Votes and reviews are rigged - avoid ! - 10 Days in a Madhouse (2015) Discussion

[–] DonaldPleasant 8 years ago

OMG. I just looked up one of their older movies on Amazon. You could be onto something. For every bad review a highly rated one pops up to even out the ratings. I honestly can't say who wrote them but they're written in an incredibly familiar fashion. Call me naive but is this something that film companies actually do? I know reviews are sometimes cherry-picked and Sony was fined for making false reviews but I thought that was a one-time thing. Have a look.

http://www.amazon.com/H-G-Wells-Worlds-Anthony-Piana/product-reviews/B0009PW4D2/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=recent

I'm flabbergasted. 10 Days in a Madhouse is such an amazing story and even more so because it's a true story. It's sad it was mishandled so badly.

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[–] nalini-kluth-735-879554 8 years ago

I noticed this once before regarding this movie

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3155734/

It had an incredibly high rating at the beginning (in the 10s and 9s), but then slowly declined after more people had seen it - obviously most of them (like me) attracted by the high rating. So this no unique phenomenon.

Nali*

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[–] DonaldPleasant 8 years ago

Wow. I just tried an experiment. I did a random sample on Google Image for the avatar from a glowing IMDB comment made by "aikaamya" and I found the only images available are the same picture over and over again of a woman attending university in Taiwan!

See https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fioh.tw%2Ftalks%2F%25E5%25A4%25A7%25E5%2590%258C%25E5%25A4%25A7%25E5%25AD%25B8%25E4%25BA%258B%25E6%25A5%25AD%25E7%25B6%2593%25E7%2587%259F%25E5%25AD%25B8%25E7%25B3%25BB-%25E7%258E%258B%25E4%25BA%258E%25E5%25B1%258F-yu-ping-wang-twtalks%2F

Just click "Dismiss" next to "This page was not retrieved from its original location over a secure connection." and then click "Translating...". The exact picture is used on her bio page. I mean it's possible she was in North Hollywood during the first week of March but she's expected to graduate in April 2016. This comment is her only one on IMDB and was made after one of your criticisms. Her review of the movie is also in the same "style" as the others - over-the-top and too good for... well you know.

I don't want to think about this anymore. If that image was just plucked off the web then I'm speechless.

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[–] DonaldPleasant 8 years ago

Eric Roberts. Need I say more? Watch "A Talking Cat!?!" if you can. He does the voice of "Duffy" (the cat). It sounds like he just read his lines, recorded them at home in his bathroom and sent MP3s to the filmmaker! Personally I found it to be so awful it was hilarious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-h-KpG2tHM

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[–] GeeksAreHot 8 years ago

What a shocker.

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[–] nalini-kluth-735-879554 8 years ago

Meaning exactly what? That I stated something so blatantly obvious, everyone could see it without me telling them? Perhaps you are right. But since I am one of the users, who simply (maybe naively) relies on the rating here without reading reviews or comments on the board to avoid spoilers (although I read them afterwards to see what others thought about it), I was tricked into watching this - let's put it mildly - not so good movie. Since I assume others proceed the same way, I thought I could save some people, who love good movies, the effort and the time.

nali*

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[–] GeeksAreHot 8 years ago

And I appreciate your intent immensely. These people released a direct-to-DVD "movie" of War of the Worlds that was hyped so much, promised special effects that rivaled The Matrix at best or Star Trek at worst and it was one of the most atrocious home movies of all time. The acting was terrible, the screenplay was almost lifted directly from the novel, the special effects were unbelievably bad and every fan who has a deep love for this classic story felt lied to, betrayed and quite frankly ripped off. I agree 100% with your observations and I'm surprised they haven't tried to yank your comments from the message board. It's a common practice from these "filmmakers" as well. I imagine it's only a short matter of time before this post gets deleted.

Kudos!

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[–] nalini-kluth-735-879554 8 years ago

Hello GeeksAreHot,

I apologize if my last reply might have sounded rude or impolite. I was under the impression that you might be making fun of my former comments. Now that I have read most of your other contributions to different boards and your kind reply, I apologize sincerely for my reaction.

Nali*

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[–] GeeksAreHot 8 years ago

No apology necessary, Nali. ☺

The comment was sarcastic but not directed at you. Just a general remark. There are a LOT of people here who know all too well the tactics that have been used by these people to promote their "movies". You're new to the scene so you obviously didn't know how bad 10 Days was going to be and I commend you for calling them out.



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[–] SamandDeansgirl 8 years ago

I'm a little shocked at how bad everyone is saying this movie is. Maybe because I was/am looking forward to it. The story itself is interesting and I still do want to see the movie and form an opinion myself. That being said--I wanted to know where you all got the opportunity to watch the movie. I know it's available on many platforms though I haven't checked if they work for Canadian residents.

 J.Lennon G.Harrison R.Phoenix B.Renfro 
The Beatles = Life

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[–] GeeksAreHot 8 years ago

Hello, SamandDeansgirl.

Yes I imagine it would be shocking to hear how bad everyone is saying this movie is but, in reality, it's the other way around. Everyone is giving it 9/10 to 10/10 and saying "Get locked away into an unforgettable film" or "One of my Favorite Movies of All Time". That's the problem. If the movie really is as good as the IMDB ratings say it is, we wouldn't be having this conversation. We would be watching it in our local theaters. A movie that good would get an extended release - not a "direct-to-DVD" release as they were called in the not-too-distant past. Now it's a digital download.

I haven't seen the movie but after watching the trailer and a few scenes online it's pretty apparent that it's really, REALLY bad. Personally I don't care where the negative reviewers saw it. The same goes for the positive reviewers. I care about their honesty. If you really want to know for yourself, why not risk $5 or so, draw your own conclusions and post your review here? Some people would find that interesting. If you were asking about where they saw it because you live in Canada then I'd go with Google Play. It's pretty much universal.

This company has been around for 15 years and they've learned very little from their past mistakes. All movies were shot on the cheap with amateur actors and they are terrible. Have a look at this scene from their 2005 release, "H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds", read the positive Amazon reviews and judge for yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oNB80lJFII

Here's a picture from August, 2004 of them on an Arlington, WA horse ranch making War of the Worlds:

https://web.archive.org/web/20131226011219/http://rockinbarh.com/Events/Movie/WOTW%20012.jpg

If this is what they do with science fiction just imagine what they do to a period piece drama.

Looking forward to your feedback! 😃

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[–] SamandDeansgirl 8 years ago

Hi GeeksAreHot,

Thank you for the reply. You do make a good point about the whole direct to DVD release. I thought this movie would be shown in theaters eventually. Maybe that does say something. Of course, I do want to make my own observation after watching it. I'll check it out on Google Play. I did search for it on some of the other platforms but I don't think they work in Canada.

I seem to always be the one that likes movies everyone reviews badly so I guess we'll see after I get a chance to watch it. Thanks again!!

 J.Lennon G.Harrison R.Phoenix B.Renfro 
The Beatles = Life

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[–] GeeksAreHot 8 years ago

You're quite welcome, SamandDeansgirl. 😃

Believe it or not that War of the Worlds movie was being promoted as a theatrical release almost until the very end of production. I'm really glad that you're going to watch the movie and post your review. I suppose there are two different kinds of bad movies: ones that are bad due to personal opinion and taste or the kind that make your jaw drop and say, "How is it possible that this thing got into a movie theater?!?!" (e.g. "The Room" 2003) I'm sure you'll agree with the latter.

Enjoy! Consider yourself lucky that it isn't three hours long like War of the Worlds. No. I'm not kidding! 😞

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[–] Tin Man-5 8 years ago

This movie did receive a limited release, but I suspect the makers shelled out the doe for that themselves. The reviews indicate textbook sock puppet stuff. No doubt written by the makers of the film.

Timothy Hines has a history of this. I'm amazed he could even afford Christopher Lambert-- who, it should be noted, is the best thing about this film. His performance seems to have wandered in from another movie. The rest of the cast was sleepwalking, and oi, that filmmaking was pedestrian.

What we have here are filmmakers creating their own hype and placing absurd expectations on a movie that will play better with considerably lower expectations. Look up this movie on Google News and check out some of their press releases. They say that Barry is being heralded as "the next great American actresses," but they forget to cite who said it. Because no one has.

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[–] SamandDeansgirl 8 years ago

Oh dear Lord The Room!! Don't even get me started!! That was....an experience?

So, I got a chance to watch the film today and as I predicted, I'm in the minority. I enjoyed it. Admittedly, it's not going to be classified as the best movie in the entire world or win any oscars but I genuinely liked it. Yes, it was a bit stiff at times and gave off the indie/TV movie feel but overall I thought it was good. I did see the few noticeable green screen moments which is fine. I mean, I'm not watching the film to critique every little part of it as if I were in a film class. I felt that the story was solid. It covered so much of the article and brought it to life. There were many parts that made me feel disgusted and horrified at the thought that those women were treated so horribly. And it strengthed my respect for Nellie Bly.

Also, I thought Caroline Barry was great. She's definitely talented and I thought she embodied Nellie Bly very well.

Overall, I enjoyed it. But, to each their own, right?

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[–] GeeksAreHot 8 years ago

Yup and WOW I really didn't see that coming. But hey. I like "The Room". Not because it's a good movie but because it's so bad it's hilarious to watch.

So let the discussion begin. I saw a fantastic drama called, "In The Name of the Father". It was a gut wrenching movie. Really pulled you in. In one scene they're walking down a very lengthy set of stairs after arriving at the prison. The tension was mounting when suddenly BAM! You can see the microphone hovering over them as they descended the stairs. That ruined the entire scene. And this is part of the problem with "10 Days". When I see an obviously green-screened set... forget it. The moment is ruined. And there's just so much of it. I mean $12 million and they couldn't find more locations or build sets?

As you said, it is not going to be classified as one the best movies in the world or win any Oscars. So what do you think of all the 9-10 star reviews that praise it like one would praise Schindler's List? Are they real? Could so many people think the movie is THAT good? Honestly one must agree the answer is no.

Again, given the subject matter, this movie should make one horrified and disgusted at the treatment the women endured at the asylum. But, like the green-screening, that shock isn't evoked because the production looks so amateurish that it can't be taken seriously. PBS could do better.

The only thing I can agree on is Caroline Barry. She seems to be the only one (sorry, Chris) who comes across as having some real talent. I hope it doesn't go to waste by making more movies with these people. I know she's doing one more but luckily it's only a voice-over from another science fiction camcorder movie that he made back in the early 2000s so it will spare her the embarrassment of having any on-screen appearances.

So what's your rating on a scale of 1 to 10? Take some time to reflect and type away.

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[–] SamandDeansgirl 8 years ago

The Room is definitely good to laugh it. But not to be taken seriously because it's just so bad.

The whole mic dropping into frame thing is dumb. There should be no chance of a boom mic being seen, there's no excuse for it. Even if it was shown and it made it through, let's say, it should be taken out digitally in post. I mean, how hard is it to notice that the boom mic dropped into the scene? That would ruin the scene for me too.

Back to "10 Days"--I don't know if it was me not being observant enough but the only time the green screen stood out to me in an obvious way was at the very end of the movie where Nellie and Anne see each other on the street. Other than that, it wasn't distracting or anything for me. Maybe I have to give it a second watch, which I'm sure I will regardless.

As for the reviews--I don't doubt that some of them are fixed. I'm sure they do that as a marketing ploy for almost every movie to draw people in and get them to watch. There has to be some people who didn't like the movie, which evidently there are. There are the reviews that say it's amazing, the best, etc and the ones that say it's horrible, don't watch it. I find myself in the middle of all that. It has its flaws but a good movie overall.

I don't agree with the green-screening getting in the way of the shock and other emotions being evoked. The scenes inside the asylum didn't require green screen anyways. Or at least, I don't think they did. Personally, I felt that the right emotions were evoked.

Out of 10, I give the movie a 7. As I said above, solid movie with a few flaws.

And I also just want to say, I appreciate that you're taking the time to explain why you disagree and to articulate your thoughts in a mature way as opposed to being like the majority of the people on this site and insulting the people who don't share your opinions. I definitely appreciate that and I like that we can have a proper conversation about our views. It's refreshing!!

 J.Lennon G.Harrison R.Phoenix B.Renfro 
The Beatles = Life

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[–] GeeksAreHot 8 years ago

Hello again, SamandDeansgirl.

The last thing I want to do is hurl insults at people. Besides the posts would be deleted anyway. Regarding the use of green-screening, if there isn't a decent location to shoot, the set is green-screened.

I just watched the trailer again and I can spot multiple examples of green-screening... especially in the asylum.

1. 11 seconds in:
When Nellie Bly was being briefed on her assignment to infiltrate the asylum and approaches Joseph Pulitzer, the entire room is green-screened.

2. 49 seconds in:
In the asylum, when Nellie writes in her journal while sitting in a chair is green-screened.

3. 1 minute 5 seconds in:
The background of shelves of medications is green-screened.

4. A short clip of a woman shackled to a cell was green-screened but it looked so bad it was removed from the original trailer.

This technique was used extensively in his DVD "H.G.Wells' The War of the Worlds" to avoid the cost of building actual sets. I can only imagine how many more there are in "10 Days".

I've posted a link to a parody someone made shortly after the DVD was released. Please note: It's littered with coarse language but worth watching for a laugh - especially if you've seen the actual movie. In the 25 minute video there are multiple green-screened rooms instead of sets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV4M2PVN9Oc

2m 31s
3m 24s
3m 34s
13m 53s (they couldn't even shoot a man riding a horse cart in the dark)
18m (not a room but poorly green-screened and the same extras are seen running past the camera over and over!)

Another that comes to mind is when two characters are trapped inside a house and sit at a table together. The actors, table and chairs are the only real things in the scene. They couldn't even shoot two men sitting at a table.

P.S. According to U.S copyright law this video is permissible under "fair use". The explanation is here.

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/what-is-fair-use/

There are many, MANY more examples but I'd have to watch the entire movie again and I've already had 3hrs. of my life stolen and I'll never get them back.

Anyway, I have a morbid curiosity to see this but I wouldn't give these people one more cent. To each their own.

Enjoy your weekend!
GAH

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[–] SamandDeansgirl 8 years ago

Of course you're right but there are still a lot of people on these boards who resort to name-calling and insults instead of trying to support their arguments.

Wow, I'm surprised I didn't notice many of those. And this is a field I want to get into. Well, I'm more behind the scenes of TV at this point but regardless. I guess when I watch movies sometimes, I'm more zoned in on the story that unless things are blatantly obvious, they go right over my head. I definitely want to do a re-watch to specifically look out for these things.

I'll check out that link, it does sound funny.

I think you should check out "10 Days", even if it's out of pure curiosity. And I'm sure you can wait until it pops up for free somewhere. I'm sure it will in time.

 J.Lennon G.Harrison R.Phoenix B.Renfro 
The Beatles = Life

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[–] GeeksAreHot 8 years ago

Thanks but I've already seen two bad movies made by these people (with one more on the way apparently) and I don't intend to contribute one more cent to them.

Concerning "rigged" reviews I just looked at the Amazon streaming page and as of today seven people gave it a 1-star rating and four people gave it a 5-star rating. It's being done with such precision that a 2-star rating was balanced out with 4-star rating. They're trying as desperately as possible to keep the score even. The reviews that praise it are written in the same style as the others and make a point of mentioning the director's name and brilliance as usual. This is the same thing that happened with H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds.

http://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/B01ETZRYRI/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_paging_btm_1/192-4909679-9169039?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&pageNumber=1

At Google Play there are 3 5-star reviews to balance out the single 1-star review and one is actually written by the company's producer Susan Goforth. I've taken a screen cap if she decides to remove it as it's proof the company is involved with bolstering the ratings.

https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/10_Days_in_a_Madhouse?id=QTA28AHlXg0&hl=en

Again we have 1-star reviews and 5-star reviews. Nothing in the middle as that would bring the rating down. Based on past experience I'm going with the 1-star reviews. No thank you.

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[–] SamandDeansgirl 8 years ago

Is it the same director for all of these movies?

Yes, I did see the reviews on Google play or at least the one by the woman named Susan. I do get the whole rigged thing. I think they need to do that, as a marketing ploy and not just for this movie, for any movie in general, to generate buzz. I saw the reviews on IMDB, some praising the movie and some giving it a 1 or 2. It does make you wonder who writes the reviews. I don't doubt that some people genuinely liked it though. Everyone has varying opinions, of course.

 J.Lennon G.Harrison R.Phoenix B.Renfro 
The Beatles = Life

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[–] GeeksAreHot 8 years ago

Yes. Same director... same producer... same tactics from day one. They do need the positive reviews but the practice of posting top-rated reviews for your own movie is a conflict of interest to say the least. Sony was fined for employing people to write fake reviews. Perhaps when enough people see the movie they'll complain to the VOD providers that the ratings have been inflated. It's only a matter of time.

Take a look at this: http://variety.com/2015/film/news/variety-10-directors-to-watch-list-2016-1201639894/

Second comment from the top. She says that his movie is "exquisite, stylized, powerful and inspiring". Any reviews written like this are made by her.

Regarding your comment that some people must have liked it is being generous in my opinion (no offense) but there's no middle ground. Either it stinks or it's a fantastic, powerful biopic. You said you'd give it seven out of 10. Have you put up a review?

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[–] SamandDeansgirl 8 years ago

Well, I do agree that fake reviews are problematic. A few here and there to generate buzz, sure, that's fine. Everyone needs to market in any way they can. But there should be a middle ground in that respect.

Ahh I see. You think she is the one writing all of the reviews?

I didn't even think of writing a review. I might actually.

 J.Lennon G.Harrison R.Phoenix B.Renfro 
The Beatles = Life

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[–] mlspaur 7 years ago

Yeah, sure, there are a handful of production company plants on this movie's main board, but at least they've been tempered by some people with no ties to the movie. If you want to see how the fake reviews can get out of hand, check out the stats of Apparition Hill

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5260002/