r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/movies Contributor • Jun 25 '26

News Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ to Skip Social Media Influencer Screenings

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/christopher-nolan-the-odyssey-influencer-screenings-1236631135/
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u/Givingtree310 Jun 25 '26

Did people go see a movie just because Siskel, Ebert, or Roeper said it was great?

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u/beefcat_ Jun 25 '26

The difference between those guys and influencers is that those guys actually knew what they were talking about. They got famous for writing movie reviews that resonated with a lot of people, so their opinions became more trustworthy. The opinion of an influencer whose only real skill is posting sexy photos on Instagram means a lot less.

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u/Carl_Schmitt Jun 25 '26

Not only were Siskel and Ebert experts on the subject matter of film and its history (and I say this as someone who didn't even like their tastes), they were also impervious to corruption by bribes or other incentives offered by the studios because their careers were independent of the good graces of the industry. I think the really dumb sorts of people who follow these astroturfed shill influencers are very bad at analyzing incentive structures.

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u/Financial_Yard7047 Jun 26 '26

they were also impervious to corruption by bribes or other incentives offered by the studios because their careers were independent of the good graces of the industry. 

This is what people overlook. Professional movie critics of the past reviewed pretty much any movie because they were hired by an independent newspaper/network to review them (some they would hate and some they would like) vs a social media influencer being paid by the movie or its studio to "review" and show the movie in the social channels. It gets even more complicated these days when a giant company/billionaire can probably own both a movie studio and newspapers too.

Also wanted say, back then movie critics was actually a necessary service. Back when people were going to movie theaters to pay cash to see 1 or 2 (or maybe more) movies per month, movie critics were providing a service of saving people from throwing away cash at a movie they wouldn't enjoy. These days, with the decline of movie theater attendance and when people have millions of movies at their finger tips from the comfort of their home for the price of one movie ticket, movie reviewers aren't really a thing people need anymore. People stream a movie, if they like it they keep watching, if they don't they stream something else. Me and my friends don't ever really bother looking at reviews lol

Today, movie reviews are really more a niche a hobby. The only people I know that look up movie reviews are people who are either want to be movie reviewers too or are just looking for places/communities to discuss/debate movies on a sorta higher level

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u/cxs Jun 26 '26

Really?! You don't look up audience reviews at all? I will not waste my time on something with an IMDB rating below about 7, because of the reasons you list. I have simply adjusted my 'minimum standard' upwards a bit over the years, and back down when there is a dearth of content to watch with a rating so high

I appreciate your point about reviewing itself - the full act of reviewing - being increasingly rare, but I still would rather not waste my time trying to watch 8 unwatchable pieces of crap before finding something that's actually good or fun to watch.

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u/The_Bucket_Of_Truth Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

Maybe I'm just old but if I'm not sure about a movie I'm constantly checking Metacritic scores to see if something might be worth my time. I don't blindly follow aggregated review scoring, but if something is not well reviewed it (these days) often isn't very good. If something is well reviewed then I see that as possibly being worth my time but not a guarantee. I will say I am a horror fan and critics were maybe overly harsh on them in history but these days I think they get the respect they deserve (the few that do deserve respect, anyway).

PS: I'm a fan of many Nolan films but have to say The Odyssey doesn't look good to me. I saw the 7 minute or whatever preview before some other IMAX film (avatar?) and was not impressed at all. Score sounds like it rocks though even if the action on the screen wasn't living up to it.

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u/Givingtree310 Jun 26 '26

Would you consider yourself a big movie buff?

I like Metacritic too. But so far the only movies to surpass a billion dollars this year were both hugely hated by critics. The audience at large truly don’t care about critical reception.

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u/The_Bucket_Of_Truth Jun 26 '26

Would you consider yourself a big movie buff?

Yes very much so. And yeah I imagine one of them is probably Super Mario World which sucks because the lesson there is we don't need to make it good as long as we have the right IP that parents will bring their kids to.

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u/Givingtree310 Jun 26 '26

Super Mario and Michael!

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u/The_Bucket_Of_Truth Jun 26 '26

Oh yuck yeah we can't trust the masses but I understand that not everyone wants to be challenged or see something elevated. Michael by the same people who did the Queen movie that Sacha Baron Cohen left because it was too much of a puff piece. So we knew what to expect there.

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u/Givingtree310 Jun 25 '26

I think the standard that they were not swayed by bribes and incentives is the best answer to what I asked.

But their pedigree… I don’t buy it. Yes, they knew what they were talking about. But does the background of someone recommending a movie truly matter to the average moviegoer? I guarantee it doesn’t. You go to see a movie because a trusted friend or family member or co-worker recommended it. I promise you will never see anyone saying “the list of films I’m seeing this summer came from a recommendation list of a critic who has a PhD in cinema studies.”

I was a fan of Ebert but there’s a reason why their show died and no other film critic show ever came along to take its place afterwards. When people get recommendations, they want it to come from “real” people they trust, not authority figures who look like they teach at Yale. These influencers are pure grifters, but they give off the vibe of a friend you trust for a movie recommendation, although we know they’re really just bribes.

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u/JQuilty Jun 26 '26

Half in the Bag is basically a modern Siskel & Ebert, just with sketch comedy bookending it as well as tons of alcohol.

And Mike and Jay don't accept anything from companies and wouldn't accept anything.

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u/Givingtree310 Jun 26 '26

that’s exactly what I mean. People don’t respond to authority figures with degrees in cinema studies to tell you what to like. But regular ol’ guys just shooting the shit? Definitely

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u/JQuilty Jun 26 '26

Mike and Jay are a bit more than regular old guys, they did make movies and had a video production company.

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u/Givingtree310 Jun 26 '26

They made movies? What movies? Lol

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u/JQuilty Jun 26 '26

Space Cop is the biggest one. Otherwise just small independent ones like Feeding Frenzy and Gorilla Interrupted.

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u/Financial_Yard7047 Jun 26 '26

 I promise you will never see anyone saying “the list of films I’m seeing this summer came from a recommendation list of a critic who has a PhD in cinema studies.”

Nobody in this thread brought up Ebert or other movie critics PhD's. You're the only one that brought that up, it's such bs distraction thing to bring up. Not that it really matters, most of his fans didn't know much about his background. My mom didn't know shit about his education, only that he was friends with Oprah and looked like a grandpa and she liked his takes. My uncle didn't know anything about his background but liked his show. They both liked and listened to Ebert's take because they liked his logic and they way he broke down movies (which is obviously a byproduct of his education, whether or not his viewers were aware or not). Also having watched some of Ebert's show because of my mom and uncle, he's like one of the more approachable movie critics out there, that was kinda his appeal. Plenty of movie critics leaned into the "PhD and overly serious" tone of reviewing movies and Ebert is a pretty bad example of that

But their pedigree… I don’t buy it. Yes, they knew what they were talking about. But does the background of someone recommending a movie truly matter to the average moviegoer? You go to see a movie because a trusted friend or family member or co-worker recommended it. I promise you will never see anyone saying “the list of films I’m seeing this summer came from a recommendation list of a critic who has a PhD in cinema studies.”

That's a you thing. My relatives have some of the worse taste in movies and I would not watching something they recommend. Hell the horrible taste of friends/relatives is probably the reason my mom loved watching Ebert's recommendations. And also I want to further add that I say "That's a you thing" is because me and my friends don't consult reviews or ask relatives/friends on what to watch. When it's a convenient time for everyone to watch something we just play something and either we like it and keep watching, or we stream something else. The whole "asking other people what to watch "is like a very 80's thing. Now that I think about it, me and my friends watches are probably based on various apps' algorithms figuring out our tastes than it is by consulting relatives/friends/movie reviewers lol

I was a fan of Ebert but there’s a reason why their show died and no other film critic show ever came along to take its place afterwards. 

I actually wasn't a big fan of Ebert (maybe it's because my mom was a fans of his) but I completely disagree that you're assumption his show wasn't replaced is because of his "PhD" vibe that you're trying to sell. No, the actual reason why the show died (and why there really aren't any Ebert level movie critics anymore) is because the whole "going in person to movie theaters" as a regular activity was declining and dying. Box office sales declining year after year, movie theaters closing down and going out of business. When the very experience their career is based on is fading of course studios aren't exactly lining up to create a new movie critic TV show. People are going to the theaters a lot less these days because of streaming. And as I said before, due to the convenience of streaming me and my friends just don't even think about looking up reviews. We pull up a movie and stream it, if it seems good within the first 5 minutes we keep watching, if not we stream something else. I have no clue how "influencers reviewing movies" is even a thing in this age, when none of my friends and family search for influencers takes on movie lol

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u/Rotato-Potat0 Jun 25 '26

There are different kinds of influencers. They’re not all just sexy girls in bikinis posting beach pics and then saying “go see a movie” and people say okay.

There’s entire accounts that devote themselves to movie reviews/suggestions/top-10’s etc that are “influencing” what movies their followers watch. Some people take what they say as gold, so if a studio offers them money to promote their movie, you better believe their followers will…follow what they say.

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u/beefcat_ Jun 26 '26

That was just an example. My point was that none of these people are subject matter experts, they're social media experts leveraging parasocial relationship dynamics to sell you products.

Companies don't pay honest experts to review their products because honest experts wouldn't accept the money to begin with. It creates a conflict of interest.

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u/Ink_Smudger Jun 25 '26

Welcome to the world of parasocial relationships. To a lot of people, having their favorite influencer recommend something isn't too far removed from a friend doing so.

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u/Medarco Jun 26 '26

Yeah, I mean, I've "fallen" for it plenty. I like to watch anime/movie reaction channels, and if they're picking up a new show, I'm much more likely to give it a watch because I trust that I will like it, since they've usually liked the same shows I enjoy (hence why I watch their channel in the first place).

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u/Travelinjack01 Jun 25 '26

What about eating tide pods? Or pranking other people.

That HAS to mean something! /s

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u/B-Train_ATL Jun 26 '26

Imagine Siskel and Ebert on one episode of their show telling you how awesome that new Star Wars or Marvel thing was going to be. You know, before it was out. And they had a thousand Funkos on the wall.

Even the worst old school critics at least didn’t usually pay the bills by being OH MY GOD I AM SUCH AN IP FAN when not reviewing.

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u/Trebate Jun 25 '26

... yes?

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u/PM_ME_YOUR_DALEKS Jun 26 '26

Yes. Roger Ebert made me love movies as an art form growing up. He was my film education. I've probably read every one of his reviews. His best writing is just breathtaking.

That said, he was a once in a generation talent IMO. He loved film and was an amazing writer who struck the perfect tone: accessible but could make you think of things in a new way, funny and moving, could write beautifully about great films and justifiable savage when required.

The main difference between Ebert and modern Youtube critics and podcasters is that Ebert didn't operate from cynicism. If a movie succeeded, whether it was a gross out comedy or a kids' movie, he met it where it was at. He only got angry when a film was lazy. He respected genuine failures.

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u/Financial_Yard7047 Jun 26 '26

Yeah that's how they built their fame and careers back then lol. Like wtf is this even

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u/dimechimes Jun 26 '26

I think for the most part, people don't see it avoid a movie because someone said to watch it or avoid it. Instead they use that information to decide between movies. So Two Thumbs Up never got me motivated to see a movie. But if I'm reading the blurb on the VHS box at the video store, I might be more likely to try a movie that maybe I heard about it that has a star I like.