Ryan's Favorite Websites

While I do enjoy writing for my own personal blog post (moviecriticsclub.blogspot.com), there are two websites that I go to everyday. The first and most important to me is Rotten Tomatoes, a movie review aggregator. I have wanted to be a movie critic for several years now, and this site keeps me in touch with what I am most passionate about. Rotten Tomatoes, while famous for it's review collection, also contains news stories, box office analyses, and recently even added a spin-off TV-review site. They have several columns that RT editors create (including "Weekly Ketchup" news and "Total Recall" looks at actors/director's careers). The writing on these columns is crafted for film fans, but casual movie-goers can appreciate them too. The site also contains links to other film stories across the internet, allowing readers to learn more if they are interested. However, most popularly, Rotten Tomatoes collects reviews from RT critics, and gives a critical consensus of whether movies are "fresh" or "rotten". Each movie is given a percentage, and these statistics are considered to be the most influential measurement of a film's critical reception. Rotten Tomatoes is essential reading for any lover of cinema.

Here is a "Weekly Ketchup" news story that contains a headline, a blurb/summary, subheadings, links, and a numbered list: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/olympus_has_fallen_2013/news/1928833/weekly_ketchup_olympus_has_fallen_gets_a_sequel/ 

My other favorite website is one that many people take for granted- Wikipedia. This site, essentially an online encyclopedia, is written in a very simple manner that makes even the most complex issue easy to understand. I use it for school projects as a jumpstart into a topic, as it gives the most relevant information in a concise way. Fortunately, it's negative stigmatism that "anyone can edit it, which makes it unreliable" is going away. The site links to various sources where the information is gathered from, making the reliability very clear. In addition, it's mobile site is very good, and Wikipedia contains information on virtually any subject imaginable. It even includes audio bites for certain entertainment topics. Wikipedia is arguably the best way to learn, as it updated very frequently and contains up-to-the-minute information on anything you could possibly want to know.

Here is an article on the 2009 motion picture "Avatar", which contains a headline, a blurb/summary, subheadings, and links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_(2009_film)