This morning, we released code changes which merge all “tagging” functionality into “Collections”.
Almost immediately after releasing tagging, we realized that we had no tenable way to keep our eye on, let alone moderate, the massive number of tags which were being assigned to films. Our inbox was suddenly flooded… “that tag doesn’t belong”, “this tag is a duplicate”, “that tag is too subjective”, etc. A lot of people were employing tag functionality in clever ways that we hadn’t considered, such as building a list of Oscar Winning Documentaries.
We came to the conclusion that user-moderated collections (or lists) might make more sense. But in order for collections and tagging to co-exist simultaneously, we had to come up with some artificial guidelines dictating “what is a tag” vs. “what is a collection”. The result was confusion and the need for even more moderation — as we should have foreseen.
Tagging was always clumsy, and extremely similar in functionality to Collections. So, we’ve merged tagging into the more current and robust Collections paradigm. All tags have been converted into public collections, and the person who created the tag is now the owner/moderator of the collection.
Hope this makes sense to everyone. And if you find any problems, as always, please let us know!
Other Fixes Removing from Wishlist – There was a bug which prevented the full removal of a film from your wishlist, which has been fixed. Page Over on List of Films Added Today – On the list of films added on a certain day, the page-over buttons didn’t work Super-Long Words in Mini-Reviews – Before, they could ruin the style on the Film Info page, rendering other mini-reviews unreadable. Not anymore.
How fitting that a film about as contentious a topic as the death penalty would find its way onto our list of the most contentious films of all time. The Life of David Gale, Kevin Spacey and director Alan Parker‘s “issue film”, has found as many passionate detractors and supporters as capital punishment itself, scoring an admirable 48.63 FCQ (Film Contentiousness Quotient — details here).
Spacey stars as the titular character, a man who’s (possibly) been falsely accused of murder and sits on death row. Kate Winslet is an intrepid reporter named Bitsey Bloom (automatic 5 points off my score for that name), who has to rush against the clock to try and save Gale’s life. Will she make it?! Nail-biting excitement!
Or… overblown ham-handedness. Reviews were brutal (Ebert gave it 0 stars), but despite the extremely poor critical reception, a large proportion of Criticker users have given The Life of David Gale excellent marks. What do you think? Were the critics right? If you’ve seen the film, choose now!
The Life of David Gale
Terrible! (62%, 13 Votes)
Great! (38%, 8 Votes)
Total Voters: 21
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Here are a couple battling opinions from Criticker users.
cweiselberg: “Awesome twists and turns. Spacey is amazing as always. This is a really awesomely twisted flick that I would advise anyone to watch.”
Spin73: “A stupid, stupid movie that seems to completely undermine whatever point it was trying to make. Wasted performances all around. Check out Ebert’s review.”
In the last poll, you voted on Igby Goes Down, and even though I don’t agree with the outcome, it’s heartening to finally see one of these polls end with a negative balance. Igby was terrible! Buy The Life of David Gale here
And here’s our up-to-date list of the top 10 most contentious films at Criticker:
1. Eyes Wide Shut – FCQ 57.72 – Poll Result: GREAT!
2. Across the Universe – FCQ 57.36 – Poll Result: GREAT!
3. The Rocky Horror Picture Show – FCQ 54.72 – Poll Result: GREAT!
4. Stay – FCQ 52.49 – Poll Result: GREAT!
5. The Butterfly Effect – FCQ 49.84 – Poll Result: GREAT!
6. Saw – FCQ 49.24 – Poll Result: TIE!
7. Brotherhood of the Wolf – FCQ 49.09 – Poll Result: GREAT!
8. Chicago – FCQ 48.75 – Poll Result: GREAT!
9. Dumb & Dumber – FCQ 48.66 – Poll Result: GREAT!
10. The Life of David Gale – FCQ 48.63 – Poll Result: Pending>!
Mediocre advance reviews seem to be taking some of the shine off what had been the year’s most anticipated new release: Watchmen. So let’s get excited about something else, shall we?
Next Blockbuster Wannabe, step up to the plate. If trailers are anything to go by, J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot is going to be awesome.
In the 2.3 seconds of footage in which he appears during that clip, Zachary Quinto absolutely nails Spock. And in our opinion, this film looks like it absolutely strikes all the right notes — sexy characters, explosive action, and most importantly, it treats the franchise with respect.
Hopefully the film lives up to the trailer… because the trailer has lived up to the hype.
BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA! BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA! BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA! FINALLY I can own you!
Or I could watch a “good” movie about a woman recently out of prison, like I’ve Loved You So Long. Pfah! Yeah right. The chihuahua’s name is Chloe!
Australia – 175 Rankings – Average Tier 5.01 Set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a stock-man in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot. As the pair drive 1,500 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape, they experience the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by Japanese forces firsthand. Australia @ Amazon
Criticker Pick!I’ve Loved You So Long – 43 Rankings – Average Tier 7.07 Juliette was 15 years in prison. Confronted with the unexpected goodness of her younger sister Léa, who makes Juliette a part of her family, very slowly breaks up the Juliette’s ice and bitterness and she carefully opens up. I’ve Loved You So Long @ Amazon
Beverly Hills Chihuahua – 28 Rankings – Average Tier 2.26 While on vacation in Mexico, Chloe, a ritzy Beverly Hills chihuahua, finds herself lost and in need of assistance in order to get back home. Beverly Hills Chihuahua @ Amazon
Ashes of Time Redux – 27 Rankings – Average Tier 6.22 A broken-hearted hit man moves to the desert where he finds skilled swordsmen to carry out his contract killings. Ashes of Time Redux @ Amazon
Stiletto – 4 Rankings – Average Tier 3.00 The seemingly random killings of an assassin puzzle her lover, a wealthy Greek crime boss whose organization is jeopardized by his love for her and the return of his ruthless criminal cohort, and the detective following her rising body count. Stiletto @ Amazon
This morning, you might have noticed that links to films and people at Criticker look a little different. Out with the cryptic, coded numbers, and in with readable links:
This is a change designed to make the site a little more usable. It’s important to note that the old-style links still work — so any historical links will continue to function.
This was a change which required updates to a huge swath of the site. If you find any errors, please let us know!
Given all the conversations about our differences in film taste, it’s natural that the users of Criticker would be interested to see what kind of music everyone else is into, as well. And, there have been a few threads at the Criticker forums dedicated to exactly this topic:
As one might hope, a huge number of bands and genres are represented by Criticker’s user base, from Tango to Metal, and from Country to Rock. As a further look into each others’ expanded cultural taste, there’s plenty of interesting information.
Personally, the band we’re enjoying right now is Frightened Rabbit, a rock outfit from Scotland. Enjoy:
A frequent suggestion is that we expand Criticker’s ranking algorithm to include music. It’s something we’d love to do one day, but right now we’re completely overworked just with cinema. So until we free some time up, or kidnap and lock up some IT students in our poorly-lit, blood-soaked basement, you’ll have to content yourselves with the forum.
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Set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a stock-man in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot. As the pair drive 1,500 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape, they experience the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by Japanese forces firsthand. 
Juliette was 15 years in prison. Confronted with the unexpected goodness of her younger sister Léa, who makes Juliette a part of her family, very slowly breaks up the Juliette’s ice and bitterness and she carefully opens up. 
While on vacation in Mexico, Chloe, a ritzy Beverly Hills chihuahua, finds herself lost and in need of assistance in order to get back home. 
A broken-hearted hit man moves to the desert where he finds skilled swordsmen to carry out his contract killings. 
The seemingly random killings of an assassin puzzle her lover, a wealthy Greek crime boss whose organization is jeopardized by his love for her and the return of his ruthless criminal cohort, and the detective following her rising body count. 
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