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[BlackRoseProductions]

It seems that by having a movie on the homepage of TMU, it counts as a view. So The American Dream as over five thousand views, and has trumped those movies who have been there for much longer (which only have just over a thousand views I should mention). I've tried this many times over, and I can see that in the "Last Watched" tab, it says the movie was last watched when I switched back and forth between the Watch! and Last Watched tabs.

Just wondering what's up.

[Killian]

Missed this one originally...

Views on TMU aren't a good indicator of "greatness" on the movie site; we all know of films that have been "watched" a lot, purely to see if the hype was just that, hype, or if it indeed WAS a good film... and in some instances, to confirm people's suspicions about what a film was going to be like... plus, everytime you visit your own movie page to check comments it counts that as a view in itself, so it can be artificially inflated, which means that views, on the whole, mean bugger all really (though the ones with lots of views are usually because they've been selected as Editor's Choice or voted into notice by use of the "Refer" function, so in that instance, views are a reasonable indicator of popularity).

Comments can be a good indicator of whether or not a film is good or not, but then again, that isn't always that great either (as someone may well look at something, like it (or not), but not bother to leave anything... like a wind in the grass...)

Ratings aren't really a truthful indicator, either (this isn't going so well, is it? Bear with me, though!); fans of a director's work will more than likely 5 star something, even if it's not that great in other people's eyes; people who don't like the director will "down rate it" (i.e. "1 Star Ninja") for the opposite reason.

However, taken as a complete picture (views, comments AND ratings), you get a reasonable idea of whether a movie is popular with a niche crowd, generally popular or just plain pants.

At the end of the day, if someone really likes a movie (or someone really DISLIKES it), then they tend to either leave feedback (as a viewer) or get it (as a director, especially if there was something they really liked about it, really DIDN'T like about it, or want to mention something they think is relevant that you might not be aware of, or giving advice; this last one is purely subjective, though, and can lead to people getting antsy about it, so it's best to think carefully before giving criticism).

Bit long winded and rambly, there, I'm afraid... but it's late and am tired :)

[Norrie]

Quality rambling Killian!

Yes, views are arbitrary here. If I think a film is terrible, and check every day to see if others agree, it gets a view every time. Same if I love it to bits.

Comments are the only yardstick.