Rotten Tomatoes
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| File:Rotten Tomatoes Logo.jpg | |
| The front page of RottenTomatoes.com | |
Type of site | Online movie and video game reviews |
|---|---|
| Owner | IGN.com |
| Created by | Senh Duong |
| URL | http://www.rottentomatoes.com/ |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Optional |
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of movies and video games. The name derives from the vaudeville-era cliché of throwing tomatoes and other produce at stage performers if a performance was particularly bad. The website created a distinctive means to summarize the general critical opinions about these works.
Description
The Rotten Tomatoes staff search the Internet for as many websites as possible that contain reviews of particular films and games; from the amateur to the professional. Once found, the staff uses the aggregate data to determine if the review is positive ("fresh", marked by a small icon of a red tomato) or negative ("rotten", marked by a small icon of a green splatted tomato).
The website keeps track of all of the reviews counted (which can approach 200 for major 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 supermajority of the reviewers approve of the film. Conversely, if the positive reviews are less than 60%, then the film is considered "rotten." In addition, major film reviewers like Roger Ebert are listed in a sub-listing called "Cream of the Crop" 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.
As of October 2005, the best reviewed film on the site is Toy Story 2 receiving 105 reviews, all of which are fresh and having an average rating of 8.6. Conversely, there are over 200 films that have so far received a 0% freshness rating.
In 2004, the website IGN Entertainment acquired Rottentomatoes.com. In September 2005, IGN was bought out by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. The site is one of the most heavily trafficked on the Internet, with an Alexa Internet ranking of 660 (as of July 24, 2006) and between 60–120 million page views per day.
Notable for its use by the media for quantifying the cultural impact of cinema.
At least one major newspaper, the Toronto Star, regularly publishes the ratings in its weekly entertainment section.
Discussion board
Rotten Tomatoes contains a large and diverse "forum" section used by a large number of recurring internet posters. There is a main section dedicated to film criticism, and several other smaller forums for video game discussion, critical arguments, and other, non-film topics. Some users host contests on the board.
External links
- Official website
- RottenTomatoes forums, where the contests can be found
- List of approved RottenTomatoes Critics