Everyone's a critic: Your conversations with CNN's Paul Tatara

Ever wanted to give a critic a piece of your mind, or tell him that you thought his opinion was right on? At CNN.com, you can. Engage in a discussion with CNN's Paul Tatara by posting your thoughts on today's films or recent reviews.

RESOURCES Message Board: Movie reviews

Below, members of the CNN.com Community and Tatara debate the nature of comedy movies and what it takes to be an amateur or professional critic. Read along, then join the fun on our Movie review message board.

On the nature of comedy

MARC CHIDD I don't believe there are ANY objective criteria for rating comedy

MARC CHIDD: Comedy is essentially unreviewable. Unlike other genres, a comedy stands or falls on one thing and one thing only - did you laugh? ... I don't believe there are ANY objective criteria for rating comedy - it's 100% down to your personal sense of humour.

PAUL TATARA: From now on, when I have to review a comedy, I'll just say, "Since there's billions of people in the world, someone out there might laugh at this." I'm sure my editors - and readers who care to hear my opinion - will be delighted.

MARC CHIDD:That's the whole problem though, Paul. Millions of people laughed at "American Pie." You can't say they were wrong to do so, since comedy is 100% subjective, so what possible value is there in a review of a comedy movie? ... Dramas are worth reviewing, indeed any film that is attempting to make an artistic statement is worth reviewing. Comedy, on the other hand stands or falls on one criterion alone - did you laugh? That's it. It doesn't matter how good or bad the lighting, editing, set design or effects are in a comedy. If you laugh a lot, its a good comedy, if you don't, it isn't.

PAUL TATARA: Apparently, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Ernst Lubitsch, Preston Sturges, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, and tons of other brilliant comedic directors were wasting their energy when they did anything but place a camera on tripod and point it at people. There's 90-odd years of film history behind us - encompassing everything from "The Gold Rush" to "everyone's" beloved "Porky's" - that thoroughly refutes your argument.

JIM KELLY I saw "American Pie 2" last night, and laughed for a solid hour and a half... People who don't connect with humor like this shouldn't see the movie

JIM KELLY: I agree with Marc 100%. I saw "American Pie 2" last night, and laughed for a solid hour and a half, as did the 400 other people in the theater. I was quite disappointed when I read Paul's review. You don't go to this movie looking for a plot or character development. You go to this movie to laugh at toilet humor. I hate using the age old adage, but I wouldn't expect adults to like this movie at all. The entire audience was in the 16-25 range and we were just rolling is the aisles. People who don't connect with humor like this shouldn't see the movie, and certainly shouldn't review it. It definitely deserved a better title than "fall down unfunny".

PAUL TATARA: The reason you don't go to "that movie" looking for coherent plot development and original characters is because you've come to accept the notion that they can't be part of a commercial comedy. And that's sad, if not pathetic. Excuse me while I pop in a video of "Annie Hall" and enjoy its well-rounded genius.

JIM KELLY: What you're doing is comparing "American Pie 2" with the likes of "Annie Hall", Chaplin, Keaton, Lubitsch, Brooks and Allen. No offense, but that was an entire generation ago. Speaking on behalf of generation X, I don't need a theatrical skeleton in my comedy because it doesn't make me laugh any harder. ... What does comedy GAIN from original characters and plot development? Your answer certainly can't be that it gets funnier. Witness The Simpson's and South Park. ... Your article DID accurately size up what was lacking from the movie, that part I agree with. But to say that it was "unfunny" and "cynical" was wrong, because it was just plain hilarious.

STRIVER GORDON: I think it was H.L. Mencken who said, "Nobody ever went broke over-estimating the vulgarity of the American public." ... In this era of globalization, Mencken's statement applies to the world.

GREGORY DITTMAN: I usually don't like toilet humor so I'm not really interested in the comedies out now. There are some that made me laugh but they are so far between that nobody could make a movie work if they combined all the jokes into that movie. Where is the wit and irony that makes the best comedies? I'm finding those types of jokes in non-comedies rather than movies that want to be comedies.

OSCAR ROMERO: I don't see why comedies should not be reviewed. ... Comedies are just like any other movies, just with the main purpose being to make you laugh.

On the nature of critics and criticism

ALLAN J. KELLER I couldn't sift through Hollywood's garbage and pick out the diamonds without going insane.

ALLAN J. KELLER: Ah well, I guess if I could be paid simply to voice an opinion I would jump at the chance... as long as they were books. I couldn't sift through Hollywood's garbage and pick out the diamonds without going insane.

JAY SIMPSON: Reviewers have a valid purpose -- that of warning us away from what they perceive to be bad fare and wooing us to that which they perceive to be good, but it is all based on that reviewers opinion, and all opinions are, by their nature, subjective.

DAN WELLS: Critics are a shaky piece of reliability. They will only tell you if a movie is a classic, for everything else to them is garbage. Personally, getting lost in a semi-cheesy action/comedy (e.g. "Rush Hour 2") is enjoyable.... Hollywood just caters to our want for something low brow.

JAMES MC: Re "Princess Mononoke": Mr. Tatara has not only grasped the art of Japanese film making, I think he pretty much nailed the modern response to just about any external stimuli in the country. ... I agree with his review. It was an interesting movie, beautifully drawn, but juuuust a tad too self important.

DONNA WEATHERS: I've never been a big Kubrik fan.... I think his movies are strictly for the critics and not the average person.

PAUL TATARA I'd be interested to hear how critics aren't "average" people... I'm fairly certain I wasn't raised by German philosophers in an underground laboratory.

PAUL TATARA: I'd be interested to hear how critics aren't "average" people. I grew up in a working class environment in small-town Alabama. I have a bachelor's degree in communications. I'm married. We have a Boston Terrier. I have credit card debt, and pay too much rent. I love baseball, rock & roll, and jazz. My favorite meal is steak and potatoes. I'm fairly certain I wasn't raised by German philosophers in an underground laboratory.

FRANK INMAN: I was. Damn, maybe that's why I'm not a movie critic!

JAY MONDAY: News for ya, too... If you write movie reviews for a major news organization you left the "average" category awhile ago. I think the more you write the less average you get. It is not a put down. I envy your job. I think you do a good job, too, I may never always agree with you but you do a good job. People ... resent movie critics a little, especially if they throw rocks at a movie that might be near and dear to them.

DONNA WEATHERS if you're a critic, you've gone, mentally, much deeper than the average person

DONNA WEATHERS: Movie critics think much deeper into movies. They study them, and discuss them and see as many as possible because their job is to review films. The more "odd" a movie is, the more it would appeal to critics because they get tired of seeing the same thing all the time. I don't see near the movies that a critic would, so my opinions of movies will be different. ... Critics may be average people as far as anything other than movies are concerned, but if you're a critic, you've gone, mentally, much deeper than the average person.

DEREK JENSEN: I pay quite a bit of attention to critics like Paul Tatara. I don't always follow their advice or agree with their conclusions, but I do get a lot more information about a movie from their reviews than I do from the movie trailer. Paul may be the most entertaining, albeit picky, but he also may be the most descriptive as far as letting us know what we're actually going to be seeing.

PAUL TATARA I write my opinions down for public consumption, while other people deliver theirs via casual conversation. We're all critics...

PAUL TATARA: People like to say "critics" as if a guy who writes what he thinks about a movie is a different species than everyone else walking the planet. I'm sure you and I like a lot of the same stuff. But it doesn't mean I'm "average" when I like "Sophie's Choice" and too loaded with hopped-up criteria when I like "2001: A Space Odyssey." It just means that I write my opinions down for public consumption, while other people deliver theirs via casual conversation. We're all critics, in other words.

S.R. GOULD: I don't mind if a critic disagrees with me, provided s/he gives reasons that I can appreciate and that make sense. I don't have to change my opinion of the film - what I want is that my perception or appreciation of the film is changed by the criticism. If it isn't, then the critic is no more a professional than I am.

BILL ZIMMERLY: "We're all critics, in other words." - Paul Tatara. Amen to that. :)