I think reviews can be really useful when they're at the extreme of either end of the scale. Books with a positive blurb from an author I like can sway me, even though I'm sure they're paid for that and don't always read what they recommend.
I use reviews all the time for movies. I also don't put much faith in individual critics, but when the overall consensus of critics and internet randos suggests that a movie is terrible, it's probably terrible.
Negative movie reviews are more helpful than positive ones. A bad film might get overwhelmingly good reviews because it's got some political value or is considered "important".
Reviews for kid's movies are generally pretty honest when they're terrible, but some reviewers will inflate the scores based on how much they think it will appeal to kids so the middle ground in that genre is risky.
Good horror and sci-fi movies routinely get bad reviews from people who are just put off by the genre, so when horror or sci-fi films get wide acclaim they're probably worth checking out (although again, politics can throw this off).
> Books with a positive blurb from an author I like can sway me, even though I'm sure they're paid for that
FYI at least in fiction books, the author is rarely if ever paid to blurb a book. They're just offered an advanced copy or ebook and like it, they'll send a blurb back to the publisher.
I use reviews all the time for movies. I also don't put much faith in individual critics, but when the overall consensus of critics and internet randos suggests that a movie is terrible, it's probably terrible.
Negative movie reviews are more helpful than positive ones. A bad film might get overwhelmingly good reviews because it's got some political value or is considered "important".
Reviews for kid's movies are generally pretty honest when they're terrible, but some reviewers will inflate the scores based on how much they think it will appeal to kids so the middle ground in that genre is risky.
Good horror and sci-fi movies routinely get bad reviews from people who are just put off by the genre, so when horror or sci-fi films get wide acclaim they're probably worth checking out (although again, politics can throw this off).