”Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?”

Those infamous words were uttered in 1927 by none other than H. M. Warner, one of the four brothers who founded Warner Brothers Studios.

We’ve come a long way since then.

Like almost anything, entertainment is subject to personal tastes. Some people have a wide range of preferences, while others are partial to a narrower range of interests. And that’s how it should be.

We are individuals, and as such should have different tastes. Still, we do also share some common tastes, which is why movie studios spend millions, and billions, on blockbuster movies.

I like going to the movies, although at nine bucks a pop, I don’t go to as often as I’d like. But when I do go, I will more often pick a comedy over other genres.

I enjoy other genres – suspense, thriller, adventure, drama, and even musicals – but when I have to choose between a comedy and any other genres, I will most often choose comedy.

What amuses me as much or more than the movie itself, though, is reading (or watching on tv) film critics’ reviews of upcoming movies, and especially the comedies.

Now, some reviewers are fairly sensible, and recognize these flicks for what they are: a mindless escape from reality. Let’s face it, no one goes to see a Monty Python, Mel Brooks, or Mike Myers film to absorb some deep and meaningful message.

They go to laugh.

Yet I often read reviews that decry these comedies as lacking in plot, character development, and substance.

YES! That’s the point. They are just trying to make the audience laugh.

When discussing this point I used to say, “No one goes to see a comedy expecting it to be a Meryl Streep movie,” thinking of such modern classics as Silkwood, Bridges of Madison County, or Out of Africa.

Now Streep is starring alongside Pierce Brosnan in Mama Mia!, the movie version of the stage show, based on the songs of Swedish pop group Abba. Apparently – I haven’t seen it yet, myself – it is a fun movie, with lots of singing, dancing, and comedy.

Come to think of it, this shouldn’t surprise me. Meryl Streep also starred in a number of lighter films, including one of my favourites, Death Becomes Her. (The CGI effects include Streep's head facing backwards on her re-animated body, and Goldie Hawn looking through a hole in her torso,)
I just checked a few reviews of Mama Mia! and most agree it is a fun, light-hearted romp through Greece set to the 70s disco hits of Abba.

I did stumble across one review, by Colin Boyd of Get The Big Picture however, that started by saying, “I have decided to not stop writing my review of Mamma Mia! until I run out of bad things to say about it. Pack a lunch; you're going to be here a while.”

Boyd goes on to explain how he never got into the film, how he was never compelled to sing along with the rest of the audience, and that the plot is ploddingly slow and disconnected.

Good thing he gets paid to be there, eh? Now, I understand that a movie reviewer’s job (more are mere “reviewers” than true “critics”) is not to simply be a cheerleader for every new release. And, yes, there have been some movies that deserved to be panned.

But for the most part, when I read a review like Boyd’s it actually makes me want to go see the flick. Usually it is nowhere near as bad as it is made to sound, and quite often it is a really good movie.

I sometimes wonder – and I posted this comment on Boyd’s site – if reviews like these stem from the reviewer going in with a chip on his or her shoulder, or if they were just having a bad day.

Or maybe they just didn’t like that genre of film.

I know that if I were a music reviewer, I would have a hard time finding anything positive to say about a rap/hip hop concert, and for that reason, I would probably not attend such a concert in the first place.

Another movie that received mixed reviews was Mike Myers’ The Love Guru. On the IMDb website, one poster wrote that this was “the worst movie I've ever seen in the theater [sic]. It is simply a terrible movie.”

Well, that’s one opinion.

Let’s face it, you can’t go to a Mike Myers movie and expect a deep, meaningful exploration of the human psyche. You go to laugh. This movie was chock full of fart jokes, double entendres, naughtily suggestive innuendo, outrageous character names, and blatant silliness.

In other words, it was exactly what I expected a Mike Myers film to deliver. And you knew going in it would be a comedy.

The opening sequence show Guru Maurice Pitka (Myers) playing a sitar rendition of Steve Miller’s The Joker.

The humour will make you laugh and groan, often at the same time. Of course, the true punch line comes near the end, when the Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup.

Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy more serious movies. And as I have already stated, I recognize that everyone has different tastes. But sometimes you just need to laugh and a comedy, however inane or silly it may be, is often just the ticket.

When reviewers – or online, anonymous posters – dump on a movie I have to ask myself “why do they feel the need to do this?” yes, I understand they didn’t like the movie; feel free to tell us you didn’t like it.

But is there any real need to publish a scathing, venomous diatribe of all that they felt was wrong with the movie?

I see this as a product of our own creation, a society where the right to “free speech” is misinterpreted as meaning “say whatever you want, no matter who is offended or hurt.”

I think there is also a small segment of the population who try to make themselves feel better by putting down others. Somehow they feel they can prove their intellectual superiority by the use of name-calling, insults, and derogatory remarks.

For myself, I believe it proves just the opposite.

And really, why piss in everyone else’s Corn Flakes? If you don’t like Corn Flakes, then try Frosted Flakes, or Rice Krispies, or All Bran. Keep looking until you find what you like; if it is different from what others like, that does not make you wrong, nor does it make the others wrong.

It just makes us different.

And there’s nothing wrong with that.

But, that’s just my opinion.