Table Talk 411: Reviewing reviews and stuff

I enjoy a good review.

Before deciding to add more movie and book reviews to the cloud, I would do an Internet search on the movie or book I was interested in and browse the reviews. GoodReads was my go-to for books and IMDb was my go-to for movies. I like reviews because they seem a bit more … I don’t know, real? … than some of the critic reviews. And I’m not sure if that’s what I’m trying to say, exactly, but there’s something different about general reviews versus an expert review.

Here’s my List of Five things I look for in a review:

1) Does it give a preview into the plot? – I know there’s a general basic plot that’s on the back cover of the book or on a DVD case, but I tend to look for a little more than that. And a follow up point to this question: does their preview come from them or did they copy and paste the summary? I prefer a summary in their own words.

2) Does the review give basic facts? – Such as a release date or the director/author. I didn’t look for this information at first and didn’t think it mattered, but then … did you realize how much reboots are happening now days? And now I look to see who the director is and who was the book publisher just so I can be aware.

3) How technical is the review? – I enjoy, sometimes, when a review gets semi-technical describing camera angles and effects. However, it’s the opposite for book reviews. A technical book review, to me, is when the reviewer gets into the details of character development or grammatical errors. I don’t mind reading some of these, but I usually skim it.

4) Is it funny? – Because who doesn’t love a sense of humor?

5) K. I. S. S – Keep It Simple Sweetheart. Now, I break this rule on occasion. Ok, maybe more than occasionally, but really, I enjoy a review that is simple and to the point. Most times I believe you have to read the book or watch movies for yourself to determine if the movie is good or not, but if the review of it can get to the point with a little humor? Awesome.

And there you have it.