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Rotten Tomatoes will verify ticket buyers for audience ratings
Rotten Tomatoes has revealed its latest effort at fending off trolls who send user ratings on a movie plummeting before anyone has even seen it. A new-look Audience Score includes ratings from those who can prove they bought tickets for a film. These verified ratings will be the default Audience Score on a movie's page, though you can toggle to a score that includes non-verified ticket buyers by clicking a "more info" option.
Rotten Tomatoes is changing what it looks for in movie critics
Rotten Tomatoes has overhauled its criteria for which critics and outlets get to contribute to its Tomatometer scores, opening the platform up to more voices and points of view. The company said that when it got started, it largely included critics from major publications and broadcasters with a large audience reach, which fit with the media landscape at the time. "In the intervening decades, a lot has changed," said the company, noting that staff positions at major outlets have dwindled and many critics are producing good work elsewhere, through smaller online outlets, podcasts and YouTube, for example.
Google puts movie info, reviews and showtimes all in one spot
Google announced a new feature today that will help you out when you're deciding what movie to go see. Now, when you look for movies or showtimes in Google Search on your phone, you'll be able to easily compare different films and see where and when they're playing. You can browse movies or look through offerings from particular theaters and when you tap a film title, Google will show you information about the movie, its IMDb, Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes scores as well as showtimes in nearby theaters. Then you can just swipe over to see all of that information for another movie option. Once you've made your decision, just tap on a showtime to buy the ticket.
Recommended Reading: The dark past of Jessica Jones
The creator of 'Jessica Jones' serves up a dark mirror for our moment Joy Press, The New York Times Jessica Jones returns to Netflix in less than a week, and thanks to a couple of trailers, we know it's going to be dark and angry. The New York Times sat down with the creator of the show, Melissa Rosenberg, who has also penned the doom and gloom for Dexter and Twilight. Rosenberg opens up about how her own past helped her craft the show's protagonist.
Rotten Tomatoes' Facebook show gives you weekly movie advice
We've covered Facebook's venture into video, as well as the company's desire to acquire exclusive content that will attract more people to its platform. Today, Variety reports movie review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes will host a weekly show called See It/Skip It starting November 1. New episodes will air every Thursday.
Hollywood can't blame Rotten Tomatoes for recent flops
A recent New York Times article highlighted a growing Hollywood industry trend -- if a film does poorly at the box office, blame Rotten Tomatoes. The website, which aggregates movie reviews and assigns a percentage score with anything 60 or above labeled "Fresh" and anything scoring lower labeled "Rotten," is catching a lot of flack for disrupting ticket sales and tanking films. But Yves Bergquist, the director of the Data & Analytics Project at USC's Entertainment Technology Center decided to throw some data at the issue and see if those claims hold up.
Recommended Reading: Hollywood is really mad at Rotten Tomatoes
Attacked by Rotten Tomatoes Brooks Barnes, The New York Times The film scores tallied by Rotten Tomatoes are what many moviegoers use to decide how to spend their money. As you might expect, this doesn't make some folks in Hollywood too happy. In fact, they're pretty darn upset. Some claim low scores on Rotten Tomatoes cost big name films like Baywatch and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword millions this summer. The New York Times takes a look at the rift the movie ratings site has created with its Tomatometer. I'd argue studios should stop blaming a website and just start making better movies, but what do I know.
Recommended Reading: Netflix's heroes return in 'The Defenders'
'The Defenders' Is Thrilling Superhero Team-Up Entertainment Mark Hughes, Forbes Netflix's last Marvel series, Iron Fist, didn't quite offer the same thrills as its previous three original series. Its fourth installment that unites all four heroes debuted today, and so far, the reviews are mostly positive. Forbes details how the streaming service returns to form with The Defenders miniseries. Even though the latest show may not be the best of the Marvel options on Netflix thus far, it's an improvement after the disappointment of Iron Fist and shows potential for future team-ups with the foursome.
Fandango snaps up Rotten Tomatoes and Flixster
Fandango is growing its cinematic empire by acquiring the movie review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and its parent company Flixster, Deadline reports. As part of the deal, Flixster owner Warner Bros. will take a minority stake in Fandango. The news comes after Fandango also snapped up the streaming video service M-Go back in January, a move that made it clear it wanted do more than offer showtimes and online ticketing. Now, it's going to be an even more formidable opponent against the likes of Moviefone (which is owned by AOL).
TodoMovies: The must-have movie app for movie lovers
Taphive's TodoMovies (US$1.99) app for iPhone has recently been updated to version 2.0. I'd not seen or used TodoMovies before, but as a huge movie enthusiast, I knew I had to check it out. At its heart, TodoMovie is an app that keeps track of movies you want to watch, but it's supercharged in every way. Here's how it works. Say, for example, you heard a friend talking about a film, like Iron Man 3. You want to know more about it, so you open TodoMovies and go to Discover View. You enter the title in the search box and it pops right up with a thumbnail picture, title and the release year. When you tap it, you're presented with the movie's poster and numerous options. Watch a trailer for the movie. Check out a gallery with all the official pictures. Add the film to your watch list or mark it as watched. Furthermore, find out about the storyline, cast and crew, release date as well as TodoMovie's own universal rating. If that's not enough, review ratings are also imported from Rotten Tomatoes and Netflix. In Discovery View, it's easy to find films by genre, what's in theaters at the moment and what's upcoming. With a tap and hold, quickly indicate whether you've seen a movie or you want to add it to your watch list. Movies you've seen will have a little green tick in the top-right corner. Movies you're still to watch will have a blue plus sign. %Gallery-186699% If you find a film you want to watch that's still unreleased, just add it to your watch list. TodoMovie will let you add a release notification reminder with notes, perhaps to remind you to buy tickets for a screening at your favorite cinema! TodoMovie makes it easy to share information on a great film with friends or family. From within the app, share to Twitter, Facebook, a text message or email. The app also searches and links to the iTunes Store, should you want to buy a soundtrack or even rent or buy a film. TodoMovie supports iCloud Sync, so if you're signed into iCloud, your list will be saved and accessible across your iDevices. There's also Dropbox integration, which lets you export images from movie galleries to your Dropbox. It's a really nice idea, especially if you enjoy having movie posters as your desktop picture. Add the Dropbox folder to Desktop pictures in your Mac's System Preferences and set it to change pictures periodically. Export the images from within TodoMovies and you'll have a carousel of movie posters as your desktop picture. My only gripe is the lack of high-resolution images. While offering all of these fantastic features, TodoMovie keeps what's important front and center -- movies. The app is really well-designed, functions flawlessly and looks gorgeous. The only complaint is that it's sometimes hard to decipher the movie title from a poster image. I'd have to tap the image and enter the movie details section just to find out what it was, which was a little frustrating at times. A list view would be nice. In summary, TodoMovies makes it really easy to discover new films, keep track of what you want to watch and what you've watched, and is a fantastic resource for movie info, reviews and media. Whether you're a film addict, conniossuer or you simply want to keep track of movies you want to watch, TodoMovies is a must-have app. TodoMovies is available from the App Store now. Our own Victor Agreda, Jr. spoke to the creator of TodoMovie at last year's WWDC. To learn about the origin of the app, watch the video below.
Flixster is now on the Xbox 360, UltraViolet library in-hand
Warner Bros.-owned social networking slash film service Flixster is now available on the Xbox 360, bringing with it the Rotten Tomatoes rating aggregation service and UltraViolet cloud integration. As Xbox 360 apps tend to be, Flixster costs nothing and only functions if you've got an Xbox Live account. Beyond simple controller or media remote input, Flixster's Xbox 360 app employs Kinect for gesture and voice-based navigation. Special for this platform is the ability to play back those UltraViolet-linked video files in HD; it's the first Flixster app to do so, although Vudu had that capability already. With today's app addition, the grand total of video service apps on the Xbox 360 is hovering just around a hojillion. Seriously, there are kind of a lot of different options, and we're hoping Microsoft's got a more cohesive strategy for the next version of the Xbox gaming console. The most recent rumors involve an HDMI-in port, allowing cable boxes to integrate with the console -- codenamed "Durango" and / or "Kryptos" -- but there's no mention of a NintendoTVii-esque service to tie disparate video services under a single software umbrella. The 360's Bing functionality aimed to solve that issue, but sadly never lived up to our expectations.
Kaleidescape teases movie download store; brings Rotten Tomatoes, Leonard Maltin to its servers
Last year at CEDIA we were introduced to Kaleidescape's iPad control app, and this year its back and enhanced with the addition of movie ratings from Rotten Tomatoes, and content rating info from Common Sense Media. Rotten Tomatoes can help viewers tell if a particular flick in their collection is any good, while Common Sense Media is built around detailed breakdowns of what potentially objectionable content is in each title so parents can decide what their children are ready to see. Both should reach end users with the free app by the end of this year. Another tweak it's adding to its movie servers is the Leonard Maltin Recommends Collection. It's a pack of movies updated quarterly (the 17-disc Blu-ray collection is available for the low, low price of $445) that the respected film critic feels are unappreciated greats, to which he adds his own thoughts, anecdotes and behind the scenes info. A more ambitious development however, is the Kaleidescape Download Store the company was giving an "early sneak preview" of behind closed doors. While its claim to fame has always been disc servers that store user's movies, making them accessible with as little physical media interaction as possible (and antagonizing the MPAA) its next step is a full digital media distribution service, potentially tied into UltraViolet. There's not a lot in the way of specifics, but it will be interesting to see how Kaleidescape and Hollywood get along when it comes to selling downloadable content compared to the old wars of the past, whenever the new service actually arrives for its high-end customers.
Revamped Flixster.com gives one-stop digital movie access for both UltraViolet and non-UV stores
Since its purchase by Warner Bros. the Flixster brand has been used to push Ultraviolet via apps on mobile and connected TV devices, and now it's bringing its website into the mix. The refreshed site is available as an open beta starting today that focuses on making it the center of your digital movie watching. Still using Rotten Tomatoes' Tomato Meter as a method for ranking the quality of movies, the new site gives streaming and downloadable access to flicks in your UltraViolet locker as well as direct access to copies from iTunes, Vudu, Amazon or Netflix for purchase, rental or subscription viewing. Of course, while the studio proclaims it to be retailer and studio agnostic, there are plenty of opportunities to start or expand your UltraViolet library through promotions that do things like give away free digital copies of movies for sharing a link to friends, navigating the UltraViolet signup process or downloading one of the apps, which should be getting their own redesign soon. It's not the only site in the business of making navigating the multiple online stores easier -- Clicker immediately comes to mind -- but the backend of the Flixster database of movies in theaters and at home, plus any registered digital copies is a specific advantage. Hit the source link to give the beta a shot and see for yourself.
iTunes Store now shows Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer reviews for movies
Apple has quietly added Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer ratings and reviews for movies in the iTunes Store. Rotten Tomatoes is one of the most popular movie review sites on the web. It uses reviews from top critics and film societies to produce Tomatometer ratings -- a percentage-based rating of a movie derived from the averages of all the reviews of the film. iTunes' integrated Rotten Tomatoes ratings presents the movie's prospective buyers and renters with the Tomatometer chart featuring the total count of reviews along with a fresh/rotten breakdown and the average rating. Viewers are also shown four review snippets from Top Critic reviewers, followed by a link to the movies page on RottenTomatoes.com. Thanks to reader Eric Zigler who sent this in.
VUDU throwing Rotten Tomatoes reviews on every movie it sells
Next step for VUDU after adding LG's BD390 to its list of compatible players? The streaming service is now trying to help you figure out which movie to watch with help from the website Rotten Tomatoes, integrating its ratings directly into the movie listings as seen above. Viewers can sort by Tomatometer score and see quotes from top reviews directly on their HDTV screen. Sure it's not auto Twitter updates and IMDB clippings on what scene, movie and actor you're watching, but if they're not going to reduce the cost per rented (or purchased) streaming flick, at least VUDU can help you pick one that's actually good. Check out another screen capture from the new addition after the break.
Metareview - In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
We think it's safe to assume that everybody who's reading this is familiar with Uwe Boll and his auspiciously terrible body of work, which includes such gems as "Bloodrayne", "House of the Dead", and Rotten Tomatoes' second worst reviewed movie of all time, "Alone in the Dark". That's why it may surprise you to learn that Boll's latest (and possibly last) big-budget box office flop, "In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale", is actually ... wretched, of course! Don't be silly.In this very special edition of Metareview, we're taking a look at the cream of the crop of the film's reviews, which have already provided us with more entertainment than the actual movie ever could. Join with us in our appreciation of these brave reviewers, who have unwittingly tacked their own names onto Boll's lengthy "to be punched in the face repeatedly" list. Sam Adams - Los Angeles Times: "Uwe Boll isn't the worst director in the world, but In the Name of the King might be more enjoyable if he were." Dustin Putman - TheMovieBoy.com: "[The movie] would be irredeemable if not for its near-brilliant ability to give the viewer douche chills for 127 solid minutes." Jim Lane - Sacramento News and Review: "It's like a Florida dinner theater production of The Lord of the Rings, though it's not without enjoyment if you're in a Mystery Science Theatre 3000 frame of mind." Scott Weinberg - Cinematical: "If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Uwe Boll just spent 126 minutes telling Peter Jackson how thin, talented and gorgeous he is." Joe Leydon - Variety: "Doug Taylor's script, loosely based on the "Dungeon Siege" vidgame, is a lazy mash-up of cliched situations, grandiose speechifying and verbal anachronisms. But, then again, "In the Name of the King" is the sort of half-baked farrago that brings out the worst, or the least, in almost everyone involved."
