“Paddington 2” Replaced “Citizen Kane” As The Top Movie On Rotten Tomatoes
Even if you haven’t seen Orson Welles’ epic Citizen Kane, you’ve probably heard about how great it is; a staggering cinematic achievement, it changed film as we know it, Rosebud was the sled, blah blah blah! Well, Citizen Kane’s rep as the “greatest film ever made” has finally come to a screeching halt after eighty years. An old review from The Chicago Tribune by Mae Tinee has been unearthed, and guess what? Mae didn’t think Citizen Kane was all that great. This means it plummets to an embarrassing 99% on Rotten Tomatoes. And which film has replaced it as the top-rated film on the site? Paddington 2. Does this mean film students of the future will get to watch Paddington 2 instead of Citizen Kane? Lucky bastards…
Somebody on Twitter noticed that Citizen Kane’s perfect rating had dropped and alerted all the film nerds:
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
Mae’s 1941 review basically says that the movie is overrated, and even though it’s interesting and different, “its sacrifice of simplicity to eccentricity robs it of distinction and general entertainment value.” Which I take to mean as “it’s kinda try-hard.”
Meanwhile, every single review of Paddington 2 is glowing. In fact, legend has it that Mae Tinee sprung from her grave in Chicago to declare Paddington 2 the most fun and entertaining film she ever did see. She went on to explain that heaven has special movie nights in Jesus’ home theatre, and she watched it with her best pals Siskel and Ebert (they loved it too). Apparently, Orson Welles sat at the back with Ingmar Bergman and Stanley Kubrick; arms crossed and scowling. But by the end of the film, when wee Paddington reunited with his family, all three men broke into tears and loudly cheered. Liz Taylor had to scream at them to pipe the fuck down.
Pics: YouTube