Here’s the thing, Pete. I’m more than aware of what movies are — I’ve actually worked in the business for close to fifteen years (from the mailroom up through development and production). But I still like to read what the “fans” think. Which is why it’s frustrating to see so many amateur critics/journalists writing about movies online without a real understanding of the business or process (no offense, but reading Variety and going on set visits isn’t quite enough, obviously).

And the blog vs. “news-site” is a BS cop-out. Don’t kid yourself, slashfilm is providing the exact same content as most other fansites (reviews, rumors, promo material, box office, opinion), it’s just that the format and presentation are different. That doesn’t mean you should let it become the same thing — after a good start, it would just be a shame to see the site become the same kind of oppressively snarky, infantile or overwhelmingly negative soapbox as others (ahem chud aicn). Nor should capricious or negligent reporting be your standard, especially now that you’re reaching an increasingly larger audience. But again, that’s up to you. I’ll keep watching.

i doubt this will be a kick-ass movie, looks like it’s going to be more of drama than action, but i’m still optimistic… hope this will be good.

No offense, but this is a blog, not a news site. Find another source if you want that sort of thing.

Movies are a collaborative art unlike anything else. One piece of the puzzle can ruin everything else, and yes, it is that simple.

When we report on a movie like GI Joe and the fan backlash turns possitive after the casting announcement of Ray Park, someone who the fans had hoped would play the character of Snake Eyes for years, we report this tide change as such. Weeks later when the guy from Little Man and White Chix is also cast in the same movie we report on how we see it: The fan tried to appeaise a huge fan backlash with one fan favorite casting announcement, and still has no plans on making a film that fans want to see, nevermind the rest of America.

I’ll admit that some of the people in talkbacks and message boards arent all that smart, but even they can tell when the tide starts turning on a particular project. It’s usually not hard.

“There’s a difference between being critical and being ill informed or terminally pessimistic.”

There’s a difference between movie being made by Jason Reitman and a movie being made by Sly or Stephen Sommers as well. To be fair, there is even a difference between Michael Bay and Stephen Sommers.

Usually I am pissed off about the lack of a press screening, because I love horror movies, and genre movies, and those are usually the type of movie not screened for critics. Rambo however, I had no interest in the first place.