It’s official! When it comes to reviews, Pixar is now 10 for 10!
This afternoon Rotten Tomatoes declared Up as Certified Fresh with 40+ consecutive Fresh ratings. The movie has been 100% since the reviews started coming in after the Cannes premiere.
But then, moments after the prestigious certification, Up’s first thumbs down (to be documented on the review aggregator website) was published. The author: infamous movie critic Armond White from the New York Press best known for his "opposite reviews." He disliked Up because of his laughable "Pixarism" theory and on top of that gave negative reviews to such universally acclaimed films as WALL•E, Star Trek, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire, The Dark Knight and many, many more. Even worse, he seems to be the critic who gives the unfavorable movies that one good review. Fishy, right?
His comments are being described as distasteful, contradictory, irrelevant, and just plain wrong and I think his credibility has now forever gone down the drain! In my opinion, he’s got it all backwards and obviously doesn’t get the point of Up, which pretty much everyone else on RT seems to understand. I guess if he hates it, you’ll love it! But it’s best you judge his review for yourself.
Ever since the dreadful criticism, The Wall Street Journal posted their review (as if to hide in the shadows of NYP’s blabber) making the Rotten count 2. That’s no big deal considering Up’s impressive 96% with 42 glowing Fresh reviews. The consensus: "Another masterful work of art from Pixar, Up is an exciting, hilarious, and heartfelt adventure impeccably crafted and told with wit and depth."
I’m sure Pixar’s 10th film is safe in this department! If you want to get rid of that bad taste Armond’s review left in your mouth go on and read my glowing review.
Last modified: May 27, 2009
Oh gosh. Is this Armond White guy the same guy who would delete his post and then repost his negative review so it would be on the front page on the Wall-E review?
People can be soo disgusting
thewisecookiesheet: No, that wasn’t Armond – I remember it distinctly. It was either Kyle Smith (who’s also a pretty big troll himself), or Phil Villareal (who just gave Up a good review, surprisingly), or maybe even both. We are yet to hear from Kyle. Armond White, by the way, is the most reliable critic in Rotten Tomatoes – just take whatever he says, then reverse it.
There’s nothing wrong with posting a bad review for a movie if that’s the opinion that you honestly hold, but these guys are something else…. I think it’s become pretty obvious that they seek nothing but attention. The sad part is that they’re getting exactly what they want.
Several reviews I read said something to the effect of anyone who wasn’t moved by the 10 min. Ellie-Carl scene must have a heart of stone.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have found that person.
First, that WSJ review has been out for quite some time. RT was the one delaying its addition because they weren’t sure whether to count it as fresh or rotten.
Second, the review itself is perfectly fine. The author, unlike Armond, focuses on criticizing the film, rather than its fans, and, in doing so, provides a completely sound critique. Having seen the film, I can say that I liked it much more than he did, but I have no problem with his review.
First off, I do realize WSJ’s article was published earlier but in my article iwas talking about it’s addition to RT. Secondly, the review’s writer submits the review and rotten/fresh rating, my point here was that it’s the second reason for Up losing it’s 100%. Third, notice I have no negative comments for the WSj article and that all negativity is directed to Armond’s ridiculous review.
But I do disagree highly with both reviewsalthough WSJ’s is legitimate.
I seriously dislike comments like this that come to conclusions like that and call out the author. Notice I never said it was new, just pointed out it newly dropped the completely Fresh rating.
I would start to worry if Armond White gave Up a good review. It would mean it was horrible.
Consider his thumbs down a good thing. Sounds like I’m joking, but honestly, that’s how he grades things.
[…] Up as well, seemingly to prove he can hate children and old people equally. In that one, he decried what he called “Pixarism,” and pined for animation more like — we’re not […]