Citizen Kane, the Orson Welles classic often hailed as the greatest movie of all time, slipped from 100% to 99% on Rotten Tomatoes' "Tomatometer" sometime between February 25 and March 1 this year. The site added a negative review to the 115 positive ones already there—one published 80 years ago by the Chicago Tribune's Mae Tinée, a collective pseudonym then used by the paper's film critics. (Matinée, geddit?)
"'Citizen Kane' Fails to Impress Critic as Greatest Ever Filmed" runs the headline, followed by superficially respectful but withering criticism.
"It's interesting. It's different," writes the Tribune. "In fact, it's bizarre enough to become a museum piece. But its sacrifice of simplicity to eccentricity robs it of distinction and general entertainment value."
The unimpressed write-up was spotted by @Caulimovirus on Twitter: "Rotten Tomatoes literally dug up an 80 year old negative review of Citizen Kane and now the movie no longer has a 100% fresh rating"
Rotten Tomatoes literally dug up an 80 year old negative review of Citizen Kane and now the movie no longer has a 100% fresh rating pic.twitter.com/0I8cxvuGdd — Screaming Pectoriloquy (@Caulimovirus) April 26, 2021
The disgraced classic now languishes behind perfect-score films such as 1984's The Terminator and 1995's Godzilla Vs. Destroyah, movies about which no credible authority has ever posted a negative opinion.
UPDATE: Citizen Kane's Tomatometer day of doom was before March 1. Hat tips to Beanolini and David Whitehead for refining the possible range of dates.
Ask_Who_Owes_Me_Gold on March 21st, 2022 at 18:53 UTC »
This line from the article is great:
jvlpdillon on March 21st, 2022 at 17:50 UTC »
Breaking news from April 2021
i_love_anachronisms on March 21st, 2022 at 16:43 UTC »
Anyone looking for an Orson Welles film that isn't CK should go check out The Magnificent Ambersons. Its an absolute masterpiece.