Short or Long reviews?

[pizdatrica]

So I was wondering if people felt the same way as me regarding the length of reviews. Personally, I prefer short ones, just a few sentences. Basically, if I am looking for a movie to watch I'm not willing to read through a whole "book" of text, which tells me everything about the movie I am about to watch. Plus, if I am going through reviews on sites such as Rotten Tomatoes, I tend to automatically skip the long ones and just read the short ones where the person's opinion of the movie is nicely said in a few sentences.

[VenomX73]

Short - with photos if possible.

[Rev. Powell]

So I was wondering if people felt the same way as me regarding the length of reviews. Personally, I prefer short ones, just a few sentences. Basically, if I am looking for a movie to watch I'm not willing to read through a whole "book" of text, which tells me everything about the movie I am about to watch. Plus, if I am going through reviews on sites such as Rotten Tomatoes, I tend to automatically skip the long ones and just read the short ones where the person's opinion of the movie is nicely said in a few sentences.

In most cases, I prefer short ones as well. I strive to keep most of my reviews to under 700 words. I find that most writers who submit reviews to my site have a lot of trouble keeping things short and sweet. Writing concisely is a difficult skill to master.

Longer form reviews should be more reflective essays, and address/expand upon some larger theme brought up by the movie. Longer reviews are generally read by people who are already fans (or haters) of the movie and are looking for more insight, rather than people looking for recommendations for something to watch. Two different audiences.

[pizdatrica]

I have a problem with this because I'd like to review some movies on IMDB, but the site has a minimum 10 lines of text limit and sometimes it bothers me, because I am not looking to write some spectacular text about the movie, just my opinion of it in a few sentences. Also, I never read the reviews on IMDB because of them being long (mostly I am on IMDB looking for movies to watch, and I spend a lot of time deciding between what I should watch, I would lose much more time reading loads of text explaining to me the whole plot of the movie).

[Bushma]

I agree, I also prefer a short review. I will say that even though it adds length I really enjoy Andrew's list of the characters, and the things to watch for. 

[Jitters]

I think what Rev. Powell wrote is right on.

I like capsule reviews if I'm scanning for general, overall impressions of a movie I'm considering watching.  I like to read longer reviews after I've seen a movie and want to know others takes on it or their reading of its symbolism, etc.

Generally speaking, short and sweet.  I've never understood why some reviews contain a run-down of plot points.  Why would you want to know what happens before watching?  And if you've already seen the movie, why repeat it?  I like a summary of plot/theme in one sentence.  I almost never read a complete review before seeing a movie I want to watch.

[pizdatrica]

Another thing I notice in reviews is the colorful vocabulary the reviewers use. Sometimes this works, but other times I find myself somewhat confused, because certain words or metaphors give an unrealistic picture about the movie, so basically I look for reviews that are solid and understandable. A person writing if they liked a movie and the reasons behind it is fine enough.