About the : Mutant Reviews community

[StarOpal]

lissa said:

Justin, aren't you supposed to wait a bit before breaking out the whip on new writers? Isn't it paddle first?

Isn't there a cattle prod and a back waxing punishment in there?

[Al]

Not my back! That's where my hair is the downiest!

Ew. Sorry.

[drew]

gunslingeral said:

Not my back! That's where my hair is the downiest!

Ew. Sorry.

I wish i couldn't verify this.

[Lissa]

I wish you couldn't either.

I'm not sure I want to know how you CAN verify it!

[starwenn]

You guys are bad. In a good way. I like that. That's why I post here.

I predate the 80s, but just barely. I like "Star Wars," but not nearly as much as I did when I spent a couple of years in my childhood totally obsessed. Never got into "Star Trek." Have read a few "Harry Potter" books but can't close to recite the minute like Lissa. (I have the feeling few people can recite Harry Potter minute like Lissa can.)

[Hucklebubba]

starwenn said:

You guys are bad.

Nah. They're just drawn that way.

[kylerexpop]

i think some of the difficulty in interpreting the site, which ironically is also a source of our greatest strength, is that our writing TONE is vastly different from a majority of other sites out there.

most other film critics, especially the "fringe" and "radical" ones who are still "paid by the Man and attend free drunken press screenings," can only attempt to mimic the nihilism and maverick attitudes we carry into our freelance, unpaid reviews. we see/rent films on our own dime, use our individual tastes to determine what's "good" and what's "bad," and then write lengthy reviews/essays/rambling diatribes that attempt to say something about what we want to say something about. occasionally, that something is directly related to the film being reviewed.

i think a definite stand-out element with MRFH, and one that keeps me in line and constantly thinking "will THIS film be a film i can write a mutant review about?" is that we are a little independent group and the only real standards we have to toe the line on are 1. adhere to common sense when it comes to writing in good taste; and 2. when necessary, use stuff like "#$@%" and "poop" in place of actual profanity. otherwise, we can be as enthusiastic or as world-weary as we want, or whatever else we want to be.

hooray!

i have a book titled 'creative aggression' by my computer; it's the resting place for my cable gateway box that gives my computer internet access and sends out the wi-fi signal for my laptop. i've never actually read the book, nor have i ever cracked it open to see if it's big print or little print; i think i bought it for 25-cents at some junk sale or something. but i think of being "creatively aggressive" in all my reviews, as well as in "life in general."

if you made it through that last paragraph, that all kind of fell in line with the mutant credo to "make it at least coherent." fun!

i'm not sure about forum guidelines and operating procedures. i know i continually get flak for not using caps, but i'm emo. also: as long as i can create new threads and get responses to the questions i raise (like "what's emo music?" and "do i look fat NOW?"), everything is O.K.

i hope that helps!

[Ellielator]

Is there one common theme anywhere in the movies you guys watch / review that unites parts of your tastes?

Are you saying when reviewing movies, sometimes you take it seriously and sometimes not? Because I would think with a name like Mutant Reviewers - either you guys review movies that are, like I think some of you have either said or hinted at, less mainstream in nature. Or you guys review mainstream movies with a non-mainstream sense of humor. Or do you do both?

Anyway, I see you guys' humor really is not like most sites. But then I browse through the review of Band of Brothers... whoever reviewed that movie is taking it seriously. Maybe... a little too seriously. I mean, if I were a huge fan of you guys (which I can't be if I'm so busy asking questions), I might say that is too different. That mostly it's funny but now... "a serious moment."


I guess I'm asking these questions because I don't understand how diverse your service is. I mean, you review mostly mainstream movies. But then I think... I think I see you guys saying "too mainstream" about things. I think I saw that being said in about 3 different topics I've read so far. I don't know what that's supposed to mean.

I think it's safe to say you guys are mainstream hecklers. Which is cool, I can't stand most of the stuff coming out nowadays. But I kind of thought this was a sort of Cult Review website. I mean, one read-through of the Suggestions List and I see reviewers saying you won't touch certain movies or consider them for review. So you have standards.

But... Cutting Edge 2?

About a Boy? Ace Ventura 2: When Nature Calls? American Pie Presents Band Camp? American Psycho 2? The Avengers?

I had to stop there...my mind is starting to play tricks on me. I literally don't have the strength to go through the entire alphabet.

I just think it's funny how you say there are some things you won't review, but in truth you'll review just about anything. Which is why I'm dying to know what the standards are.


Are you doing this for the sake of the movies / TV, or is this place a display case for all your personalities?

[pfrsue]

When you're "hired" as a mutant reviewer for this site, you're given the autonomy to choose and review whichever movie you like in whichever way that movie merits. Writers are encouraged to keep chipping away at the cult/indy/unsung/bargain bin gems that many sites don't bother to cover, but mainstream movies are acceptable as well.

There is definitely some overlap in the tastes of our writers, but there's a lot of diversity too, which allows us to cover a very wide range of titles, which in turn attracts a broader spectrum of people to the site. Just about everyone can find at least a few titles in our archives that they like. It's all good.

As far as how each movie is handled, well hey, some beg to be laughed at, but there are some that deserve to be taken very seriously and are.

Being a mutant is not a paying gig. We do it because we love movies, we love writing and we don't mind devoting our time and talents to what we think is a pretty nifty corner of the internet.

To be honest, I don't understand the reasoning behind all the questions. We are what we are, and we've been that way for a long time now.

[Ellielator]

I guess I want to know whether or not I'll fit in here. I don't come by very often - maybe there's a reason why.

And about the movies you guys review... there are some seriously surprising omissions. I wondered if that might be because you guys are too alike, that no one on your staff cares for the movies you don't review...

[Spiderdancer]

We're not forging a canon of Great Cult Film Reviews here. We're just reviewing things that we personally want to see. Some of us have a Life List we're going down (which is why I've reviewed Nosferatu and NOLD), but we generally also have a queue so we also toss in reviews of whatever we happen to have seen this week (which is why I have a pending review of TMNT). I personally can go through three to five dvds a week just while I'm working out.

There are things I won't review because I don't want to see them. That's really the only reason. Troma films are a very good example of this. I might eventually see Ichi the Killer or Audition, but they're way down the list.

I'm pretty sure the startling omissions are why we have the Suggestions thread. This way we can make SURE we haven't just forgotten something and are at least considering every cultish film people would like to see reviewed.

Whether you fit in here is up to you. We welcome all film tastes and preferences as long as you play nice.

[Head Mutant]

ellielator said:

I guess I want to know whether or not I'll fit in here. I don't come by very often - maybe there's a reason why.

And about the movies you guys review... there are some seriously surprising omissions. I wondered if that might be because you guys are too alike, that no one on your staff cares for the movies you don't review...

For someone who doesn't come by often, you've been poking and prodding these forums with surprising regularity. And they have not been (for the most part) friendly and interesting forum posts, but varying degrees of attacks and arguments.

We've patiently answered your questions on this thread, but you keep turning it into a "you guys suck, you don't review the movies I want you to, I don't get you, whatever" rant. Here's a clue: if you've been reading the site and on these forums for as long as you have been and still don't "get us", then you never will. And I honestly don't think you want to; I think you just enjoy stirring up contention.

Bottom line, you don't seem to like MRFH. That's fine. There are many other places on the internet to fit your movie tastes. Good luck in your search.

[TheLuckyOne]

ellielator said:

And about the movies you guys review... there are some seriously surprising omissions.

Fair enough -- and feel free to list those movies in the Suggestions thread -- but remember the sheer volume of cult movies there are out there. For every Howard the Duck or C.H.U.D. or Santa Claus Conquers the Martians I review, there's a thousand cult movies that someone else would rather see us review, and we can't hit them all without employing a hundred staffers. Occasional appearances to the contrary, these reviews aren't just slapped together in an hour; they can take a good week or two to write and collect all the relevant info and extras. We all work full-time jobs, remember.

Not to mention that there's your more famous cult movies (Rocky Horror, f'r instance, or Empire Records), but for every one of those there's a dozen that you've maybe never heard of, which we may want to review and bring attention to. If I consider Zero Effect or The Last Broadcast a good, worthy cult film, I'll review it, even if we haven't gotten around to Ishtar just yet.

-D