Rotten Tomatoes
Encyclopedia
Rotten Tomatoes is a website
devoted to reviews, information, and news of film
s—widely known as a film review aggregator
. Its name derives from the cliché
of audiences throwing tomato
es and other vegetables at a poor stage performance. The company is currently owned by Flixster
, itself owned by Warner Bros since May 2011.
As of 2010, the website's editor-in-chief is Matt Atchity.
". His inspiration came when, as a fan of Jackie Chan
, Duong started collecting all the reviews of Chan's movies as they were coming out in the United States. The first movie reviewed on Rotten Tomatoes was Your Friends & Neighbors
. The website was an immediate success, receiving mentions by Yahoo!
, Netscape
, and USA Today
within the first week of its launch; it attracted "600 – 1000 daily unique visitors" as a result.
Duong teamed up with University of California, Berkeley
classmates Patrick Y. Lee and Stephen Wang, his former partners at the Berkeley, California
-based web design firm Design Reactor, to pursue Rotten Tomatoes on a full-time basis, officially launching on April 1, 2000.
In June 2004, IGN Entertainment
acquired Rottentomatoes.com for an undisclosed sum. In September 2005, IGN
was bought by News Corp's Fox Interactive Media
. In January 2010, IGN sold the website to Flixster
, which produces the most popular movie ratings app for the iPad and other mobile devices. The combined reach of both companies is 30 million unique visitors a month across all different platforms, according to the companies. In May 2011, Flixster was acquired by Warner Bros.
Rotten Tomatoes users can create and join groups that allow them to discuss different aspects of film, and one group – "The Golden Oyster Awards" – has its members vote for their winners of different awards, much like the Oscars or Golden Globes
. However, when Flixster bought RT, they disbanded the groups, saying: "The Groups area has been discontinued to pave the way for new community features coming soon. In the meantime, please use the Forums to continue your conversations about your favorite movie topics."
As of February 2011, new community features have shown up and others have been removed. For example, users are no longer able to sort out fresh ratings from rotten ratings, and vice versa.
The website keeps track of all of the reviews counted (which can approach 270 for major, recently released films) and the percentage of positive reviews is tabulated. If the positive reviews make up 60% or more, the film is considered "fresh" in that a substantial majority
of the reviewers approve of the film. If the positive reviews are less than 60%, then the film is considered "rotten". In addition, major film reviewers like Roger Ebert
, Desson Thomson
, Stephen Hunter
, and Lisa Schwarzbaum
, are listed in a sub-listing called "Top Critics", which tabulates their reviews separately, while still including their opinions in the general rating. When there are sufficient reviews to form a conclusion, a consensus statement is posted which is intended to articulate the general reasons for the opinion.
This rating in turn is marked with an equivalent icon when the film is listed, giving the reader a one glance look at the general critical opinion about the work. Movies with a "Tomatometer" of 75% or better and at least 40 reviews from Tomatometer Critics (including 5 Top Critics) receive the "Certified Fresh" seal. As a result of the requirements for quantity of ratings, there may be films with 100% positive ratings which don't have the certificate due to insufficient reviews to be sure of the "freshness".
In addition to reviews, Rotten Tomatoes hosts message forums
, where thousands of participants take part in the discussion of movies, video games, music and other topics. In addition, users are able to rate and review films themselves. Every movie also features a "user average" that calculates the percentage of users that have rated the film positively in a manner similar to how the critics' reviews are calculated. However, this score is more specific as the users are able to rate the movie on a scale of 0–10 (compared to critic reviews, which usually use 4-star ratings and are often simply qualitative). Like the critic's reviews, a score of 6 or higher is considered "fresh". In January 2010, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the New York Film Critics Circle, Armond White
, its chairman, cited Rotten Tomatoes in particular and film review aggregator
s in general, as examples of how "the Internet takes revenge on individual expression" by "dumping reviewers onto one website and assigning spurious percentage-enthusiasm points to the discrete reviews"; according to White, such websites "offer consensus as a substitute for assessment".
and Australia
. Readers accessing Rotten Tomatoes from France and Germany are automatically redirected to the British version of the site that provides local release dates, cinema listings, box office results and promotes reviews from British critics. The US version is available via a "US site" button on the homepage. The localized versions of the site contain all of the US editorial content, reviews and film lists and are augmented by local content maintained by an international editor based in Los Angeles.
launched the televised version of the web review site, The Rotten Tomatoes Show, which is hosted by Brett Erlich
and Ellen Fox
and written by Mark Ganek. The show aired every Thursday at 10:30 EST on the Current TV network. Depending on when an episode is filmed and originally aired, ratings of movies might differ from ratings currently found on the website. The last episode aired on September 16, 2010, although it did return as a much shorter segment of InfoMania
.
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
devoted to reviews, information, and news of film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s—widely known as a film review aggregator
Review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services . This system stores the reviews and then uses them for purposes such as: creating a website for users to view the reviews, selling information to third parties about consumer tendencies and creating databases for...
. Its name derives from the cliché
Cliché
A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...
of audiences throwing tomato
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
es and other vegetables at a poor stage performance. The company is currently owned by Flixster
Flixster
Flixster is a social movie site allowing users to share movie ratings, discover new movies, learn about movies, and meet others with similar taste in movies. The site allows users to view movie trailers as well as learn about the new and upcoming movies in the box office. The site is based in San...
, itself owned by Warner Bros since May 2011.
As of 2010, the website's editor-in-chief is Matt Atchity.
History
Rotten Tomatoes was launched on August 12, 1999, as a spare time project by Senh Dong. His goal in creating Rotten Tomatoes was "to create a site where people can get access to reviews from a variety of critics in the USUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
". His inspiration came when, as a fan of Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts...
, Duong started collecting all the reviews of Chan's movies as they were coming out in the United States. The first movie reviewed on Rotten Tomatoes was Your Friends & Neighbors
Your Friends & Neighbors
Your Friends & Neighbors is a 1998 comedy-drama film written and directed by Neil LaBute and starring Amy Brenneman, Aaron Eckhart, Catherine Keener, Nastassja Kinski, Jason Patric, and Ben Stiller in an ensemble cast. This film was the first to be reviewed on the website Rotten Tomatoes...
. The website was an immediate success, receiving mentions by Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
, Netscape
Netscape
Netscape Communications is a US computer services company, best known for Netscape Navigator, its web browser. When it was an independent company, its headquarters were in Mountain View, California...
, and USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
within the first week of its launch; it attracted "600 – 1000 daily unique visitors" as a result.
Duong teamed up with University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
classmates Patrick Y. Lee and Stephen Wang, his former partners at the Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
-based web design firm Design Reactor, to pursue Rotten Tomatoes on a full-time basis, officially launching on April 1, 2000.
In June 2004, IGN Entertainment
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
acquired Rottentomatoes.com for an undisclosed sum. In September 2005, IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
was bought by News Corp's Fox Interactive Media
Fox Interactive Media
News Corporation's Digital Media Group , also known as News Corp. Digital Media and formerly Fox Interactive Media, oversees the Internet business operations of media giant News Corporation, and was formed to oversee News Corporation's new media acquisitions, including IGN Entertainment, MySpace...
. In January 2010, IGN sold the website to Flixster
Flixster
Flixster is a social movie site allowing users to share movie ratings, discover new movies, learn about movies, and meet others with similar taste in movies. The site allows users to view movie trailers as well as learn about the new and upcoming movies in the box office. The site is based in San...
, which produces the most popular movie ratings app for the iPad and other mobile devices. The combined reach of both companies is 30 million unique visitors a month across all different platforms, according to the companies. In May 2011, Flixster was acquired by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
Rotten Tomatoes users can create and join groups that allow them to discuss different aspects of film, and one group – "The Golden Oyster Awards" – has its members vote for their winners of different awards, much like the Oscars or Golden Globes
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
. However, when Flixster bought RT, they disbanded the groups, saying: "The Groups area has been discontinued to pave the way for new community features coming soon. In the meantime, please use the Forums to continue your conversations about your favorite movie topics."
As of February 2011, new community features have shown up and others have been removed. For example, users are no longer able to sort out fresh ratings from rotten ratings, and vice versa.
Description
Rotten Tomatoes staff first collect online reviews from authors that are certified members of various writing guilds or film critic associations. To become a critic at the site, your original reviews as an audience have to garner a specific amount of likes. Top Critics are generally ones that write for a renowned newspaper. The staff then determine for each review whether it is positive ("fresh", marked by a small icon of a red tomato) or negative ("rotten", marked by a small icon of a green splattered tomato). At the end of the year one film will receive the "Golden Tomato", meaning it is the highest rated film that year.The website keeps track of all of the reviews counted (which can approach 270 for major, recently released films) and the percentage of positive reviews is tabulated. If the positive reviews make up 60% or more, the film is considered "fresh" in that a substantial majority
Majority
A majority is a subset of a group consisting of more than half of its members. This can be compared to a plurality, which is a subset larger than any other subset; i.e. a plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset may consist of less than half the group's population...
of the reviewers approve of the film. If the positive reviews are less than 60%, then the film is considered "rotten". In addition, major film reviewers like Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Desson Patrick Thomson is a speechwriter in the Obama Administration and a former movie critic for The Washington Post.-Biography:Thomson attended boarding schools in England from the age of 7 until 17. He went to the Abbey School in East Grinstead, Sussex, and the City of London Freemen's School...
, Stephen Hunter
Stephen Hunter
Stephen Hunter is an American novelist, essayist, and Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic.-Life and career:Stephen Hunter was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up in Evanston, Illinois. His father was Charles Francis Hunter, a Northwestern University speech professor who was killed in 1975....
, and Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum is an American film critic. She joined Entertainment Weekly as film critic in the 1990s. She has been featured on CNN, co-host on Siskel & Ebert At the Movies as well as a cultural, theater and television reviewer....
, are listed in a sub-listing called "Top Critics", which tabulates their reviews separately, while still including their opinions in the general rating. When there are sufficient reviews to form a conclusion, a consensus statement is posted which is intended to articulate the general reasons for the opinion.
In addition to reviews, Rotten Tomatoes hosts message forums
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
, where thousands of participants take part in the discussion of movies, video games, music and other topics. In addition, users are able to rate and review films themselves. Every movie also features a "user average" that calculates the percentage of users that have rated the film positively in a manner similar to how the critics' reviews are calculated. However, this score is more specific as the users are able to rate the movie on a scale of 0–10 (compared to critic reviews, which usually use 4-star ratings and are often simply qualitative). Like the critic's reviews, a score of 6 or higher is considered "fresh". In January 2010, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the New York Film Critics Circle, Armond White
Armond White
Armond White is a New York-based film and music critic known for his provocative and idiosyncratic film criticism, which some have characterized as contrarian. He is currently the editor of City Arts, for which he also writes articles and reviews...
, its chairman, cited Rotten Tomatoes in particular and film review aggregator
Review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services . This system stores the reviews and then uses them for purposes such as: creating a website for users to view the reviews, selling information to third parties about consumer tendencies and creating databases for...
s in general, as examples of how "the Internet takes revenge on individual expression" by "dumping reviewers onto one website and assigning spurious percentage-enthusiasm points to the discrete reviews"; according to White, such websites "offer consensus as a substitute for assessment".
International
Localized versions of the site are available in BritainUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Readers accessing Rotten Tomatoes from France and Germany are automatically redirected to the British version of the site that provides local release dates, cinema listings, box office results and promotes reviews from British critics. The US version is available via a "US site" button on the homepage. The localized versions of the site contain all of the US editorial content, reviews and film lists and are augmented by local content maintained by an international editor based in Los Angeles.
The Rotten Tomatoes Show
In early 2009, Current TelevisionCurrent TV
Current TV, or Current, is a media company led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt. Comcast owns a ten percent stake of Current's parent company, Current Media LLC....
launched the televised version of the web review site, The Rotten Tomatoes Show, which is hosted by Brett Erlich
Brett Erlich
Brett Erlich was a writer, producer, and host of infoMania, a comedic news show on the cable station Current TV, created by The Daily Show with Jon Stewart creator Madeline Smithberg and executive produced by David Nickoll...
and Ellen Fox
Ellen Fox
Ellen Fox is an American TV presenter, journalist and comedienne. She is known for co-presenting The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV.- Biography :Fox was born in Princeton Junction, New Jersey and she majored in English at Rutgers University...
and written by Mark Ganek. The show aired every Thursday at 10:30 EST on the Current TV network. Depending on when an episode is filmed and originally aired, ratings of movies might differ from ratings currently found on the website. The last episode aired on September 16, 2010, although it did return as a much shorter segment of InfoMania
Infomania (TV Series)
infoMania was an American half-hour weekly satirical news-show on the Current TV television network. The program was initially hosted by Conor Knighton and later Brett Erlich, with features by Ben Hoffman, Sergio Cilli, Bryan Safi, Erin Gibson, and Ellen Fox.-History:The program's executive...
.
External links
- Official website, including a list of approved RottenTomatoes Critics and the RottenTomatoes forums