Before I watch a movie I prefer mostly only checking out the rating a few of my trusted critics gave it, to see if it’s worth my time or ticket admission. I will glance over a review or skip through the video to catch some bits and phrases to hear what’s good or bad about it. Basically I use them like enhanced imdb/letterboxd/rt scores + summary adjusted to my tastes. For that this guy https://www.youtube.com/@AustinBurke/videos is quite reliable and usually likes what I like, roughly, even though he leans a bit fanboyish and the video style is quite… youtubery (he’s basically a chris stuckman replacement), but again reliable for me.

After watching a movie I like indepth discussion between different perspectives, which is where movie podcasts shine. For that I mostly have two german podcasts/shows where the different hosts have their own youtube channels and/or letterboxd profiles (behaind and Robert Hofmann are my favourites but yeah, german, so probably not a great recommendation for most). I checked out tons of english review youtubers/podcasters over the years, RLM and YMS have fun takes but often don’t align with mine and don’t exactly rush out their reviews.

Traditional longform written reviews tend to be too time-intensive, too subjective/niche/artsy for my taste, but I will check indiewire from time to time when I’m bored and just want to read something. I subscribed to Mark Kermode’s (Guardian) reviews too and will give them a glance every now and then. I really like many indie/foreign auteur dramas, but arthouse movies are a bit iffy, so reviewers that celebrate movies I personally view as overly and unnecessarily boring or cryptic can drive me up the wall (for example Green Knight or Titane are IMO super interesting but flawed and I want those flaws to be discussed and not dismissed). But I don’t like super poppy reviewers either, it can be hard to find the middle ground and to have the presentation style of the review be worth my time too.