Movie Critics

Patrick Harrington

Hannah Stephenson

4 March 2011

Blog Post Audience

Movie critics have a growing and monumental impact on the movie industry. These impacts can include an unexpected lapse or increase in ticket sales, a predetermined audience opinion, or an inaccurate and underdeveloped viewer consensus. These impacts are unacceptable and need to be discontinued. RottenTomatoes.com is a website that compares critic ratings to viewer ratings on any motion picture. Through this website, one is able to conclude that viewers are persuaded and motivated to concur with the ratings of professional movie critics. This often occurs unknowingly before the audience member views the movie.

Research studies show that movies with high early ratings receive higher movie revenues. This shows that critics have an overwhelming influence on ticket sales and revenue. These studies epitomize the importance of a movie receiving outstanding critic ratings early on in its premier stages. It is likely that without these good ratings, the movie would not be a financial success. These ratings being present and well advertised are what gives the “powerhouse” movies and best pictures their shine.

A movie is given both professional critic ratings and audience ratings. In order for the audience ratings to be respectively positive, the movie must be well advertised and ratings well by critics. The critics giving poor reviews will make the ticket revenue fall along with the related audience reviews. These relationships are essential to the movie industry so that upcoming movie productions may understand the importance of critic reviews.

RottenTomatoes.com and other similar websites have an increasingly influential impact on the movie market because of viewers trust in the websites. Audience members want to believe that these critics are all knowing and trustworthy. They do not however take into account any times that they did not agree with the critics. Critics rave about a movie and give it astronomically high ratings and then a viewer decides that the movie was anywhere from adequate to great, and it’s a success. However if the critics vote that a movie was bad, and the viewer enjoys it, the viewer does not take into account that the critics had a different view because they are distracted by the movie they enjoyed. For this reason, professional movie critics have an overwhelming impact on the movie industry.

Fmylife.com and Pessimism together? By Tyler Hooghe

Tyler Hooghe
Hannah Stephenson
MWF 2:30 p.m.-3:48 p.m.
3/9/11

Does pessimism on fml.com really attract its audiences and bring humor to the site? Many people believe that that is the case involving fml.com. We know fmylife.com as a blog site that shows the negativity of the struggles of someone who is down on their luck. Created by Maxime Valette, fmylife.com appears to many audiences no matter what age or sex. How fmylife.com works is that people will post their stories to the site by going to the submit tab at the top of the screen. The submitter will then type their story in the post box and hit post after they are done. Now after a story has been submitted, viewers are allowed to comment on post and give the submitter feed back or point fun at him. The other things you can do to the posts is click on one of two buttons. The buttons say “I agree, your life sucks!” or “You totally deserved that.”
But what is it about fmylife.com that attracts us to the site? The negativity of what people have to say and how the outcome turns out in each post is a main reason why people love the website. People definitely seem to enjoy the different categories fmylife.com has to offer, but most people enjoy the intimacy category because of how edgy and wild the posts. Despite the fact that there were thoughts that in the beginning stages of fmylife.com that the site would not fair well and not get much traffic or subscribers. Even the creator of the site didn’t believe that this site would become what it is today. This originally was just created for kicks and now has turned out to be one of the most well known and popular sites on the web today. The negativity and pessimism in the site had really put fmylife.com on the map and everybody loves it. Fmylife.com recieves more than 2 million hits on the website everyday. Much better than when the site was new to the internet and only getting around 10,000 hits a day. Its remarkable that a site that was unknown became a huge hit and sensation basically overnight and now has become on of the most recognizable websites in the world.
Fmylife.com has many other attributes that make it a popular site. One of the most important reasons that fmylife.com is so popular is because its free for everyone. People find it as a cheap form of entertainment to most and knowing that you never have to pay for the website keeps people coming back and enjoying the site. Also, it is not mandatory to sign up to the site and give up email information so they can send you annoying emails and spam. Although, if you want to to publish your own post you have to create a user name and password but giving up but fmylife.com will not ask for any type of personal information. These features are small and simple but they really are what makes the website worthwhile
People now wonder if fmylife.com is a negative impact on our children and their still developing minds. The reason why this is an issue is because the posts on fmylife.com contain some graphic situations and also includes some graphic language in the posts as well. The other fear is the imitations of certain posts and how the negativity can affect a young persons mind. I think there is nothing wrong with the site because they do censor certain posts on fmylife.com and censor certain words as well. The censorship is believed to be unnecessary because people still roughly know what the word or phrase that is being said. Censorship on the site is believed to be a big draw back for the website because people believe that it takes away from the real life situations and makes the posts not as intense and dealing with real life.
The biggest question is whether or not fmylife.com will eventually lose popularity with people? Fmylife.com reels in over 200,000 new viewers each year and that number is continuing to grow. Only time can tell whether or not that that will happen but from the looks of it fmylife.com is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Celebrity Gossip - Chelsea Strapp

Gossip has been around forever. Thanks to the internet, gossiping has been made even more effortless and universal. Many people around the world are able to follow and even contribute to gossip blogs at any given day. Celebrity gossip blogs seem to be especially intriguing to people around the world because the topics revolve around someone famous that everybody is familiar with. Gossip blogs are certainly addictive, but the malicious, evil posts are sending the wrong types of messages to their readers. Sure celebrity gossip blogs are entertaining, fascinating and basically just a bunch of fun, but is that fact alone enough to cover up all the cruel posts and negative behavior found on every page?

The trashy rumors and scandals found on celebrity gossip blogs are completely glamorized. It’s not only the glamorization of the bad behavior surrounding celebrities sending negative messages to the readers of these blogs; it’s also the abundance of the bad behavior. These types of blogs show nothing but bad behavior! The blogs literally show so many screw ups and so much bad behavior, it’s hard to believe there is anything else going on out there. Celebrity gossip blogs are ultimately a place that a young girl can go to catch up on the life of her favorite celebrity or even role model and find a summary of that same celebrity’s scandalous behavior.

The most compelling part of celebrity gossip blogs is the “bitch persona” which the writer inevitably takes on. Every celebrity has had a condescending post about them on some gossip blog. The “bitch persona” which unavoidably can be found on any gossip blogs also shows readers a negative message. The posts on these gossip blogs lead addicted readers to believe that disdainful language is acceptable.

A good example of the perfected “bitch persona” is the self-proclaimed Queen of All Media, Perez Hilton. So many celebrities have become the victim of Hilton’s spiteful remarks. One of Hilton’s favorite targets seems to be Miley Cyrus, the stare of The Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana. From referring to Cyrus as “Slutty Cyrus” to placing bets on whether or not the currently 17 year old Cyrus’s boyfriend would “knock her up before she turns 18”, Cyrus has certainly been the center of a lot of nasty remarks. And what exactly are these remarks showing these blogs’ readers? They’re saying that it is perfectly fine to talk trash about people. Who care’s about other people’s feelings, right? Why not just be wicked like the gossip blog authors?

There are many negative effects of gossip blogs, but the most drastic so far comes from a young girl at a private school in Australia. According to Sophie Elsworth’s article “Teen Pawns in Ugly Game of Cyber Scorn – Net Bully Taps Private Schools for Scandal in Youth Gossip Blog”, the elementary school aged student has “taken cyber bulling to new heights with a website that is terrorizing students”. This young girl literally started her own gossip blog. Instead of gossiping about well known celebrities, the gossip on this blog revolved around this girl’s own peers. Elsworth goes on to explain what the gossip entails. The girl posts details regarding her classmate’s “sexual orientation, drug problems, love lives and health woes”. This makes clear that celebrity gossip sites attract users of many different ages, and there are definitely resulting consequences. Grade school gossip has transitioned from writing on the walls of the bathroom stalls and can now be found on the internet for the whole world to see.

Celebrity gossip blogs are popular. Since so many people read these blogs, there is a large number of people who are influenced by them. Celebrity gossip blogs are very easy to find and are regularly viewed by many different people around the world. There are many negative effects of both reading celebrity gossip blogs as well as being the subject of these blogs. The writers of these celebrity gossip blogs often show no compassion for the celebrities which they are spreading rumors about. Not only are the frequent readers of these blogs susceptible to the bad behavior of the celebrities which they are researching, these readers also learn to have no concern for people’s feelings as they go on to gossip about the people in their own lives, as they inevitably will do. It’s obvious that celebrity gossip blogs are addictive, but that might not be such a good thing.

The Reality of Jersey Shore- Kylie Duhl

Jersey Shore, a popular reality show choice for drama seeking, Guido loving people, is one of the most commonly watched television shows today. The show displays the lives of eight supposedly Italian people living on the Jersey Shore in a house together showing us the “normal” lives that Guidos live everyday. Partying, smooshing, grenade whistles, GTL (gym, tan, laundry), clubbing, lots of drinking, and sex is some of what you would see in any episode of Jersey Shore. Showing these peoples lives on television in a light that negatively portrays them doesn’t seem to really bother the cast, but then again they are getting paid for it. But is this really how these Guidos and Guidettes live when they are off of the shore and the cameras are turned off? I am not quite convinced this is true. Jersey Shore cast members are acting out what we, as an audience, would like to see happen and have alternate persona’s for their television characters that continuously keep people like me and you entertained.

According to writer, Adam Sternbergh, the lives of these Jersey Shore icons is purely made up for the entertainment of the viewers and to keep people watching over and over again. Reality TV isn’t exactly what the show Jersey Shore is, so why label it that way? Characters are given a persona to maintain and “act out” while the cameras are rolling. The so called Jersey lifestyle doesn’t really continue when the cameras turn off. Samantha, Jenni (J-Wow), Nicole (Snuki), Deana, Pauley D, Mike (The Situation), Vinny, and Ronnie return to their regular lives at home once the cameras shut off and become more like you and me. Well, for the most part that is. They still have crazy fans and autographs to sign, but overall, the Guido and Guidette persona is just an act for our own pleasure, entertainment, and amusement.

Yes, we may prefer the Jersey Shore cast on television, rather than “real” life, because on TV they can act out in crazy drunkenness, joke around, and live the party life. Sometimes its nice to see whats real and what a true Jersey girl or Jersey guy lives like, but that doesn’t get views or keep the ratings up. However, crazy scenes, sex, jokes, drinking, and violence do. When we see Nicole drunk right next to the beach running around asking people where the beach is while falling all over the place, we don’t really know if Nicole was actually in this situation. Although, it was extremely entertaining to watch and hilarious to see. Mike the Situation may not really “get girls” like it shows in the episodes, he may have no game at all. The scenes can be changed and altered to make anyone in the show seem like something they really may not be. From what I can see this is the whole point of reality TV, the audience entertainment factor, which works. I keep watching!

When you watch Jersey Shore you associate the characters with the persona they have been asked to display. I have noticed almost all of the cast members have been given a nik name in which they have come to be known as in and outside of the show. This just backs up my point that they are continuing an act that gets them attention from their audience and paid. For example, Mike will now always be known as, Mike The Situation. He has to keep up this personality that goes with his knew name and in episodes he now refers to things as being “a situation”. Deana, the new girl, got her nik name from being “the walking holiday”. She now has to maintain this character of being fun an exciting throughout the rest of the season and seasons to come. As an watching audience we have all come to know and love the personality’s of the characters in the show but what we don’t know is, is who really is behind this persona? What is Jenni, Nicole, Sam, Mike, Deana, Pauly, Vinny, and Ronnie really like when the show ends and the cameras stop rolling? We may never actually know, but what we see on TV is what we associate them with and thats what keeps us entertained and watching.

The iPhone and Why You Need It - Alex Hall

As a consumer, the task of finding the perfect new phone can be a daunting task. That is, until one has tried out the iPhone 4. Between the beauty of its slim, glass design and the fluid software, there is a world of magic awaiting you. What is definitely one of the more remarkable and appealing mobile devices to ever be released, the iPhone 4 will transcend your life into the modern age. Mobile is where the world is heading and the iPhone makes your every day simpler and more genius. Apple is one of the great innovative companies of our time and with the iPhone 4, they have set the bar for what a consumer comes to expect out of their smart phone.
The original iPhone introduced and/or perfected numerous features that many consumers have come to expect out of their mobile devices nowadays. These features include large, sensitive touchscreens, a full, rich internet browsing experience, simplicity and synchronicity between hardware and software, and, of course, the amazing possibilities that can only be found in an app store. With the iPhone 4, Apple has raised the bar significantly with dual cameras (one front-facing, one on the back), video calling, super high-resolution retina display, and a sexy, tight state of the art design.
Everyone has heard of the iPhone, but not everyone has used one. Many new smartphone customers will settle for devices running Google’s Android software. Now don’t get me wrong, Android is great software if you like inconsistent firmware updates, confusing user interfaces, a much smaller app store, and an overall lacking experience that leaves one asking “shouldn’t all of this just work?”
The answer to that question is yes. Apple knows this.
Arguably, one of the most rewarding feelings of using an iPhone 4 is the ease of use you will experience. As cliché as it sounds (thanks to Apple’s Mac tagline), everything just works. And it works beautifully. The operating system and software run extremely smoothly. Switching between apps, scrolling, pinching to zoom, and everything in between just flows like running water. Apple builds the hardware and software. This makes for consistency throughout the product, reliability, and reassurance that the software and the hardware will work together wonderfully. Out of all the numerous Android devices, only one has hardware that is built by Google. Even when Google builds the hardware as well as the software for a device, it hardly compares to the sophistication of Apple’s iPhone 4 that uses a combination of metallic alloys and gorilla glass (on the front and back) to make a strong, yet dazzling device.
Now, hardware and operating system software are always extremely important in creating a great mobile device. It’s how the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G sold so well. All big name companies such as Apple and Google know that with great mobile devices must come great responsibility – the responsibility to build an ecosystem of apps that create an immersive world of creativity, productivity, leisure activity, and retentivity of a user base. Out of all the smart phone companies competing, Apple easily has the largest and most dominant App Store on the market. With hundreds of thousands of apps, Apple gives the strongest selection of apps, and with a strict approval process, Apple also sets the stage for developers to create reliable apps. Google, on the other hand, has no approval policy for apps and many of the apps on the Android markets don’t have the same quality or backing by developers as most the Apple’s App Store apps.
So if you’re getting ready for an upgrade or are just looking to buy a smartphone for the first time, let this article set you on the path of enlightenment. The iPhone will take the best parts of your life and connect them, making sure you never are unprepared for any situation. With the iPhone, you will hold a piece of pride in the mobile community.

Nicki Minaj: Here to Stay

Since Nicki Minaj first exploded into the world of music, it had people wondering whether she’d be here to stay or if she was just a phase like past female rappers. Past female rappers have struggled to survive in the music industry, but Nicki Minaj is willing to take the challenge; creating her own way through the rap game with her eclectic image and different personalities. Being critiqued and questioned on everything she does is something she’s going to have to deal with throughout her career, but proving herself along the way is something she’s already doing.

Nicki Minaj had first started out as an underground artist like most rappers do; she released three mix tapes during that time, which created loyal fans before she even became known to most of the world. The first time I ever heard Nicki Minaj was at a Lil Wayne concert in fall of 2009, when she was still underground. I had no clue who she was when she came out on stage, but she immediately intrigued me when she started rapping. The next day I downloaded every song I could possibly find of hers, and I think that’s what a true artist should do.

Being noticed was something she was from the very beginning. Before she even released her first album, she was appearing on songs with artist like Usher, Trey Songz and Mariah Carrey. She was even recommended by Jay-Z to Robin Thicke for his song “Shakin it for Daddy” and eventually got to appear in Kanye West’s song “Monster” with Jay-Z and Rick Ross. Even though she was clearly the underdog in the song “Monster” it was her verse that stole the spotlight and had people talking.

Her exotic outfits, colorful hair, and multiple personalities keeps people guessing what she’ll be doing next. Even though some of her outfits are considered pretty crazy and out there by some people, she gets props for doing her own thing and being unique. She says that’s something she does have an advantage on over male rappers is that she gets to change up her looks and bring something new to the table. And changing up her looks she does. Like at the 2010 American Music Awards in her “skeleton dress” or at the 2011 Grammy’s in her “cheetah” apparel. In her interview with Elaine Welteroth for Ebony magazine, she said she likes to give people a show and the eye candy that makes them sit in anticipation at the edge of their seat. Even if people don’t always love what she wears, she always makes sure they’ve noticed it and will talk about it.

Not only does she catch peoples’ attention with her outfits, but also her wacky face expressions or quirky catchphrases in different voices. From her wide eyed and fake “Barbie” smile face to her crazed and lip puckered face, she’s making people look. She even has a page on facebook about her different facial expressions. Her alter-egos become apparent through her music: in her lyrics, during her performances, and in her music videos. The music videos she’s in show perfectly her different personalities and how she uses her face expressions and her different voices. Ludacris’s music video “My Chick Bad” featuring Nicki Minaj portrays all her craziness in one. She has a pink wig on, black lipstick, and Freddy Krueger claws on. She’s constantly making different faces and part of her lyrics are, “Tuck yourself in you better hold onto your teddy/ it’s nightmare on Elm Street and guess who’s playing Freddy” rapped in a deep voice.

Nicki Minaj may be just at the beginning of her career, but doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Keeping everything around her fresh and exciting, is something Nicki Minaj continues to do. With her first album Pink Friday already going platinum, she’s showing no signs of slowing down. Even though female rappers have never had long careers, Nicki Minaj is on the right track to ensuring she does.

Now Broadcasting YouTube Zechariah Thompson

One cannot determine the impact that a certain creation or invention will have on its generation or on future generations. Newspapers, radio, and television have all been successful mediums for communication and getting what is popular or noteworthy to the public. Our generation’s television is of course YouTube. One cannot deny that it is the site of choice among many demographics in America and throughout the world. So it is not surprising that many television networks, to stay with the current times, are conforming to the interests of our generation.

Television clip-shows are indeed making a comeback, in previous shows, like America’s Funniest Home videos, the host shows a funny video, makes a joke, and the audience laughs. Shows like The Soup and Tosh.0, as well as several others in the making, are taking these YouTube videos and turning it into television that is structured much like that of these already tried shows. The host stands in front of a green screen, and shows homemade Internet videos, gathered by researchers who comb the Internet for the most popular or the most peculiar videos out there. Now the idea that these shows deliver to their audiences what is occurring in popular culture seems quite apparent, however it does not seem like the most important of tasks.

Despite thoughts that these shows wouldn’t be popular, because they merely report what is going on in the media and what is popular amongst various Internet groups, the fact is that they are indeed being watched, and by multitudes of people. Tosh.0 has always had a steady following in terms of viewers, however through the first five episodes of its third season, the show never dipped below three million viewers. The Soup is also popular as over one million viewers regularly watched the new episodes. So one can see that millions of people are actually tuning in to watch these shows and they continue to come back for more.

There are several reasons why these shows are popular amongst viewers and also amongst television networks. For starters, they are extremely cheap to make. The pilot of a normal television show costs around one million dollars to produce. Some even cost upwards of ten million dollars for major dramas. These clip-shows run at about one-fifth of the cost that normal television programming runs. Their sets are extremely cheap, only a green screen and a few cameras are necessary. They also assert fair use laws to show almost all video clips for free. Television executives have taken notice and as a result they have put forth the effort to create them as cheap ways to entertain and make money.

For viewers these shows act as mediums that communicate to audiences things that are happening in popular culture. But that is not the reason why these shows are extremely popular. Tosh.0 in particular not only aims to entertain their viewers, but they also aim to make people feel connected. The witty host Daniel Tosh not only launches commentary and jokes at the videos, he also tweets with his followers throughout the show. This is only one way in which he interacts with his audience. He has a Facebook page with over four million Likes and his Twitter stream is followed by almost a million and a half people. These are huge numbers that are following him and it does not stop there. He also plays a role in updating the blog for his show, in case people cannot get enough of his show various viral videos and pictures are posted so people can comment. These are all smart, and successful attempts at making people feel connected to the show and to him as well.

It is apparent that shows like Tosh.0 are popular, the question most would ask is, is this just a fad? Or is this going to be an established genre that will continue to hold the attention of viewers? If you look at television ratings now and the overall following of these shows it seems as if they would. However as technology changes and advancements are made no one can really tell if these shows will continue to be popular. Only time will tell if these shows will last but for our generation, it seems like these shows will stick around for quite some time.