I finally went onto the “Rotten Tomatoes” site. I read their reviews for “Hunger Games.” It didn’t surprise me that the critics they quoted overwhelming felt it was a must see movie. The NYT reviewer, I forget which of their critics wrote the review, did not agree. I remember that he felt the movie was miscast; basically he gave it a thumbs down.
Movies, like books, reflect very personal tastes. If it is a hit at the box office, I guess we need to order it. If the movie has a “message” worth hearing, we should order it. For example I really enjoyed “A Better Life.” I agree that we should order “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” because of the performances of the young boy, forgot his name, and Max Von Sydow. Maybe the movie was trite, but the performances are worth seeing. Whether we use “Rotten Tomatoes” as our guide or any number of other critical platforms, we will never please everyone.