Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Good and Bad Review

Marc Hogan’s (seen in Spin) review of Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday is a good review because it encompasses the entire album as well as her career. He references songs on the album, and lyrics from those songs, but also work she’s done in the past and how the two compare. A good album review should be a review about the album in question and should include comparisons to albums past so that the reader can understand how the new album matches up, or doesn’t, to previous works. He also specifically referenced songs and lyrics so that consumers can be sure to pay attention to those songs or lyrics. Hogan’s criticisms aren’t over the top harsh or uncalled for, and are seemingly appropriate for this body of work. He also references other sources outside of the album, (Rob Sheffield’s book) making it an informed review. In his conclusion, he addresses what someone might be able to expect from Minaj in the future, while leaving her room to grow as an artist independent of one critic’s opinions. I consider this review to be a good one because while he doesn’t praise Minaj, he also doesn’t forget to find the good in it as well; his appreciation is on par with the rating he gave the album.


Sam Bathe’s (seen in Fan the Fire) review of The Mechanic is a bad review because it just describes the plot and little else. There is no description of actor’s ability, and little talk of director’s style. It also starts out biased against the movie, when he claims its remaking a movie that was “rubbish in the first place.” This review is really a plot summary, tainted with preconceived opinions and notions. A good movie review would review all aspects of the movie, not just the screen writers’ ability to create a story. To be honest, I’m not even really sure who is acting in this movie, or who directed it, both of which I believe to be major points of a review and should be crystal clear. Just because the piece of art you may be reviewing is bad doesn’t mean that the review itself has to also be bad. In fact, the review should outshine the art if it is in fact “bad art.” The conclusion is like a last-ditch effort to find something positive in the movie, and seems rushed and not very well thought out. This is a poor review because it doesn’t really review the work as much as it does summarize it, does little to find both the good and bad about it, and isn’t that easy to follow or understand.


http://www.spin.com/reviews/nicki-minaj-pink-friday-young-moneycash-moneyuniversal-motown

http://fanthefiremagazine.com/blog/film/film-review-the-mechanic/

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