There is a difference between a movie review and film criticism.
I’m being purposefully snotty with that title, but hear me out!
I put much more stake in an article about a film if it’s published months - even years - after the film’s release date rather than one that’s published the day before. Movie reviews are a form of entertainment; if you expect to hate the movie and there’s a negative review, you say, “See, told you so!” If the reviewer’s reaction to the movie is the opposite of your own or what your expectations of the film are, you might say something like, “Well! I don’t really put that much stock into movie reviews anyway.”
I’m much more interested in a review that puts the film into a context. Does it still hold up after all these years? Does it reflect an attitude or culture that was present when it was released? That’s the sort of film criticism I find to be less arbitrary, rather than handing out stars at your own whimsy. After all, my Netflix rating history shows that I rated Annie Hall, 8 1/2, and LA Confidential with five stars… but I also gave five stars to King Kong.
Nicely put, I 100% agree.
