Have you ever left a
movie, disgusted at how bad it was, and annoyed at yourself for sitting through it? Next time you feel this way about a movie, have a look at the movie poster. No matter how bad a movie is, there is always some journalist who rated it
Incredible! Fantastic! et cetera.
You ask yourself:
Did we even see the same film? How could someone say that?
The reason for such fulsome praise is the Press
Junket. A junket is a big media event organized by the
Movie Studio to promote new movies. Entertainment reporters get lots of free stuff, get to travel to nice places and "interview" the stars for 5 or 10 minutes. For many small town reporters, this is the best part of their job. The entertainment reporter also knows that if his review is critical, he won't be invited back for the studio's next film.
Ergo, manufactured praise.