ebert "a...thriller" --Roger Ebert Jaws the Revenge
Release Date: 1987 Ebert Rating: Zero stars BY ROGER EBERT / Jul 20, 1987 "Jaws the Revenge" is not simply a bad movie, but also a stupid and incompetent one - a ripoff. And that's a surprise, because the film is the fourth in a series that has served Universal Pictures long and well, and it stars Lorraine Gary, the wife of the studio's chief executive officer. Wasn't there someone in charge of assuring that the film was at least a passable thriller, however bad? I guess not.
The plot centers on the character of Ellen Brody, who, you may recall, was the wife of the Roy Scheider character in the first and second "Jaws" movies. Now she is a widow, and her son has his dad's old job at the police department. The story opens at Christmas, as the son is eaten by a shark right off Martha's Vineyard, while a children's choir drowns out his screams with Christmas carols.
Mrs. Brody (Gary) flees in horror to the Bahamas, where her other son (Lance Guest) works as, you got it, a marine biologist. She pleads with him not to go into the water, but he argues that the great white shark has never been seen in warm waters. Not long after, the shark is seen, having made the trip from Martha's Vineyard to the Bahamas in three days.
Mrs. Brody, meanwhile, falls in love with a local pilot (Michael Caine), and there is a subplot about how her son is jealous of this new man in his mother's life. This jealousy, like every other plot device in the movie, is left unresolved at the end, but so what? The screenplay is simply a series of meaningless episodes of human behavior, punctuated by shark attacks.
Since we see so much of the shark in the movie, you'd think they would have built some good ones. They've had three earlier pictures for practice. But in some scenes the shark's skin looks like canvas with acne, and in others all we see is an obviously fake shark head with lots of teeth.
The shark models have so little movement that at times they seem to be supporting themselves on boats, instead of attacking them. Up until the ludicrous final sequence of the movie, the scariest creature in the film is an eel.
What happens at the end? Ellen Brody has become convinced that the shark is following her. It wants revenge against her entire family. Her friends pooh-pooh the notion that a shark could identify, follow or even care about one individual human being, but I am willing to grant the point, for the benefit of the plot.
I believe that the shark wants revenge against Mrs. Brody. I do. I really do believe it. After all, her husband was one of the men who hunted this shark and killed it, blowing it to bits. And what shark wouldn't want revenge against the survivors of the men who killed it?
Here are some things, however, that I do not believe: That Mrs. Brody could be haunted by flashbacks to events where she was not present and that, in some cases, no survivors witnessed. That the movie would give us one shark attack as a dream sequence, have the hero wake up in a sweat, then give us a second shark attack, and then cut to the hero awake in bed, giving us the only thing worse than the old "it's only a dream" routine, which is the old "is it a dream or not?" routine. That Mrs. Brody would commandeer a boat and sail out alone into the ocean to sacrifice herself to the shark, so that the killing could end. That Caine's character could or would crash-land his airplane at sea so that he and two other men could swim to Mrs. Brody's rescue. That after being trapped in a sinking airplane by the shark and disappearing under the water, Caine could survive the attack, swim to the boat, and climb on board - not only completely unhurt but also wearing a shirt and pants that are not even wet. That the shark would stand on its tail in the water long enough for the boat to ram it. That the director, Joseph Sargent, would film this final climactic scene so incompetently that there is not even an establishing shot, so we have to figure out what happened on the basis of empirical evidence.
There is one other thing I can't believe about "Jaws the Revenge," and that is that on March 30, Michael Caine passed up his chance to accept his Academy Award in person because of his commitment to this movie. Maybe he was thinking the same thing as the marine biologist in the movie: that if you don't go right back in the water after something terrible happens to you, you might be too afraid to ever go back in again. Cast & Credits Ellen Brody: Lorraine
Gary Michael: Lance Guest
Jake: Mario Van Peebles
Carla: Karen Young
Hoagie: Michael Caine
Universal presents a film produced and directed by Joseph Sargent from a screenplay by Michael de Guzman. Photographed by John McPherson. Edited by Michael Brown. Production designed by John J. Lloyd. Running time: 87 minutes. Classified PG-13.
Edward Wevodau
Colleyville Heritage High School
5401 Heritage Avenue
Colleyville, TX 76034
817-305-4700
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