Shouldn't We Have Objective Standards for Judging Movies?

It used to be said that everyone was in two business, their own and show business. As such, everyone wants to be a critic. It's not surprising then that some movie apps are now crowd sourcing criticism, right alongside Rotten Tomatoes.

So what are people actually seeing? What are they criticizing? Does the public really know good from bad, and is there truth to that old adage that if it’s popular, it can’t be any good?

After all, some movies that have failed at the box office have garnered critical praise, and some with great financial success have been panned.

All of this begs the question, are there objective standards? Are there a set of rules or facts that can define good and bad in filmed entertainment?

Ann Hornaday thinks so. She is the chief film critic for the Washington Post, and the author of Talking Pictures: How to Watch Movies.

My conversation with Ann Hornaday:

Films Not to be MIssed

Think about the movies we remember. They are a little like old songs, or great books, or great meals. They are purveyors of a kind of double imagery, instantly making yesterdays events todays reality.

But with movies there is something more, in the way they stay with us. The way the images play around in our heads and the memories, words and images become embodied in who we are.

If you grew up watching and loving movies, like esteemed film critic Kenneth Turan, they take on an even more powerful meaning.

Now Turan has taken a look, in the rear view mirror at a  lifetime of film and chosen his fifty-four favorites, detailed in his new book Not to be Missed: Fifty-four Favorites from a Lifetime of Film.

My conversation with Kenneth Turan: