# Does anyone remember this website? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2019, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076 "2019-01-02T02:01:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076/1 "2019-01-02T02:01:52Z")
I can’t remember the name of a website that used to amuse me way back when. I’m fairly certain it is no longer with us. My details are a bit sketchy, so bear with me. It was primarily a movie review site, but it may have eventually evolved into other content. It was written in an extremely casual manner - many of the movie reviews covered more about what was going on in the reviewer’s life that day than the movie itself. He would talk about waking up late, wolfing down some chili dogs for breakfast, then meeting his buddy at the such-and-such theater (but the film was sold out so they played video games until the next showing, and he had mustard on his shirt from the chili dog). The site owner/main film reviewer was an obese slob who started out as a nobody but eventually gained the attention of the media (I think Roger Ebert got to know him?). That’s about all I have. I want to say the word ‘rotten’ was in the name of the website, but I may be conflating it with Rotten Tomatoes. I hadn’t thought about this in, well, ten years or so. I have no idea why it just popped into my head. mmm ETA: I thought I had the dude’s name for a moment - Harold Knowles - but Google doesn’t seem to indicate that is correct. But it sure looks right. I shall keep searching. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076/2 "2019-01-02T02:03:53Z")
Ain’t it cool news. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076/3 "2019-01-02T02:10:00Z")
> **[Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.](https://www.aintitcool.com/)** Yep. Harry Knowles ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076/4 "2019-01-02T02:14:07Z")
That’s what I was going to say… so I’ll add some links: > **[Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.](https://www.aintitcool.com/)** Looks like no Harry K. any more. The reviews are by names like Freddy Beans, Madame Revenant, Pekosa Peligrosa, Veronica Rampant… and Big Eyes, who “Saw/Played Netflix’s Interactive Experiment BLACKMIRROR: BANDERSNATCH.” Oh, looks like [Harry was a colorful-but-bad boy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Knowles) and got thrown off his own website (well, took “a leave of absence”). ETA: The other reviewer I loved back in the day was SeanBaby. He returned from beyond and has done a few more recent comic/movie reviews for Buzzfeed. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076/5 "2019-01-02T02:19:41Z")
Yeah, I found it. I’m sorry I did, what a gawd-awful website with gawd-awful reviews. Here is a small piece of one I chose at random (written by Harry himself): > [@](#): > > Why did I go to see URBAN LEGEND? > > I’ll tell ya why. I have the biggest crush in the world on that cello-playing coffee girl. That girl from RISING SON. You knoooooooow… the Noxema girl. I think she is soooo frigggin do-able, that it screams. All my friends agree, they all think… wowzers, what a hot chick, actually they say, “MAAAAAN, I’d like to bend her over a barrel…if ya know what I mean”…Soooooooooooooo, now ya know why I went. That’s right, it was to watch Ms Noxema and drool. I even took a drool bucket. What a pig. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076/6 "2019-01-02T02:40:01Z")
It’s much worse. Harry Knowles had to leave the site awhile back due to sexual assault allegations. I believe a number of the quality writers of the site had already quit and those that had not quit at that point. His sister runs the site now. He was a sellout as well. He gave The Grinch(Jim Carrey) a positive review before it came out because they flew him out and wined and dined him, so to speak. He promoted screenplays and works of people who worked at the site. It used to be a site for breaking news on movies. Relied on rumors and so forth. Now, it is almost the last site for anything to turn up on. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076/7 "2019-01-02T02:41:18Z")
[If you want to read a terrible review he wrote that you seem to vaguely remember, read his review of Blade 2, which is insane.](http://www.aintitcool.com/node/11793) ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076/8 "2019-01-02T13:26:35Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Yeah, I found it. I’m sorry I did, what a gawd-awful website with gawd-awful reviews. > > Here is a small piece of one I chose at random (written by Harry himself): > > What a pig. > mmm When I was maybe 18-25 years old I can assure you that was a primary reason most of my peers would choose to watch a movie or tv show. We probably wouldn’t talk to our families about it or write about it openly on a website, but amongst friends the talk would be much raunchier than what is quoted. And none of us were any more “pigs” than any men who find women attractive and want to make sweet love to them. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076/9 "2019-01-02T16:32:16Z")
> [@digs](#): > > ETA: The other reviewer I loved back in the day was SeanBaby. He returned from beyond and has done a few more recent comic/movie reviews for Buzzfeed. Seanbaby also still does some writing for **Cracked**. [Here’s his stuff](http://www.cracked.com/blog/author/seanbaby/). ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076/10 "2019-01-02T17:05:37Z")
Here’s another former writer for AICN who’s done alright for himself: C. Robert Cargill, writing under the pseudonym “Massawyrm,” was an early movie reviewer for AICN. He seemed to have a lot of writing talent and a sincere interest in movies (as opposed to the outlandish fanboys in the AICN stable). Cargill has gone on to co-write the screenplays for Marvel’s _Doctor Strange_ (2016) as well as _Sinister_ (2012) and _Sinister 2_ (2015), and he’s co-written screenplays for an _The Outer Limits_ film as well as one based on _Deus Ex_; he has also published several well-received novels and a collection of short stories. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076/11 "2019-01-02T23:58:33Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > When I was maybe 18-25 years old I can assure you that was a primary reason most of my peers would choose to watch a movie or tv show. **We probably wouldn’t talk to our families about it or write about it openly on a website,** but amongst friends the talk would be much raunchier than what is quoted. And none of us were any more “pigs” than any men who find women attractive and want to make sweet love to them. \ There is a difference between your behavior and that of the subject of the OP. You should know, you pointed it out yourself. mmm ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076/12 "2019-01-03T01:48:48Z")
I see you inquiry has been addressed correctly but this thread made me think, for the first time in years, of [Mr. Cranky.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Cranky) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076/13 "2019-01-03T04:22:30Z")
Man…I had no idea that Harry Knowles had scorching red hair, nor that he is not much older than me. My mental image of him was always as a cartoon of a guy (literally a cartoon, as the AICN logo) with long hair and a bear and glasses, but the hair in the cartoon was white. Coulda been a black and white drawing, maybe. I looked around and couldn’t find such a logo so maybe I dreamed it. No idea why I woulda dreamed it…I never read his reviews. I was just aware that the site existed. Anyway, his appearance is…striking. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076/14 "2019-01-03T04:30:41Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Anyway, his appearance is…striking. [His health really degraded over time, too.](https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2013/03/Harry_Knowles_9_a_h.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076/15 "2019-01-03T10:52:12Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > [His health really degraded over time, too.](https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2013/03/Harry_Knowles_9_a_h.jpg) Is he that short, or is he sitting on the floor? mmm ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076/16 "2019-01-03T11:24:53Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Is he that short, or is he sitting on the floor? > mmm I saw a picture of him in one of those super low to the ground mobility scooters (the ones you put your knees on) so that’s probably it. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076/17 "2019-01-03T12:21:51Z")
He has back problems and is largely wheelchair-bound. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076/18 "2019-01-03T13:17:57Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > I see you inquiry has been addressed correctly but this thread made me think, for the first time in years, of [Mr. Cranky.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Cranky) I was just thinking of that site, too. I stopped reading it after a while, but some of the “reviews” were damn funny (as least as I recall now). ---
**Author:** ![600\_Unread\_Emails](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/54ee81/32.png) [@600\_Unread\_Emails](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/600_Unread_Emails)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076/19 "2019-01-03T16:19:07Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Man…I had no idea that Harry Knowles had scorching red hair, nor that he is not much older than me. > > My mental image of him was always as a cartoon of a guy (literally a cartoon, as the AICN logo) with long hair and a bear and glasses, but the hair in the cartoon was white. Coulda been a black and white drawing, maybe. I looked around and couldn’t find such a logo so maybe I dreamed it. > > No idea why I woulda dreamed it…I never read his reviews. I was just aware that the site existed. > > Anyway, his appearance is…striking. Trust me, you would smell him **LONG** before you saw him. Imagine the grossest combination of BO, stale sweat, piss, fresh sweat, athlete’s foot, dandruff and bad breath. That’s Harry Knowles. You could literally follow the trail of his stench through a convention hall or hotel corridors.:(:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Iggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Iggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggins)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076/20 "2019-01-03T17:52:24Z")
I was hoping that he was referring to _B. Fatt and Lazy_, another early irreverent movie review site. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-this-website/827076.md?page=2)