Saturday, December 22, 2012

A DVD Review Even *I* Would Not Have the Guts To Do!


Here at TIAH Blog, we do a LOT of DVD Reviews!  I won't even offer links, 'cause all you have to do is throw a "cyber-stick", and you'll probably hit one. 

We have fun with them but, ultimately, we and the DVD in question always come out okay!   

But HERE AT THIS LINK is one that amazes me for its sheer audacity, despite the now-cliched approach -- one that we even routinely see in commercials. 

Go check it out! 

4 comments:

joecab said...

Ha! I liked that.

Their site is pretty rough looking but I approve of the holiday art they added to their logo.

Joe Torcivia said...

Well, JoeC, you’ve gotta admit “It’s more festive than the av-er-age logo!”

And, since “DVD Verdict” often rotates logo illustrations, I should point out for later readers of this post that – at the time of the link – the image was of Yogi Bear hanging holiday ornaments. I have no idea what it may be, if and when others take that link in the future.

I liked the humorous approach of the review, too. That’s why I highlighted it.

But… What bothers me about it is that it spends NO TIME discussing the DVD that it purports to review. Instead, it remains content in making an admittedly clever mockery of the very idea of Baseball Bloopers.

I’m a big baseball fan, myself, and even *I* can only stand a scant few minutes of such material at most – so I certainly see the reviewer’s point. Beyond making that point, however, he tells us nothing about the DVD.

I’m a firm believer in the idea that, if you TRULY DISLIKE SOMETHING, a type of story, product of entertainment, genre, etc. you should not review a book, film, or DVD for or about that particular “thing”, whatever it may be.

I despise reality shows with a passion. Thus, I feel I am disqualified from reviewing a DVD of a reality show – even in a self-publishing forum such as my own Blog, much less as part of a more commercial enterprise. …Not that I’d EVER WATCH ONE, in order to review it anyway – but, if I did, anything I would say would be colored BY that very passion, and I could not discuss the DVD in anything resembling fair terms.

I could review what I might regard as a “bad animation DVD” or a “bad comic”, because I believe I have SOME IDEA of what a “good animation DVD” or a “good comic” ought to be. But, if I had an explicit dislike for animation or comics going into the review – even if I “played fair” with the readers by letting them know that (…as the reviewer in question DID), of what value would my review be?

“DVD Verdict” most often does the best and most comprehensive DVD reviews I can find, discussing both the subject matter and DVD’s specifics in great detail. That’s why this one stands out as “cleverly-dismissive”.

Yeah, I know that maybe if someone who openly disdains STAR TREK writes a glowing review of a STAR TREK DVD, then that DVD may have reached heights over-and-above all expectations, but I don’t expect it would usually work out that way. I would, however, at least expect such a person to DISCUSS the DVD to some reasonable degree, beyond a list of the reasons why he or she dislikes STAR TREK.

Maybe I tend to do the converse, in reviewing only DVDs of things I like… But, in that way, I can more openly and fairly discuss the ATTRIBUTES OF that DVD.

Gosh, I went a long way to make that point. Then again, I self-bill my own reviews as “Looong DVD Reviews”, so would you expect different? Anyone else feel that way? Let us know.

joecab said...

Oh, I agree with you. I didn't even know this site was credible (like I said, kinda coarse site design), so I dismissed the review and just appreciated the humor.

But when the reviewer obviously has no interest in the genre and at BEST gives one of those "if you like this sort of thing, here it is," it's basically useless. You should have seen the review of a production of Phantom of the Opera (or was it Sunset Blvd?) years ago that appeared in the Boston Globe; it was written by someone who flat out admitted how much he HATED Andrew Lloyd Webber's work.

There's a difference between reviewing for the general populace and doing so for a select group. But there's no way someone like me with zero interest in sports is even going to consider a bloopers collection so why bother? Give the review to the sports person who will make it clear whether or not even fellow fans would want to watch it.

Joe Torcivia said...

That’s my point, all right!

And, for an unfailingly credible review site and commercial enterprise (as opposed to something more personal like a Blog), it’s all the more unusual. That said, the sheer audacity of the review still tickles me.