Back in March I put my name behind Metacritic as the web site I trusted most for movie ratings, but since then Metacritic has gone through a face lift. I do not hate change in general, but I do have a problem when a web site's functionality gets tossed aside for the sake of a makeover. When Metacritic decided to get rid of its fantastic Advanced Search options and complicate the process of finding what I want to find, I began to seriously doubt whether it was the right place for me to go to find my movie ratings.
I've been experimenting with Rotten Tomatoes since the advent of Amy and there is a lot I like about this web site. It has advanced search options that make the new Metacritic look like a fool, but which are still not as awesome as the old, dead Metacritic. While it occasionally inflates the ratings of newer movies (especially animated films, but Metacritic also has this problem), it gives great ratings to older and more rare movies, many of which are not even included on Metacritic.
What's my conclusion? If you're looking up a new movie that you already know the title of and want to quickly check its rating, I would stick with Metacritic. For everything else, use Rotten Tomatoes.
