Best reviewer on the site?

First of all - not looking for any extensive poll with a trophy being the outcome. I'd just like the opinions of other users of who, in their minds, is the best reviewer on Listal. Thought I'd make this thread after seeing gross corruption on the Top Reviewer list - with the supposed 'Top Reviewer' being a user who post track lists and has at least 1-2 votes on all his pointless reviews!

Personally, my vote goes to Claudia. Her reviews are generally of an extremely high standard. In her earlier days she posted extremely short reviews....now I'm blown away with her recent work. Be it Into the Wild, Hamlet, Heat, Indy IV or 3;10 To Yuma: this girl is amazing in my opinion. Her recent reviews even put some of mine to shame due to her sheer vocabulary and sophisticated structure.

So let's discuss...in your opinion, who is the best reviewer on this site? (obviously you cannot nominate yourself)

Of course your vote goes to Claudia...you know her. Thats more predictable than the tide. Im taking a protest of silence against this popularity contest....er....from now on.

Another grasp at votes Cal? ;-)

Thilian and Myself were proposing a monthly competition for best Reviews and Lists with Trophy Case etc but with his sudden evaporation and my job murdering my soul. Its been left to rot in the bowls of Listal. We'll kick it up again soon though. I have an Excel and Word File and everything!!!

I think Samira is a fantastic writer. Her reviews are usually on world and indie films that I rarely see but want to see because of her magnificent wordsmithing!

Coming as soon as it does after your 'complaint' thread, it's difficult to see this one as much other than an attempt to fish for compliments.

I'm sure that's not the case, but it's the way it looks all the same!

I'm inclined to agree with RAB.

Tom said before that he has a plan to sort out Jwah and other users that vote for their own stuff. As always we must be patient for such a useful updates to be installed. Does Claudia vote for all your reviews Caldawg?

We have a winner!

This movie has replaced "Howard the Duck" as one of my top 5 movies of all time!

Seriously, though, I love heavily stylized reviews with strange digressions (even though I can't pull them off myself). We need a Filthy Critic type guy 'round these parts.

The problem is, arthouse movies are a crapshoot. There is a hell of a lot of shitty stuff, like you'd find in the bargain grain bins of a co-op, that gets passed off as good just because it was made on a small budget. Son of Rambow isn't another big Hollywood clusterfuck, but it's candy-coated, just more exotic. Like, chocolate-covered, freeze-fried tamarinds from Costa Rica, or honey-dipped grasshopper wings from Africa. It's different enough that it takes a little while to figure out that even though it's different, it's still crap. And not enjoyable, either.

I say it is supposedly quirky because nopthing that tries to be quirky can be. You know, it's like banana-flavored candy. People might say it tastes like bananas, but they know it isn't really because it leaves a funny taste in your mouth. Quirky is when someone's worldview and way of expression is genuinely askew. Fake quirky, like Son of Rambow, is when perfectly normal people pretend to be odd, but are too damn normal to make it believable.

I should have known the movie would suck when I saw all the bullshit about how Sundance loved it. I doubt there is any more self-congratulatory bullshit factory in the world than that wintery week where Hollywood grassfuckers and assgrazers congregate to pretend they give a fuck about movies. The smaller, homelier, sappier and more pathetic you are, the more Hollywood will trip over itself to be seen loving you. Fuck, I wish teen girls were like that. I would have gotten laid so much in high school.

This place is the last place I check for reviews :(

hah

...............

Its cool that you can add reviews on this site though.

I just don't know why. I dont know if anyones really checking them. I'd guess not. I think it's mostly so you can feel better about yourself and your opinion, pretent like you make a difference.

Actually that's also what people who review for a living do. Damn, now I feel bad about myself =(

I'm wholly disgusted by the general comments on this thread. I started it to try and get other opinions on their opinion of the site's best reviewer. So far about 5% of the replies have been in relation to that.

1. GemLil - my vote goes to Claudia because of the dedication she puts in each review. She's posted them in great quantity, and her sophisticated style always impresses me. Why do you think I know her? Because I was drawn to her by her reviews! I met her on a site called Flixster, when I saw a recent review of hers and decided to make a friend out of her. It's not like we're long-time friends and have met! Think what you want, because I don't give a sh*t.

2. Gunza - no, this is not another "grasp at votes". I don't care if it was a sarcastic comment...the motivations behind that statement are insulting. And to be honest, I don't really care about the voting system. If someone likes my review and votes for it....well, then fine. I'm not going to beg and plead people to vote for me because then there's no feeling of getting true recognition.
Claudia votes for my reviews that she agrees with. Please note that not all of my reviews have received votes.
I still respect you a lot man, but sometimes your comments can prove offensive no matter if you're joking or not.

3. Richard A. Booth - okay, first of all the complaint thread was to bring people's attention to the situation that people frequently accuse me of plagiarism! I was sick of it, and wanted to make sure that by posting it on the Forum people would stop thinking that I plagiarise. Is that such a crime?
I created this thread just to get the opinions of people. What, so when I bring another reviewer to the attention of the Forum, and I'm fishing for compliments? Try to find any motivation behind my postings that suggests I'm looking for compliments!

4. neverstoplovingher - Grand Assault is among the site's best reviewers. I think your comments reflect your pathetic mind that is inferior to that of a 5-year-old. Learn to spell and learn to use punctuation.

5. Lemona - how do you think film critics got started in doing what they're doing? It's not like they start writing professionally without any prior experience! And the views of the audience reflect the viewing public - and may well sway your decisions on movies. Take Rambo for example - critics panned it, audiences loved it. What if all the audience members adapted the views of the critics and never went to see the movie? Then no-one else would have formed their own opinion. And you say you don't care about the opinions of other people...why should you care about the opinion of a critic?
You may not look here for reviews, but other people do. The 'views' reflect that, as does the voting system.

I appreciate Saritha Anna's response, and others who have put forward their opinion. Thank you - now I can see some of the more diverse reviewers, and other people's opinions on the site's best reviewer which was my intention when this thread was created!

I'm done grumbling and I'm done with this thread.

Wow who cares mate, it's just a forum. Let's not take stuff too serious please.

www.listal.com/groups/viewthread/8545/
www.listal.com/groups/viewthread/8532/

The first thread and Tom's comments in the second dealt with this topic. We just need his ok before it goes ahead.

My vow of silence didne worrrrek!

Yeah Caboose, Im with Moz on this one...its a forum, relax a little. If I took to heart half the things I've been called on here, I'd have hung myself by while playing 'aaaaall by myself' on the radio. We're all just chilling out here. Nobody meant you any personal insult.

I can categorically say that Wolf-Paw and that other kid are not the sites best reviewers. I havnt even looked at anything they may have written, but I can say it with 100% conviction.

Anyway its not a competition, take Escafield and myself for example, he has links to my lists that cross over with his and I do the same. Peaceful, co-existence is the key. (I may be only saying this because my reviews are shit and wont ever make it up here).

Everybody knows that the only good wars were WWI & WWII, no use even trying to compete with them now.

The hysterics are a little uncalled for, caboose...

And, to answer your original question, I'm not really sure who could be called the 'best' reviewer, because [A] I haven't read nearly enough reviews on here to form any sort of opinion and [B] my favourites would probably have different qualities anyway, rendering a direct comparison too difficult to bother.

And I think I was quite clear on why I thought this thread *appeared* to be an attempt to fish for compliments, but, I think you'll find, I did also say "I'm sure that's not the case". You're being overly sensitive.

how do you think film critics got started in doing what they're doing? It's not like they start writing professionally without any prior experience!

Good question. There isn't really a 'career path' for any type of writer, generally speaking. Charlie Brooker, my favourite TV critic (whose reviews never fail to make me laugh), was offered his newspaper collumn off the back of him writing 'TV Go Home', a website of fake, piss-taking TV listings. But the route will be different for each writer - many probably don't even start out their writing careers expecting to be film/TV critics in the first place.

About the subject on how to become a film (or game, or music) critic: go to a journalism education. Then do an internship at a place you like. Then stick around. Voila.

I'd have to say me.

Objectively speaking, of course.

PvtCaboose91 is in my opinion the best reviewer on Listal. There are a lot of pretty close runner ups though.