sleeper's Most Helpful rated 'movies' reviews...
Oct 26 '08 (Updated Oct 18 '09)
The Bottom Line Read the essay already... Last update here: Ocotber 18, 2009
...
Please also see my 'Most helpful rated books reviews' essay found here.
Last update, movies, here: October 18, 2009
Last update, books, there: September 17, 2009
The Most Helpful rate at Epinions is designed to recognize a review that "... stands out from other reviews of the same product as the best." Sounds simple, ehh..??
Introduced (apparently) in early 2002 for use by all users at Epinions, it was soon 'pulled back' for use only by Advisors and Leads in category, users who were believed to have the "... extensive reading and rating experience (and) ... expertise needed in their categories to use this rating."
The Most Helpful rate also has one specific condition attached to its use: that a product must have multiple reviews before one might be selected as 'Most Helpful'. In application across the site that restriction seems to be occasionally/often ignored, without penalty. I choose not to do so. But I will list a few of these 'MH-worthy to me but...' reviews below.
I have always felt using the restricted 'Most Helpful' rate was a privilege, one that should be held to high standards. It should not surprise my faithful reader that I find that 'privilege of use' not always respected on the site.
I could craft a long screed here (indeed I started one...) about the failings of the site in making rating information, including number and identity of specific 'MH' rates available on the site... but I will not. I do not have the fervor for tilting at a new windmill just now.
What sleeper finds Most Helpful
A 'Most Helpful' review for sleeper is a review that entices me to want to learn more about a book or film. A review that entices me to click the shopping link because I need to add it to my stack of 'must reads' or 'must views'.
A 'Most Helpful' review for sleeper is one that is not full of distracting misspellings, grammar or phrasing; or with a structure that makes it difficult for this average reader to make his way through.
A 'Most Helpful' review for sleeper is one that tells how a fictional story is told; not one that retells the story. The review introduces me to the characters without telling their life story.
A 'Most Helpful' review for sleeper is one that shares the depth and breadth of information found in a non-fiction book. It is a review that lets me know I will learn something I need to know, and now want to know, from reading this book.
A 'Most Helpful' review for sleeper is one that adds a 'wow' factor to the site. A review that makes a visitor stop and think ' Wow, this writer knows what they are talking about..! Surely there is more like this here.' Yes, the reader in me likes a 'Most Helpful' review that 'wows' me with their use of the language.
A 'Most Helpful' review for sleeper is not one that seems more like an encyclopedia entry. It is not a review that retells the story, excruciating minor point after minor point. It is not a review stuffed with ancillary information that adds nothing to the reader becoming acquainted with the book or film being reviewed.
Most Helpful ratings on Epinions
Reviews rated 'Most Helpful' on Epinions should be much more widely available across the site, for both members and non-members.
Non-members should be able to see, at the category and product level, reviews rated 'Most Helpful' by current Advisors and Leads. Epinions should be so confident in the skill of their raters that 'Most Helpful' would serve as a 'filter' for the best on the site. This is currently done to a very limited degree on the Home Page but could be much expanded beyond that too limited application.
Members should be able to see this same MH information, and additionally should be able to see the history of any Advisor or Lead's use of the 'Most Helpful' rate. Ideally this would be a minor component of making the Advisor or Lead's entire category rating history available, beyond the shallow and ineffective 'last 100 rates' page currently available.
As both of these are 'pie in the sky' ideas right now, I offer my own solution to the part I can easily 'solve': making my own 'Most Helpful' rates easily available.
As a side-note, I must say there are many more reviews on the site that are 'Most Helpful' worthy. Unfortuntately, when two or more of those reviews are present on the same product ... well, such is life.
'movies' category reviews sleeper54 has rated 'Most Helpful'
Review Title (linked) ... author's user-name
Whip It (2009): Drew Barrymore's directorial debut in a coming of age girl power tale ... andaryl
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - A Kid's Movie for, Well, the Kids! ... mmcphee
Inglourious Basterds (2009) ... lemon_lime
Bon Apetit! Julie & Julia is a Yummy Movie ... Staceys1
The Invisible Life: A Slipping-Down Life ... skbreese
Should compete for Best Picture Oscar, and *not* the animated one! ... hist
Best Screen Version of Bard's Tale ... truckturner
Star Trek 2009: Not Your Big Brother's Star Trek But Still "Fascinating" ... befus
"Is it Christmas?" "No, It's Saturday" ... carstairs38
A Whole Lot of Slashing--Friday the 13th: From Crystal Lake to Manhattan ... Mike_Bracken
My 600th Review! SHOGUN ... talyseon
A Chilling Yet Respectful 9/11 Documentary ... mizgnomer
A timeless children’s classic! ... utini
A beautiful, restrained love story that should have made Elizabeth Reaser a star ... rmurray847
A Heart-Wrenching Story Stolen Directly From The Headlines ... coldsteel7
Be Careful What You Wish For. CORALINE ... talyseon
Terror Not Felt Since The 80's ... by sghawken
An old-fashioned yet very modern vampire film...and so much more! ... rmurray847
The U.S. vs John Lennon~Documentary About A Beatles legend~How He Spoke Out With His Music ... ifif1938
RSVP to Rachel Getting Married ... Goatius
Marley & Me ... : The world's worst dog made me laugh, then cry ... ladyconsumer
I'm Not There - Biopic of Bob Dylan ... naphtalia
A Christmas Carol : MGM's Golden Age Version of the Christmas Favorite ... George_Chabot
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day: wicked, funny, and smart ... telynor
My Neighbors the Yamadas: - A Flurry of Isao Takahta Shenanigans ... jeremy1456
A Girl and Her Music ... mrbrown
Love's Possibilities ... skbreese
ONCE--ME AND YOU VS THE WORLD ... jarvococker
Nights in Rodanthe's leads shine through thin plot ... darthmary
I Said I Wasn't Gonna Love Hugh Grant, But Then Pop! Goes My Heart... ... bilbopooh
Nymphomaniac Vampires Exposed - Transylvania 6-5000 ... Freak369
I Saw a Film Today, Oh Boy... ... da_matty
The Astronaut Farmer: Schmaltzy, Predictable, but Pretty Darn Good. ... JediKermit
You play the harp, mister? You keep pushin, you'll end up learnin'. ... hbala
The Mother of Zombie Flicks Finally Done Right ... bilavideo
Magically appropriate for kids and 'tweens. It's a Hollywood miracle! ... millinocket
"Vivien, Are You Sure You Did This?" ... befus
The Lord of the Rings - The Motion Picture Trilogy (Special Extended DVD Edition) ... kknox0616
"You're in the picture, you raised the flag, that's the story we're selling, boys." ... by alexdg1
The Science of Sleep ... by lemon_lime
Classic Tale Revisited, With a Twist! ... by soulkissed2003
Move Over, Nancy Drew. ... by slayer_girl
We Are Marshall ... by quasar
Signing Time Volume 2: Playtime Signs ... by pippadaisy
A Tree Grows in Calcutta: Born Into Brothels ... by trust12345
The reviews below...
1. - are ones I considered MH-worthy before I earned an Advisor hat in the category,
2. - are reviews that I have not read enough of the other reviews of the product to be sure this one truly is the only possible MH, or,
3. - are 'solo' reviews.
But I feel these are all worthy of recognition here as being 'MH-worthy' for this reader/rate.
The first DRACULA: important work best on Image or Kino DVD ... robertseletsky
Jonathan Demme's Something Wild: 80s Fer Shur W/O ... d_fienberg
California Split Lesser Known Altman Gem with... ... ChrisJarmick
Humanity's Burden ... jc_hall
Excellent, Intelligent Filmmaking ... bilavideo
Jim Riffel vs. Steven Spielberg: Night of the Day of the Dawn of... ... WilliamJones
"If you hate your wife, you'll love this movie" ... halfsweet
"She Was Asking For It" ... katmar
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Epinions.com ID:
sleeper54
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 in Movies, Books |
 in Books |
 - Top 1000 |
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Member: ...tom...
Location: "Is this Heaven?"......"No. It's Iowa."
Reviews written: 491
Trusted by: 546 members
About Me:
Off to Dallas for real-world 'work' training.
Will be back ASAP..!!
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