Flixster buys out Rotten Tomatoes
First cancerous cell spreads to online film critics everywhere in the wake of the Rotten Tomatoes buy-out
I've barely heard of Flixster, the social networking movie ratings website which has just bought out Rotten Tomatoes from Rupert Murdoch but the words "good fit" and "makes sense for all" that are being branded around right now on the deal, just don't sit well with me. Anyone with half a brain can see that what the deal actually signifies is yet another nail in the coffin for the dying breed that is the full time film critic as we move into a very scary decade for the proffession. Who knows where film critics will be in five years time? The current destruction of print critics will hit the online sphere over this ten year period because mark my words - the writing is on the wall with news like this. 
Flixster, a bastard child of the facebook/iphone boom is sold on the idea of user-generated content, where it's fans can share their own ratings and reviews of films with each other, see the stuff your mates are into, etc. I mean after all, who needs to know what Roger Ebert or David Denby thought of Avatar when your mate Derek who works down the garage saw it and called it the "best movie EVER!!!". Dear Lord. The current RT, despite it's less than perfect system (the rather limiting "Fresh" or "Rotten" rating and it's questionable reviews to % ratio), is still a smart and easy to use critics review site, with it's heart in the right place and I sincerely hope this continues despite it's buy-out. It's built on the idea of promoting movies from a critically authoritative voice - guys who have studied cinema for years giving us considered, clearly written, honest and well-thought out opinions. With the Flixster buy-out, and by God it will happen sooner or later, Rotten Tomatoes will change from the useful site it is now to carrying the kind of debate between the masses on whether G.I. Joe 3 should be seen over Transformers 4. Flixster uses won't care to talk about the latest David Lynch movie. End of an area guys. It may not be evident for a few months, maybe even a year but the RT you used to know will soon be gone.