Hello everyone.
Could you help me to understand one thing.  I've noticed long time ago one very odd thing.  You know these big advertising movie posters all over the buses,  subways etc.,  to promote the movie. Usually they contain picture from movie,  logline and reviews from big magazines and newspapers.
And funny thing that any movie has 5 stars and nice review fraze like "spectacular" DAILY MAIL,  "thrilling" NEWSWEEK,  "unbelievable" FILM MAGAZINE....
Is it movie promoters write random sh.it or they bribe those newspaper journalists and critiques who openly lie.

I remember when TAKEN 2 came out.  Poster sad MATRIX of this decade.  They compared that worthless garbage with MATRIX.
SO HOW these movie poster reviews really work?  :-/

The production companies wait for reviews from a hundred different sources and use the best ones in their promotions.  Plain and simple.


Phil

If a movie gets lousy reviews from legit critics, the studios sometimes have to pore over their articles and pick out various words and phrases that they can put in quotes for the ads.  Like, "Unbelievable," "Thrill Ride", etc.

If a movie sucks so bad they can't use anything from a real critic, they use paid shills, like Jeff Craig, for instance.  He runs some service called Sixty Second Previews and apparently this man has never seen a movie he didn't like.  He gives usable quotes in exchange for gifts from the studios or sometimes outright payments.

If all else fails, the studios just invent their own critic.  Sony was caught doing this about ten years ago when they invented a critic called David Manning, who gave a glowing review to some P.O.S. Rob Schneider movie.  

As a rule of thumb, if you see a commercial or article where the quote is in huge font and the name of the critic is in tiny, almost unreadable lettering, that movie will suck.

Another friendly rule of thumb is to be wary of reviews that features ellipses.

"An amazing exercise in the futility of making quality films, this was clearly the greatest film trainwreck I've ever experienced." - John Q. Reviewer

That can be translated to "An amazing... film" and "The greatest film... I've ever experienced." Both are technically accurate.

I kid you not, I saw a commercial for The Internship (I think that's what it was) that quoted Twitter users as "reviews". THAT'S desperation.

Hey all,

I thought I would join in this conversation and to be honest some of the best films I have ever seen where not advertised and basically had no reviews.

If a film is that good, word of mouth will be the best review.

Distributors jump in and promote films to an extent where the media hypes everyone up and gets the public excited. THEY MAKE MONEY FROM THIS SO DONT TRUST THEM !!!

Alex

Hah! I remember this specific quote a while back, thought it was hilarious looking at it. I'll try and find it.

Okay, I couldn't find it but this is a similar one to the one I read. I was watching Hancock years back and it said a quote similar to this on the cover "A fun, fairly crisp opening hour", which at that time, made me think "Oh, wow, the second hour must be better!" - but boy, was I wrong. They sometimes like to twist the critic's words so it comes across as if he's implying the film is actually good, when the studio didn't even put the whole quote "A fun, fairly crisp opening hour gives way to a muddled, entirely unsatisfying ending.". Looking back though, I can't help but laugh.

I liked Hancock...


Phil

Quoted from dogglebe I liked Hancock... Phil

Same. I was about 8 when it was released. When looking at it from that perspective, it did what it was supposed to do. Kinda like The Power Rangers... Absolute crap, but it entertained kids for a while.

I think when it comes to reviews, there are always going to be different opinions on each film. No matter if the majority tend to hate it, there's going to be at least one person who had something good to say. Don't see the harm in marketers using those quotes on their posters.

It was a while ago that I watched it but I remember thinking the midpoint 'twist' was done poorly and was a huge tonal shift. But I really did enjoy the characterization in the film, some nicely crafted arcs in there if that's what people are after. I should probably watch it again.

I remember an article published a couple of years ago on "Video Review Magazine" (yes, it's been dead for a long time) where they mocked the movie quotes on the posters and boxes.

It was a joke, but they said if the review said something like "An awful movie that bored me for two hours, not even the exciting special effects could save it" you could find a blurb in the poster: "Exciting special effects!"

I remember Roger Ebert gave a scathing review for one of Adam Sandler's earlier films, but said it was his best film, though that was not saying much. Sure enough, on the poster --

"Adam Sandler's best film!" -- Roger Ebert

would anyone have an issue with embellished ads if it were there script behind the movie? i wouldn't, to be honest.

heck, i see it all the time here. someone calls someone out for writing something a certain way, then you see where they've done the same thing. or another writer has done it and they've given them a pass. so selective accolades and plaudits are rampant. i guess it is just on small part of a very big and very lucrative business and we all want in on it. right?

Quoted from courhaw would anyone have an issue with embellished ads if it were there script behind the movie? i wouldn't, to be honest.

I would hope something I've written wouldn't need embellished ads.

I've heard that after a movie is finished....they hold a private screening of those invited, and this sometimes effects the marketing also.

so would i, crooked owl. however, if the studio or production house or distributor thought it necessary to do so, then i would not, and i probably wouldn't even be in a position to anyway, have an issue with it.

i think focus groups are instrumental in launching any project, pale yellow. after all, they're part of the consumer base.

Quoted from Ryan1 If a movie gets lousy reviews from legit critics, the studios sometimes have to pore over their articles and pick out various words and phrases that they can put in quotes for the ads.  Like, "Unbelievable," "Thrill Ride", etc.

That. As in "An amazing waste of film" is condensed to "An amazing...film."