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ROTTEN TOMATOES vs METACRITIC vs IMDb

I watch a lot of films and TV series, especially more recently on Netflix and Prime. I once only went to Rotten Tomatoes to help me decide what to watch, but noticed that most of the new series from Korea and some other countries were not yet rated.  So I'm now expanding into Metacritic and IMDb.  How do they compare?

Rotten Tomatoes began in 1998, and is now owned by Comcast's Fandango. It ranks #225 in the USA as a most-watched website.  Anything rated that has 60%+ ratings is considered Fresh, with 70%+ gaining a Certified Fresh.  If not, then Rotten.  Each feature is rated using two averages, from critic's reviews and the audience, us.  Their ratings have killed some blockbusters at the box office, like Baywatch and The Mummy.  The first got a 19% score and the second a 16%.  However, both Wonder Woman and Spider-Man (Homecoming) got 92% and their earnings exceeded expectations.

Wikipedia lists all the 100% rated films by reviewers.  There are supposedly 849 of them, although only 47 had at least 50 reviews.  The highest audience rated movie of all time was a Spider-Man.   Another RT list I don't quite understand:  Top 100 Movies of All Time.  #1 is the 1934 It Happened One Night.  That was the entire 1 hr 54 min film.

Here are the 100% TV series.    Before you ever again watch anything on Netflix or Prime, or anywhere else, look at these lists.  Then again, here are the 50 worst TV shows to not watch.  Certainly, too, consult Wikipedia's 43 films given a zero score by Rotten Tomatoes.  But sometimes the audience contradicts reviewers, and I look for these discrepancies, for the audience is almost always right, for me.  But there is a problem with what 100% means.

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is a giant online compendium, joining the web in 1993. Has 8.7 million titles and 11.4 million person records, with 83 million registered users.  As two examples, 595,970 feature films and more than 6 million TV episodes. Did you know there are 29,916 video games?  Now owned by Amazon. When you go to this site, you will see a synopsis, trailers, photos, cast, trivia and more.  They do a good job of cross-listing main actors.  They also provide:

  • Parents guide.
  • When a movie will open.
  • A watchlist for you.
  • Box Office ranking.
  • Trivia, goofs and quotes.
  • General news associated with the film.
  • You join and become a critic.
  • More so, for $12.50/month you can upgrade into a Pro account to gain insider information.

Metacritic was launched in 2001, and covers the full spectrum of entertainment sources. Now owned by CBS corporation. Green is good, yellow average and red bad.  Scores range from zero to 100. 

They have a MUST list:

  • The highest-rated game is The Legend of Zelda:  Ocarina of Time, with a 99.
  • Eight films have scored 100:  The Godfather, Citizen Kane, Rear Window, Casablanca, Boyhood, Three Colors: Red, Vertigo and Notorious.
  • Five TV shows got scores of 99.
  • One highest rated album.  Never heard of it:  Ten Freedom Summers by Wadada Leo Smith, a 99.

Metacritic brings you up to date on new Netflix films and series, and only includes those with a 61 score or above.  In other words, their list omits the junk stuff.  Here is their latest as of 4March2022.  

Metacritic has a particularly useful site of top 100 films by two lists of parameters:

  • One set:
    • last 90 days
    • all time
    • by year
    • by most discussed
    • by most shared
  • Second set
    • all movies
    • Prime Video
    • Amazon Instant Video (as this might confuse you, click to learn)
    • Hulu
    • Netflix
    • iTunes
  • For example, choose all time and Netflix, and get the following results:
    • #1 Roma with a score of 96, The Social Network #2 at 95 and Mank #100 with 79.  Interesting, and unlike others I've seen, but okay.  
    • In comparison, from Rotten Tomatoes:  Roma (96/72), The Social Network (96/86) and Mank (83/59).  The first score is by reviewers and second by the audience.  
    • Metacritic:  Roma (7.9), The Social Network (8.2) and Mank (6.3).  Yes, unfortunately, Metacritic uses 1-100 and 1-10 ratings depending on what they're evaluating.
  • Choose Year 2000 and Prime Video, and get:
    • #1  Almost Famous  90
    • #2  Chicken Run  88
    • #3  Beautiful People  79
    • #29  Beautiful 23 (only goes down to #29)

PBS in 2011 paid homage to Andrea Bocelli on a rainy night in Central Park, New York City.  A highlight was The Prayer with Celine Dion.   Here with Sarah Brightman in 2007 singing Time to Say Goodbye.  More recently only four months ago with his daughter Virginia, singing Hallelujah.  And if you're concerned about why he is so thin now, read this.  He's fine.

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