Post by lune7000 on Oct 26, 2021 23:16:36 GMT
This is a mirror thread to one I created in the Classic Films board. Since there are different readers here, I thought some of you might find this interesting also.
I have some data here you might find interesting. About a year ago I got interested in movies and started watching them chronologically- starting with silent film. I have watched about 500-700 films of each decade and am currently going through the 1970's. My basic rule is to watch every genre so as to broaden my appreciation of the various art forms.
In taking on this project, I created lists from IMDB and noted the user ratings. At first I just watched just the higher rated films but this led to two problems:
1. I often didn't like them and
2. Many of the films that I had liked and watched prior to this project turned out to have low ratings when I researched them.
But what is a low rating on IMDB? Well, it's not what you might think. To show you, I analyzed the results of the list for all movies made Jan 1 to Dec. 31, 1960 . There are 2,535 films listed but only 1,387 are rated- or 54% (as of the time of this writing). The aggregate breakdowns of the user ratings are as follows"
Received a 9 to10 rating: 3 films
Received a 8-9: 35 films
Received a 7-8: 235 films
Received a 6-7: 600 films
Received a 5-6: 400films
Received a 4-5: 102 films
Received a 3-4: 99 films
Received a 1-3: 10 films
The median number was 6.3
In short, ratings are skewed upwards. Films rated 5 or better comprise almost 93% of all films. A film rated 6.3 is below average and anything with a 5 or lower is near the bottom of the pile. This is one of those situations where the median is very close to the mean (average).
Here is the link: www.imdb.com/search/title/?year=1960&title_type=feature&
So why did I find I disliked so many highly rated films? I began to do more research and discovered some biases that may explain this.
Identity bias: about 80% of all films on IMDB are rated by men- my study of user ratings showed that it is rare for a romance movie to get a very high rating. Crime, war and spy movies tend to win out. Mafia movies get very high ratings. Comedy tends to get low ratings also but this may be due to how differently we all respond to humor. I am male but have grown to appreciate the female view of things over the years.
Expectation bias: people rate highly grossing films higher as they expect them to be better and may look for confirmation (trying to find the "deeper meaning" in a film can lead to manufacturing it).
Self-justification bias: Average people tend to give higher film ratings than critics- possibly to justify the expenditure of money on the film
Sources:
stephenfollows.com/do-film-critics-and-audiences-agree/
As such I have completely disregarded ratings. But this creates another problem: how to sort movies with limited time? There are several solutions I have hit upon:
1. Reading about the film often helps weed out movies that contain elements that turn me off (for me, child torture is never fun).
2. I quit films or start fast forwarding through them if I find they are not enjoyable. I have almost never run across a film that didn't give away it's true nature in the first 20 minutes. (3 Women was an exception but very rare)
3. I try to get films for free as much as possible so I can walk away from one that I don't like without any sense of obligation. I never go to theaters.
These methods allow me to try out any genre and really explore new horizons. I have come home with 30 films from the library for instance of all types of styles and quit them or fast forwarded as soon as I know they are not for me. This method allows me to try many great "low rated" films that I thoroughly enjoy and buy.
I do not watch movies because they are popular any more than I choose ice cream flavors because they are popular and I completely reject the view that there are "great" and "awful" movies- it's all ice cream.
I have some data here you might find interesting. About a year ago I got interested in movies and started watching them chronologically- starting with silent film. I have watched about 500-700 films of each decade and am currently going through the 1970's. My basic rule is to watch every genre so as to broaden my appreciation of the various art forms.
In taking on this project, I created lists from IMDB and noted the user ratings. At first I just watched just the higher rated films but this led to two problems:
1. I often didn't like them and
2. Many of the films that I had liked and watched prior to this project turned out to have low ratings when I researched them.
But what is a low rating on IMDB? Well, it's not what you might think. To show you, I analyzed the results of the list for all movies made Jan 1 to Dec. 31, 1960 . There are 2,535 films listed but only 1,387 are rated- or 54% (as of the time of this writing). The aggregate breakdowns of the user ratings are as follows"
Received a 9 to10 rating: 3 films
Received a 8-9: 35 films
Received a 7-8: 235 films
Received a 6-7: 600 films
Received a 5-6: 400films
Received a 4-5: 102 films
Received a 3-4: 99 films
Received a 1-3: 10 films
The median number was 6.3
In short, ratings are skewed upwards. Films rated 5 or better comprise almost 93% of all films. A film rated 6.3 is below average and anything with a 5 or lower is near the bottom of the pile. This is one of those situations where the median is very close to the mean (average).
Here is the link: www.imdb.com/search/title/?year=1960&title_type=feature&
So why did I find I disliked so many highly rated films? I began to do more research and discovered some biases that may explain this.
Identity bias: about 80% of all films on IMDB are rated by men- my study of user ratings showed that it is rare for a romance movie to get a very high rating. Crime, war and spy movies tend to win out. Mafia movies get very high ratings. Comedy tends to get low ratings also but this may be due to how differently we all respond to humor. I am male but have grown to appreciate the female view of things over the years.
Expectation bias: people rate highly grossing films higher as they expect them to be better and may look for confirmation (trying to find the "deeper meaning" in a film can lead to manufacturing it).
Self-justification bias: Average people tend to give higher film ratings than critics- possibly to justify the expenditure of money on the film
Sources:
stephenfollows.com/do-film-critics-and-audiences-agree/
As such I have completely disregarded ratings. But this creates another problem: how to sort movies with limited time? There are several solutions I have hit upon:
1. Reading about the film often helps weed out movies that contain elements that turn me off (for me, child torture is never fun).
2. I quit films or start fast forwarding through them if I find they are not enjoyable. I have almost never run across a film that didn't give away it's true nature in the first 20 minutes. (3 Women was an exception but very rare)
3. I try to get films for free as much as possible so I can walk away from one that I don't like without any sense of obligation. I never go to theaters.
These methods allow me to try out any genre and really explore new horizons. I have come home with 30 films from the library for instance of all types of styles and quit them or fast forwarded as soon as I know they are not for me. This method allows me to try many great "low rated" films that I thoroughly enjoy and buy.
I do not watch movies because they are popular any more than I choose ice cream flavors because they are popular and I completely reject the view that there are "great" and "awful" movies- it's all ice cream.