The Internet: Rotten Tomatoes a Fresh Taste of Clarity

On a Friday or Saturday night, a lot of people tend to either go to a local cinema or rent a movie. While there are plenty of movies out there guaranteeing an entertaining night, a good majority of them make you pray to get back the last two hours of your life. So that you don't go through with this again, I highly recommend going to Rottentomatoes.com to do a little research.The setup for the website is simple but clever. Many reviews are taken from other newspapers and websites and gathered together for each individual movie. First, the site determines if the reviews are negative (rotten) or positive (fresh). Then they tally them up. If the total number of positive reviews is above sixty percent, then the movie is considered fresh and recommended, but if the tally is below sixty percent, then the film is considered rotten and not worth your time. After the rating is finished, a consensus is placed near the rating suggesting if the movie is a good catch or not.

The web layout is basic yet affective, as the far left column informs ratings of current films in the theater along with ratings of films that are opening within the next week or so. The middle of the website contains features on upcoming movies or actors/actresses. This layout is a little unclear as the website's main purpose is on the far left, not the most noticeable location for a first time visitor.

You can also go through archives of older movies and find their ratings along with trailers and pictures, and there's even a news section that's updated frequently.

Overall, the website is very informative and entertaining if you are trying to figure out what to do on any given night. But remember that these are all opinions and aren't going to necessarily judge how you perceive the film. I've seen films with a nineteen percent rating and still had a great time.