BotFA professional reviews

[Necromancer Rising]

New review by Kerry Lengel Top Critic from Arizona Republic.Mostly positive 3/5. Seems a guaranteed fresh to me

http://www.azcentral.com/story/entertai ... /20419529/

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I wouldn't say guaranteed, but likely. He had a fairly similar toned 3/5 review for Ender's Game that was counted as rotten, though other 3/5 reviews of his over the past couple of years have been counted as fresh.

Assuming it gets counted at all. (I'm sure it will; I doubt any top critics would get skipped, even if any of the others might be.)

[Voronwë the Faithful]

A very thoughtful, well-written, balanced review in Christianity Today. Well worth reading.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/201 ... rmies.html

[Necromancer Rising]

Kerry Lengel's review was just added as fresh.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Really? It is not appearing so for me.

Edit: Now it is, but not in the top critics yet.

[Dave_LF]

A very thoughtful, well-written, balanced review in Christianity Today. Well worth reading.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/201 ... rmies.html

This is a good way of putting things, and highlights the central difficulty that no director could have surmounted:

Lewis wrote that “Myth is the mountain whence all the different streams arise which become truths down here in the valley.” This could be applied to adaptation. In our imaginations, the story is a lofty mountain of abstract glory. On the screen, physical necessity can drag it down into the gory details of sensory particularity. By becoming “history”—the visual and auditory reality of a movie made in a particular time and place by particular actors—it may cease to be myth and dwindle to “fact.”

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I'm glad to see at least one person read that review!

[Beutlin]

Those are powerful words, and I think they touch upon an aspect of Tolkien's work which can never be authentically brought to the world of motion pictures. Good find, Voronwë!

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Another fresh top critic, Seattle Times' Mary Ann Gwinn, 3.5/4 stars, added to RT. Up to 72%; 89% for top critics!

http://seattletimes.com/html/movies/202 ... cation=rss

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Meanwhile, Metacritic is now up to 65. In addition to the 13 reviews that they had all the way back on December 1, they have now added James Berardinelli's review, and ... Bruce Ingram of the Chicago Sun-Times, which has NR pointed out was likely to be positive based on the quote included on one of the TV ads. And positive it is (3.5/4).

http://entertainment.suntimes.com/movie ... sal-scale/

He is top critic at RT, and so it should be added there before long.

[Necromancer Rising]

Top Critic Michael Phillips from Chicago Tribune with a negative review 2/4 .Soon to be added in RT. He had given DOS a fresh review.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertain ... olumn.html

The review from Examiner was just added in RT.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I was just coming to say that the examiner.com review was added. Finally, one of the ones on your list.

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[Necromancer Rising]

Daniel Kimmel's from New England Movies Weekly negative review was just added in RT 2/5

http://northshoremovies.wordpress.com/2 ... ve-armies/

[Necromancer Rising]

Tasha Robinson from The Dissolve with a very positive review 3.5/4. Soon to be added in RT.

http://thedissolve.com/reviews/1275-the ... ve-armies/

A.A. Down from The AV Club with a negative one. Soon to be added in RT.

http://www.avclub.com/review/battle-fiv ... ng--213039

[Smaug's voice]

It's puzzling indeed that the Top Critics and All critics differ by such a large margin.
It'll actually be the exact opposite of AUJ (where it is "rotten" among Top critics) if BOFA falls back to the 60s with the Top Critics still maintained.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Not so fast, SV. The A.A. Dowd AV Club review that NR noted and the NY Daily News' Joe Neumaier and Stephen Whitty of the
Newark Star-Ledger, were added as rotten top critics, so now the top critics are down to 67%. They also added a (barely) fresh review from Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service, which to my eyes is no more positive than Stephen Whitty's (both are 2.5/4 stars).

[Voronwë the Faithful]

We're back, and while we were gone, all he'll broke lose, and now the film is rotten.

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[Voronwë the Faithful]

Surprisingly, Mike LaSalle actually had one or two pleasant things to say amidst his diatribe this time around.

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[Smaug's voice]

I haven't read most of the reviews but what are the common negatives from them?

[sauronsfinger]

My local paper - The Detroit Free Press - the largest newspaper in Michigan - gave it four stars - their highest rating. They also did the same eleven years ago for ROTK.

http://www.freep.com/story/entertainmen ... /20482783/

It is the kind of review that a film studio would be happy to pay for as it is one glorious positive bit of praise followed by another.