Get Reel: Movie Critics Could Learn From The Audience Letter Of The Week: From April 5

The one good thing to come out of the Oscars this year was that “Pulp Fiction” did not win best picture. I’ve seen some bad movies but that one was the most scurrilous piece of trash I ever wasted money on.

Talk about a flick with no redeeming qualities! How that thing could have collected all the critics’ awards that it did is beyond rationality. I went to see it because the critics were all raving about it. I checked with my friends - middle-class, professional, educated people - to see if any of them had seen it. Those few who had agreed that they, too, absolutely detested it. I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but this is ridiculous.

Last year, a film that was up for all kinds of awards was “The Piano.” Once again, everyone I talked to hated it, with some of them leaving the theater before the end. Oh, but the critics loved it! Two years ago, the critics were all raving about “The Crying Game,” another crude film with an obscure soundtrack that was boring to boot.

“Forrest Gump,” on the other hand, a charming, delightful movie, got low critical ratings, as you might imagine. I’m amazed that it won. It just goes to show that you can’t trust the experts.

Movie critics. Bah, humbug! Jack Jennings Spokane

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