# Metacritic versus Rotten Tomatoes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 28, 2021, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacritic-versus-rotten-tomatoes/953349 "2021-10-28T02:55:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacritic-versus-rotten-tomatoes/953349/1 "2021-10-28T02:55:15Z")
For those unfamiliar with these sites, Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes are review sites. But instead of reviewing (movies, games, TV, etc.) they aggregate reviews, creating a “score” for a film and linking to the individual reviews. [Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/) [Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/) I’ve always used both sites to assess the movies playing in town. Not the big releases. I usually know whether or not I’m going to see the latest blockbuster well before it shows up on the local theater schedules. But for the indies and foreign releases, these sites are very useful. If I had not used these sites the week films like _Mogul Mowgli_, _Settlers_, or _Coda_ hit the screens, they would have slipped right by me. I always thought of Metacritic as the site with higher, stricter standards, with a wider range of films on its list, while Rotten Tomatoes was more the “people’s choice” site and seemed not to list as many obscure films as Metacritic. But lately, it seems like Metacritic has cut way back on the films it lists, and if it lists an obscure film, it is likely to have no score, even if Rotten Tomatoes has a bunch of reviews listed. As an example, try finding the newly released (in America) _Only The Animals_ on both sites. 97% on Rotten Tomatoes with 32 reviews listed. Nonexistent on Metacritic. So, is Metacritic slipping? Do use either of these sites? Is there a better way to sort out the gems in independent and foreign films? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacritic-versus-rotten-tomatoes/953349/2 "2021-10-28T03:28:05Z")
I’ve been a longtime fan of Metacritic, going all the way back to the days when they had book reviews up, and when Julie Roberts was managing the movie pages and would respond personally to feedback or questions. It’s true that the narrow stable of publications they list means that some films do get missed by MC, and the one you listed is a good example – when I look at the reviewers that Rotten Tomatoes lists for Only the Animals, I see only one or two that MC follows. So it’s maybe not a surprise that there’s no page up yet for it. But I wouldn’t go so far as to say they don’t cover indie or small small films, I’m just scrolling down the list of current releases, and I see some fairly obscure ones. > **[New Movie Releases](https://www.metacritic.com/browse/movies/release-date/theaters/date)** > > See how well critics are rating new movies in theaters at Metacritic.com Aaaall that said, I do think that the acquisitions of movie sites is slowing down the production of content, perhaps as fewer resources get allocated to them. Metacritic definitely seems slower in getting data up, and they’ve been acquired, what, twice? And box office mojo has become a trainwreck after IMDb bought it. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2021, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacritic-versus-rotten-tomatoes/953349/3 "2021-10-29T23:14:01Z")
[Only the Animals Reviews - Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/only-the-animals) And there we go… ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacritic-versus-rotten-tomatoes/953349/4 "2021-10-30T00:55:58Z")
Thanks! Finally. Looks pretty highly regarded ( I always figure a Rotten Tomatoes 90’s score is a Metacritic 70’s score)’ I guess I’ll check it out.