About Smart-Popcorn.com

 

Since the advent of film, a rift has developed in motion picture critique. On one hand, critics have increasingly focused attention on the artistic merit of films: originality, cinematic style, and direction, among other things. On the other hand, the moviegoing public has continued to embrace more traditional elements of entertainment value: humor, romance, and simple enjoyability. Neither camp of opinion is incorrect. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and we are each entitled to our own tastes. However, one thing seems out of place. Why do movie critics exist if not to provide the public with information relevant to their tastes?

Smart-Popcorn.com exists in hopes to bridge this gap. It's solution is incredibly simple, yet perhaps revolutionary... We rate and review films on two seperate scales: Smarts (artistic merit) and Popcorn (entertainment value). In doing so, we hope to accomplish two major feats. First, we will provide moviegoers with opinions they can relate to. Secondly, by offering opinions of artistic merit in a noncompetitive manner to those of entertainment value, we will encourage moviegoers to experience a broader selection of films, rather than alienate them from such films.

Smart-Popcorn.com further extends its breadth of relevance by offering a diversity of opinions: not one or two, but numerous critics, each with different tastes that different moviegoers will be able to relate to. We will compile and present these reviews and ratings in intelligent yet easy-to-follow fashions.

The Two-Scale System

Smarts - The "Smarts" scale represents a measure of a film's artistic merit. This can encompass elements such as plot, dialogue, cinematography, sound design, soundtrack composition, set and costume design, actors' performances, and quality of special effects. Another way to think of this is a measure of "critical acclaim", as the criteria used to determine "Smarts" rating are often the same used by other critics in determining an overall opinion.

Popcorn - The "Popcorn" scale, on the other hand, represents a film's entertainment value. This encompasses elements of action, humor, suspense, romance, emotion, and character investment. The "Popcorn" category can also be thought of as a measure of "mass appeal", as it tends to reflects the opinions of general audiences.

Obviously, there will always be some overlap between the two categories. (For instance, a film with poor cinematography is less likely to have good action.) However, there are simple, stupid films that entertain millions, and there are brilliant, technically perfect films that can bore to tears. Our two-scale system should give a much better indication of such films than a simple thumbs-up or five-star scale.

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