Pixar goes ROTTEN! (UPDATED)

Well, it was bound to happen eventually: Pixar has a rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a site which combines the reviews of many critics to create a single, average rating.

Contrary to what I thought would happen after reading some early reviews, Cars 2 currently has a rating of 59%! Now, obviously, this rating can go up after more critics see and rate the film, but it is almost assuredly going to be Pixar's lowest rate film to date.

It currently has 17 ratings, 10 "rotten" and 7 "fresh".Stay tuned for my review in just a few days. Now I'm not sure what to think of the film. I'm still excited to see it, but my expectations are, well, undecided.

The end of an era . . . .

UPDATES: Cars 2 now has a rating of 55% on RT, and has been voted on by 23 critics.

As pointed out by yensid98 in the comments, Rotten Tomatoes isn't always a fair aggregator of reviews out there. While it is legitimate and reliable, it's important to take a range of different sources into account. Metacritic, a site similar to Rotten Tomatoes in the fact that it combines many critics' views to attain a single, overall rating, currently has a score of 62% for Cars 2 with 5 critics having rated the film. Still not a spectacular score, but we'll see what we all think come the day after tomorrow!

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'TS3' Reviews + Rotten Tomatoes Update

Toy Story 3 is a great film. If you've read my review, you know that I loved it. The critics have spoken, and they all completely agree with me. The final film of the Toy Story trilogy is a smash hit, both at the box office and when it comes to reviews. I was going to compile a list of my favorite reviews, but Mike over at The Pixar Blog has an even more comprehensive list than mine; check it out here and here. All of these reviews offer valuable insight to anybody who is still wondering why they enjoyed the film so much.

But, if you just want the Cliffs Notes of what the critics thought, I recommend that you look no further than Rotten Tomatoes, a site that compiles all of the reviews for you. Currently, Toy Story 3 is the second best reviewed film of all-time on the site with a 99%, ranked only behind its predecessor in the trilogy, Toy Story 2.

TS3 has 153 tallied reviews--151 of them "Fresh" and the other two "Rotten". The two men who tarnished an otherwise flawless record for the picture are none other than Armond White and Cole Smithey, both of which are notorious for giving critically-acclaimed movies a bad name, just for attention. In fact, there's an online petition going around to get White (who has given every Pixar film a "Rotten" review, but Norbit a positive one) banned from RT. It currently has over 1,700 signatures (including mine), and I suggest you sign it as well.

Despite two hacks who call themselves critics, Toy Story 3 has a glowing record so far, and will continue to. Do I smell an Oscar? Or maybe even two? We'll see... But one thing is for sure: Lee Unkrich is gonna need a wheelbarrow for all of his award statues come award season.

Sources: The Pixar Blog, RT

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'Up' is Doing Great So Far

Just a short little 'Up'date for you. RottenTomatoes.com, the definitive website for movie reviews, has Up reviewed at 100% as of right now. Even though there are only 6 reviews in (most from its premiere at Cannes), this shows us what we've already known for weeks: Up is as good, if not better, than Pixar's past 9 amazing animated feature films. One of the reviews listed on Rotten Tomatoes is by Todd McCarthy of Variety. He says:

The two leading men are 78 and 8 years old, and the age range of those who will appreciate the picture is even a bit wider than that. Like previous classic films about escape from the mundane, from "The Wizard of Oz" to "Wall-E" and many in between, "Up" is universal in its appeal. At the same time, it may be the most subtle Pixar production to date in its use of color schemes, shapes, proportions, scale, contrast and balance, factors highlighted by the application of 3-D, which will be available at many initial engagements . . . [Up] could easily have been cloying, but instead proves disarming in its deep reserves of narrative imagination and surprise, as well as its poignant thematic balance of dreams deferred and dreams fulfilled.

I highly recommend that you read the full review from Variety. It is very thorough, very interesting, and just the trick to make you even more excited for Up if that's even possible.

Another great and funny review can be found from the Roger Ebert section of the Chicago Sun-Times. Here is the pretty funny, interesting introduction:

As I have so often said, when Cannes opens its festival with a 3D animated feature, I'll believe houses can fly. I am a doubter no longer. Cannes 2009 awarded the honor of its opening night, which traditionally goes to a French film, to Pixar's 3D "Up." I would have given anything to be there for the morning press screening, to witness the world's movie critics, festival programmers, cineastes and academics fitting on their XpanD® Series 101 3D Active Glasses, which are, quote, "a stylish, eco-friendly, and completely immersive stereoscopic 3D experience."

Read the full review by Roger Ebert.

Another heads-up if you missed the last one, I will be posting an Up review on Thursday, May 14! Come back in just 2 days for the full review!

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