The review could be longer and give a more in depth look at the film.
Dislikes: People who request longer reviews.
Although some of this, if not most, will be redundant, being that you have requested such feedback, and I just love abusing you
, why not?
First of all, I would like to commend Andrew on taking a stand, despite the potential ridicule, and staying true to his love for the band Menudo. Despite any number of implications that could be made from that, Andrew is truly a man among men (err...don't go there) and should be applauded by the board members for taking such a stand and being up front with this.
It has been quite a few years since I first came to BadMovies.org. The internet provided quite a diversion in my life at the time: hunting down freeware, downloading pictures (ahem
), shopping eBay; but, it was always looking for stuff. Stuff, well I found that, but entertaining sites that I would bookmark to return again and again...well, that was something different.
I had been searching for videos to download. Perhaps something entertaining; but, the two drawbacks to this were an old laptop and a slow dial-up connection. Somehow, on some other site, I read sort of a mini review/directory entry about a site that reviewed movies, particularly bad movies, and the webmaster also made downloads available in simple mpeg format that would play on my crappy laptop. The site I found was BadMovies.org.
Being used to the occasional review being added, once every few weeks to few months, there came a dry spell where it seemed like months went by without any update to the site. Knowing that the webmaster was also a Marine and that a war was going on, I was naturally concerned. Looking around for a way to perhaps contact someone, I found the link to the forum.
Despite the lack of activity on the front page, there was a forum blistering with activity. Not only had I come to learn that Andrew had been stationed in Iraq, but I came to meet several of the members of the forum and found a regular place on the internet where I could go, regularly, that had so much to offer.
"Well, what the hell does this have to do with likes and dislikes and feedback and all that good stuff?", some ass may ask.
The keyword for everything that drew me to this site and this forum is 'accessibility'.
I didn't have a whole lot; just an old laptop. Where sites were trying their damndest to make everything load more slowly, and require this plugin or that to use the site. BadMovies.org was a site I could access on any computer, and even on an old HP palmtop using a 17k modem.
That's what drew me to the site. What kept me here was the content. Your reviews, Andrew, were refreshing, and you even made me laugh in dark times.
[If your head starts to swell, I'm gonna pop it with a pin]
The forum provided a place where I not only met and talked to others who were drawn here like me, but was also a place where I could share some of my own reviews and...uh...torture others
.
What has changed?
For the good is the frequency of updates and new stuff you are trying to do with the site.
Unfortunately, accessibilty has changed as well. With the adds and some of the scripts, though accessible from a slow connection, it becomes a really slow connection. I have also noticed that when using IE 5.5* I cannot post and get a timeout error on the forum. I have to use FireFox and I don't have an ad blocker plugin at this time.
Though that may seem like a complaint, it is not. You need to pay the rent and sometimes sacrifices have to be made. Perhaps to overcome some accessibility sacrifices, you might have a link to a page where you can recommend browsers and plugins that will work best with the site and forum.
*I am using 5.5 because this is an older computer that was a backup. My regular computer was taken out during a lightning storm.
The forum has gone through changes, though this has been largely in appearance and using a different script. Many of the old (I do mean old
) members are still here. Many new members have come along and contributed as much if not even more than any other member of this forum. There are occasional squabbles, even outright fights (I wonder who the hell would be an ass enough to do that
), but that comes with open conversation, and it is not a negative but a positive that it can happen.
[WTF?]
Other forums have anywhere from basic restrictions to outright ridiculous hoops for someone to have to jump through just to become a member and post. You have always maintained an open door policy where anyone is allowed, and anyone is allowed to say what they please. It may lead to squabbles on occasion, but that can happen anywhere. We usually work it out, and some of us may actually get along better afterwards. The important thing is the freedom for it to happen; that has not changed and, as I have said before, I dare anyone to find what we have here on another forum anywhere.
Yes, Andrew, there is a Santa Claus...
...er...out-of-forum experience there
Perhaps some things have changed in the basic mechanics of the site and forum; but the spirit is still there.
What!?!
You want actual recommendations?
Jarhead!
Okay...
For the forum, as I have mentioned before: Go back to the old forum search (you know, the one where you could actually find stuff); and get rid of the karma system (you know, the system that pussies use when they are too afraid to tell you something directly).
Frankly, I don't know whether the search or the karma, one way or the other would make much of a difference. I think the search is more important than the karma, for now, as you can't find a damn thing with the Google search. Being able to search and find something may be a benefit to guests and members who want to see what is there or search out an old thread. Any benefit is a bonus and a potential increase to board activity.
Of course, just my opinions; but, as always, I'm right.
*EDIT: Okay...I don't think that a visual image confirmation, especially for someone as anti-bigot as me, which uses the letters R U KKK is very funny.
