Warner Bros has bought movie website/Facebook app Flixter today for an undisclosed sum The Guardian reports. Flixter also owns popular movie rating website Rotten Tomatoes, which many discerning moviegoers use as a guide to what movies are worth watching. Their average ratings compiled from reviews provided by multiple sources, from high-brow film critics in broadsheet newspapers to the lowliest online critic. The percentages they give are as set in stone as the Ten commandments and you know if a film gets a 20% it's likely a massive stinker and probably best to send a canary into the cinema first to see if the air quality will support human life.
So it's definitely a good service then. A quick reference point to check whether a film is actually worth seeing. However, the main issue that arises from this acquisition is that of an obvious conflict of interest. A movie production company owning a movie reviews website does strike as a bit devious. Call me cynical but I can't see the next Harry Potter film getting a bad review on Rotten Tomatoes no matter how rubbish it may be. Most importantly when a movie website becomes biased it loses all credibility and the trust of its readership.
UPDATE
Warner Bros has bought MovieCake for the hefty sum of 50p and half a packet of chewing gum. We look forward to all Warner Bros products including the no doubt excellent final installment of the riveting Harry Potter series of magical films. We also praise Bugs Bunny for all his fabulous work and us folks at MovieCake hope that it is not all from that magnificent cartoon creation.
Chris Curry
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