To the people who hated this movie

Rating: 10/10 (11 June 2009)

I realize that taste is subjective, but when I read the review of contributors to this site who pan great movies, I wonder about their IQ or their concept of quality. Unless they just love to type their venom on a page or have other emotional problems, it seems difficult for them to understand the quality of a movie
Instead of saying: A lot of people like this film. It is the highest rated film in the database. Maybe I am missing something here. Maybe I do not understand what character development is all about. Perhaps I don't know good acting from bad. Maybe I do not like a certain actor and it is coloring my entire view of the movie. Maybe the movie offends my moral sense and therefore I cannot like it without subjecting my soul to hell.
Or maybe, I cannot put myself in the context of the time the film was made. Sure, the phrase: 'I'll make him an offer he can't refuse!' is trite today. But it wasn't when the movie was made! Although the Mafia was not a new concept to most people, the idea that crime families lived like normal people was a revelation, taken one step further with 'The Sopranos.'
Similarly, one cannot compare 'The Sands of Iwo Jima'with 'Saving Private Ryan.' Although both had good production values of their times, the technology of the 90's made Ryan seem to be a better picture.
To summarize, before you consider yourself another Roger Ebert, read the reviews of the people who liked the movie and try to understand what they saw and why you did not fully appreciate it. Then, sit down at your computer and type, without ranting, a well reasoned critique that may be of use to others.