Movie Ratings: Two Thumbs Down, Critics Say.

DOES THE RATINGS SYSTEM make your life easier? Or does it treat you like an idiot?

Many critics - of movies, restaurants, music, whatever - have some sort of rating system that accompanies their full-length critiques of the work.

The Wall Street Journal wrote about the ratings phenomena today:

Even those critics who don't assign stars or grades find their carefully wrought opinions converted into numbers -- or a thumbs up or thumbs down -- and mashed together with other critics' opinions. Critics tend to loathe the system and succumb to it at the same time. It all makes for an odd scale that, under the veneer of objective numerical measurement, is really just an apples-to-oranges mess. On Metacritic, best-picture nominee "The Reader" is tied with the latest James Bond flick. On Rotten Tomatoes, the drama tied with the dog-man buddy comedy "Marley & Me."

Later in the article, the author quotes famed film reviewer Roger Ebert.

"I don't know where the stars come from, but they're absurd," he says.

One of the central arguments is that readers will just look at the grade or rating, and not delve into the subtleties of the article. That simple thumbs up, or three bells, or "B+" may not explain the complexities of the film or song or production.

What do you think? Do you like the ratings system? Do you continue on to read the full stories?