Site of the Week -- March 12, 2001
s the price of seeing a movie continues its inexorable rise, filmgoers are finding themselves less and less willing to shell out for those "iffy" pictures, the ones which are as likely to be abysmal as to shine. Faced with a choice between, say, Monkeybone or Shadow of the Vampire? To solve the dilemma, some movie fans are surfing to Rotten Tomatoes.
Unlike more conventional Web databases which exhaustively catalog objective movie data such as stars, crew members and credited screenwriters, Rotten Tomatoes glories in opinion and irreverence. Their source--movie reviewers from across the world. When surfers look up a recent movie, they find a full page of review quotes, both favorable and unfavorable. What's more, the site provides an overall rating of the reviews. If more than 60% of the Tomatoes sources liked a movie, it earns a rating of Fresh. If it blows, on the other hand, look out for a Rotten rating, complete with a logo of a splattered tomato.
Links to the full text of reviews are provided whenever possible (although these are rarely accessible after a movie is a few months old.) Even a quick glance at the quotes, however, gives surfers excellent insight into dozens of filmgoers' reaction.
For those who couldn't care less what a bunch of journalists have to say about Battlefield Earth (94% rotten), Rotten Tomatoes has many other appealing features. It is an excellent source of pre-release information and official movie Web site addresses. It covers video and DVD releases as well as big-screen film news. It provides flipbooks--short collections of frames from movie trailers available on-line. Users with slower Internet connections will appreciate being able to check out trailers without necessarily committing an hour to downloading them. Finally, Rotten Tomatoes is currently showcasing its second annual Rotten Awards, which compile the best and worst movies of 2000 as broken into numerous categories.
Rotten Tomatoes may not be the place to learn who played Jedda in The Wrath of Khan, but for up-front information about new films, there are few sites as informative and useful. Why settle for a "two thumbs up" movie recommendation? With this site, surfers can instantly count the thumbs of dozens upon dozens of reviewers.
-- A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week -- March 5, 2001
he glory that was Robotech has been recaptured by a newly launched official Web site dedicated to the 1980s series. Robotech consisted of three anime series imported from Japan, combined into one, dubbed into English and then syndicated around the United States. It was wildly popular and introduced a generation to Japanese animation, including the legendary Macross saga,
the first major story arc in the Robotech series.
Long-suffering Robotech fans--who saw a sequel to the series fail and have had to make do with novels, comic books and Macross imports for years--will salivate over the new site's features.
The "official news" section finally provides a place for fans to find out the real deal about upcoming Robotech releases, especially the new DVDs and re-released soundtrack. Those who thrive on gossip and rumor will find plenty of it in the site's discussion forums, where folks analyze every aspect of the series and speculate about what else might be coming down the pipe. There's also an encyclopedia, mecha write-ups, an official timeline and an episode guide. The encyclopedia and mecha write-ups are works in progress, but more content is promised.
Robotech.com also encourages fan interaction, awarding points for logging into the site, posting fan art work and other activities. The entire site's easy to navigate and even easier on the eyes. It's all more than enough to bring in new fans while reminding old ones of the series' heyday.
-- Kenneth Newquist
Site of the Week -- February 26, 2001
his page is Harlan Ellison's home on the net, the unimpeachable source for information on one of SF's most passionate and influential writers. An exhaustive guide to all things Ellison, Webderland contains everything a fan might need or care to know. It is all here--recent news, listings of coming appearances, photographs, a searchable bibliography and much more.
For surfers who have somehow missed out on Ellison's writing before now, Webderland offers tantalizing samples of his work. His story, "Paladin of the Lost Hour," is available in its entirety--both in text form and as a live reading. Non-fiction picks include older works, from the collection Stalking the Nightmare and an outstanding book of columns called An Edge in My Voice.. More recent essays discuss Ellison's 1996 quadruple bypass surgery and the role of science fiction in the Rancho Santa Fe mass suicide. Readers who find these samples are only sufficient as appetizers will be pleased to see that the Web page also provides information about the Harlan Ellison Recording Collection, a mail-order company which offers Ellison's books and recordings for sale.
For those who are already solid fans, Ellison Webderland contains a richness of personal information about the author. Nothing can compare to reading one of Ellison's autobiographical essays, but the presented accounts of some events--the formation of the groups Friends of Ellison and Enemies of Ellison, particularly--are highly entertaining. Get an express ticket right away to visit this site, the gateway into one of SF's most original universes. Ellison Webderland is well worth the trip.
-- A.M. Dellamonica
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