There are many types of cinephiles out there, and now there's a way to find out which kind you are.
Introducing Pretentious-O-Meter, a website developed by Computer Scientist Niall Beard that gauges how "pretentious" or "mass market" different movies are by calculating the difference between their public ratings and critic ratings on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes.
Essentially, if a film gets high ratings from critics, but low ones from audiences, like Sideways, it's considered "pretentious". Alternately, if a film gets high ratings from audiences and low ones from critics, like Half Baked, it's considered "mass market".
So -- okay. For all of those out there who might be a little peeved to find that your taste in movies is considered pretentious, take it easy. Obviously this thing isn't meant to be taken too seriously. Just have some good old fashioned fun with it, or enjoy it for its interesting comparison between the opinions of critics and the public.
Where do your favorite films land on the pretentious/mass market spectrum? Let us know down in the comments!
Your Comment
13 Comments
I'm surprised by some of the results. Some films I consider pretentious are mass market and vice versa. It's surprisingly had to find films that land in the middle.
May 6, 2015 at 1:41AM
Matt, which movies did you find flip-flopped?
I suspect while some movies might be considered pretentious in the states, for their intended local markets they may in fact be more mass market for their region by design.
I don't find the naming convention for the two poles to be as helpful as other words.
It worked better for me by replacing the words w/ Popcorn vs Artistry.
It would be cool if they added a vertical line for budget.
May 6, 2015 at 11:21AM, Edited May 6, 11:36AM
Lars von Trier's Antichrist is considered 65% mass market.
David Lynch's Inland Empire: 40% mass market (Quote from site: "Probably a touch predictable")
Takashi Miike's Ichi the Killer: 79% mass market!
This system is broken for cult films.
May 6, 2015 at 1:34PM
This is hilarious. Inland Empire as mass market. Can't stop laughing.
May 8, 2015 at 9:50AM
A garbage site and waste of time looking at.
Since when did critics like Matrix more than the public?? Bollocks.
May 6, 2015 at 2:40AM
I like V's content, and I even think this is relevant beyond just cheap amusement. Commercial versus critical appeal is something filmmakers contemplate, or should anyway.
Further, for anyone who couldn't tell from the headline exactly what sort of post this was, it was plain as day. Please don't blame V or this site for you not managing your time better.
May 7, 2015 at 1:28AM
Thank You.
May 7, 2015 at 10:12AM
So apparently Satantango is mass-market...
May 7, 2015 at 3:45AM
Here is a definition of pretentious "attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed."
Is the creator of this scale assuming that all critics are pretentious and that anything they like is pretentious by definition. Or is he assuming that people only like critically acclaimed films because they are pretentious?
You could make the same argument for popular films. People like the film only because the majority(not critics) like the film. Therefore they are pretentious. The definition is circular.
May 7, 2015 at 7:10AM
It is not accurate. It's says it uses data from rotten tomatoes and IMDb but the RT percentages don't match sometimes. Look at Vertigo for example.
May 7, 2015 at 1:04PM, Edited May 7, 1:04PM
It's clear that the people who made this don't know what the definition of the word pretentious is. The movies that jive with critics but not with audiences aren't necessarily "pretending" to be anything they're not or trying to seem smarter than they are. And when a movie is full of BS, I feel like the mass market is often less privy to that than reviewers.
May 7, 2015 at 2:17PM
Absolutely. And Americans and Canadians don't seem to know what ironic means too. Alanis "Rain on your wedding day" is not irony, its just unfortunate or lucky depending on who you listen to. And basically every other example of irony in her song is not irony also.
May 7, 2015 at 5:20PM, Edited May 7, 5:20PM
Hah! Repo Man 87% Pretentious. :P
May 9, 2015 at 11:02AM