Movie (Data) Magic: Reviewing the Critics
It certainly takes a specific set of skills to be a movie critic. Between the knowledge of film history and theory, the ability to eloquently articulate their thoughts, and a keen eye for detail, there is a reason many people look to critics when deciding how to spend a Friday night at the movies. Despite the occasional upset fan, there is clearly a demand for movie criticism, and the public has put their collective trust in this group to judge the quality of films. What I would like to examine in this post, however, is not the critics' ability to grade a film on its merits. Instead, I am interested in examining some data to see how well professional reviews can predict a movie's box office success. In addition to that, I will also compare critic reviews to audience reviews to see if one group is a better indicator of a high grossing movie. Since this post is a part of my first project in a data science course, I will also detail some of the steps involved in this ty