The Rotten Tomatoes Show | March 05, 2009 | Comment on this video (62)

The Rotten Tomatoes Show Premiere

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In the premiere episode of The Rotten Tomatoes Show, hosts Brett Erlich and Ellen Fox lead ensemble reviews of "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li," "Echelon Conspiracy" and Harrison Ford's "Crossing Over," they unveil the top five conspiracy movies of all time, and they ask the question: is there ever going to be a good video game movie?

The Rotten Tomatoes Show is a movie review show that airs on Thursday nights at 10:30 e/p on Current TV. From reviews of the newest releases to commentary on cult favorites and movie trends, each episode of The Rotten Tomatoes Show is a fast-paced, comedic journey through the week in cinema.
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62 comments // The Rotten Tomatoes Show Premiere // Video

  • Carlos_Pino
  • rawmilk905
    • -1
      rawmilk905  
    • Image

    • Rotten indeed... Can't Rupert Murdoch, major shareholder, chairman and managing director of News Corporation (i.e. FOX News) keep his slimey tentacles out of anything? The Rotten Tomatoes website is one of his many brands. Seeing this on current is something of a shock. I'm not privy to the details of the deal but it seems like a very bad omen. The only tv channel I can stomach occasionally may be headed down the tubes.

    • 4 years ago
  • Alisa_Panova
    • -1
      Alisa_Panova  

    • A fun of rotten tomatoes and Brett, I was excited to watch this show and got so disappointed when I did. The format is not a fit for current, the script is too dry. And I am sorry but I agree Ellen is just not funny. I think she could be a pleasant host - but in some other niche.

      One more try for me and than this goes off the to-watch list.

    • 4 years ago
  • veggielover
    • -1
      veggielover  

    • This is a show about reviews... so how about a review on this show?

      RATING:
      i am being very generous by giving this show a 2 out of 5 stars.

      PLOT:
      The Rotten Tomato Show seemed like a good plot (and the fact that brett was hosting it makes it even better) but the actual show was just wayy too long, carried out, and, at times, cheezy. I do like how it is mostly viewer reviews, but there are better reviews out there than the ones used on this show.
      CAST:
      The show is hosted by Super Hilarious Brett Erlich and Not so Funny Ellen Fox. i can not think of any words to decsribe these two so i will steel Finenet's "If you had told me there was a person who could make Brett Erlich not funny just by being in the same room as him, I wouldn't have believed it. There aren't WORDS to describe the chemistry between these two. Its like ...negative chemistry. It's anti-chemistry."
      brett is amazing and hilarious as always, which is why i give it a 2, not a 0.5, although he did not seem very into this show and every line seemed forced.
      Ellen was sadly not so good and brought the show down. She talks in an annoying "News Anchor" voice and seems to go on and on about things that are just not funny at all. I was excited to have a new edition to the current TV cast and i am very Very disappointed.

      RECOMENDATIONS:
      Honestly, i dont think i would recomend this show to anyone, not even my fellow Brett Erlich fans.

      ADVICE:
      This is a new show and new shows always need improvement (remember when Infomania was only five minutes long?) So here is my advice for the rotten tomato show:
      -Shorten the show to about 10-15 minutes. (although it is nice to look at brett for 30 minutes)
      -Drop Ellen fox (maybe sub in Sarah Haskins)
      -Find funnier reviews
      -Stick to viewer reviews ONLY

      oh... and make Pong the movie staring Brett and Conor! haha

    • 4 years ago
  • vonntrout
  • stevebocco
  • Carlos_Pino
  • lucidstone
    • 0
      lucidstone  

    • Anybody else getting the same feeling they got after G4 took over TechTV and then G4 started replacing cool shows like ScreenSavers and Cinematec with Attack of the Show! and X-play?

      Seriously Current . . . if you are trying to follow some formula book from G4 or Spike or E! or whatever . . . just DON'T.

      First off, get rid of the "Hey EVERYBODY! I'm . . .ugh". It's just tacky..

      So, the background soundtrack felt agitated to me and the whole production just felt rushed and plastic-like.

      It's also not a good sign when the amateur critics are funnier than the hosts.

      The Brett guy was ok, I think the format held him back; but, the Ellen girl is just a clone from all the annoying G4 and E! shows that I refuse to watch.

      If you're looking for eye candy to attract us guys, then get a cute girl with a brain that has something interesting and/or witty to contribute . . . or at least a fellow geek that has played at LEAST Street Fighter of all games. I'm sure this Ellen Fox has a promising career on TV on some other channel, but hopefully that's not the direction Current is taking.

      Brett's Haiku actually made me laugh, that's about as much praise as I have to give.

      But, to mirror the critique of the Echelon Conspiracy:
      There are parts of this show that work fine, but it never all comes together into what is it called, a good show. Final tomato meter rating . . . 0%

    • 4 years ago
  • jorch10
  • tu5437
  • thedeejer
    • 0
      thedeejer  

    • This show sucks! Kristian Harloff and Mark Ellis' version was SO MUCH BETTER.

      These clowns are trying WAY TOO HARD.

      Comedy comes naturally to some, not these two.

      I also miss their regular guests...

    • 4 years ago
  • stewgame
  • Faye_Kingslee
    • 0
      Faye_Kingslee  

    • Just watched the entire episode and have to say the top 5 conspiracy spiel was painful to watch - Ellen, I just tune out. Brett, I can see is trying to make the script his own, but everything just sounds forced.
      Think the only thing that made this worth watching was the cut aways.
      I've also been a dedicated rotten tomatoes viewer for nearly 3 years now, and I imagined the format to be different. Fresh and unique from other movie review formats. I'm also a newly Current fan and am addicted to Infomania - however, i think the marriage between the two left me....underwhelmed.
      Think you are covering way too much in half an hour from secret movie confessions to What was the last movie that made you cry.This isn't MTV guys, just keep it real. Who is your target audience? It comes across like you are trying to entertain teeny boppers.

    • 4 years ago
  • Maggiekortchmar
  • maka_zio
    • 0
      maka_zio  
    • Faye_Kingslee:

      yikes...Yeah, I give you credit for watching the whole thing (I gave up about 4 mintues in). This comment caught my eye in the 'people talking' section and upon review I think its safe to say you hit the nail on the head (ugh I despise that expression yet still I use it). Rotten Tomatoes and Current are heroes in there own regards so for them to unite and come up short is quite a disappointment. Heres to them tinkering with the format and coming back with a winner.

    • 4 years ago
  • ayashe
    • 0
      ayashe  

    • I liked the show, but it could have been better. Ellen Fox isn't funny and has no chemistry with Brett (who was awesome as always).

    • 4 years ago
  • jennatar
    • 0
      jennatar  
    • Image

    • I liked this show better when it was called "Movie Mob."

      I think that show is really successful because the reviewers are able to carry the show, without its host feeling like she needs to 'top them,' 'steal their thunder,' or -- shudder! -- 'put them in their place.' There is nothing more awkward than seeing a host mock or condescend to a real person or reviewer during a clip show, especially when the reviewer is funnier than the host.

    • 4 years ago
  • Maggiekortchmar
  • CosmosMariner
    • 0
      CosmosMariner  

    • I'm interested in seeing the next couple episodes. Hopefully the series will get better with age? I'm not hating but you could tell it was a pilot show. I'm wondering how you come up with the tomato percentage rating. Is it how much of the tomato you would refrain from throwing at the screen or what?

    • 4 years ago
  • newamerica2012
    • 0
      newamerica2012  
    • CosmosMariner:

      Yes, the name derives from the historical cliché of throwing tomatoes and other produce at stage performers if a performance was particularly bad. A positive rating for a film is represented by a full red tomato, and a negative rating is represented by a green splattered one. In order for a film to be "fresh" it has to receive at least 60% in positive ratings, anything less is considered "rotten." But by no means ignore films that are considered "rotten," some of my favorite films are labeled this and I'm sure many you like or would like are as well. Use both RT and IMDB, RT tends to be more "arty farty" and gives little mercy to slapstick comedies and fun horrors.

    • 4 years ago
  • Magoria
    • 0
      Magoria  

    • It's a great start, and I hate to be so brutal but Brett and the viewer commentaries are the only thing that holds this show together.

      Please, dear God, GET RID OF ELLEN FOX!!! She seems like a lovely gal... but NOT on camera. It's painful, so very, very, painful to watch her. Although you casted her to either draw in more females, get a girlish perspective -- or even to juxtapose Erlich's quirky comedy -- you guys have missed the mark with her. Completely.

      I'm a loyal watcher to your talented channel, so I hope this show gets as good as the rest of your programing.

    • 4 years ago
  • veggielover
  • BillCue
  • newamerica2012
    • 0
      newamerica2012  

    • IMDB kicks RottenTomatoes butt! I'm a member of both, but RT, particularly the so-called "Creme of the Crop," give bad reviews and low ratings to many films based on things other than the actual film, and vice versa. The site itself is easy on the eyes, but navigating is like having some hardcore DMV instructor riding shotgun.

      And T4 will be an atrocity!

    • 4 years ago
  • sweatmyhalyard
  • JrecK
  • jessepstein
    • 0
      jessepstein  

    • "Tuesday's Wednesday..." Xanadu rocks.. Thought the 2 hosts had strong chemistry, great lines and the show was funny.. Ellen is a good foil for Brett.. they both can't have the same energy.. Sounds like some ladies might be wanting to be in her place to me.. tone down the harshness!

    • 4 years ago
  • MaRibElfalcon76
    • 0
      MaRibElfalcon76  

    • Confession: I stopped watching at 2.23 min. and stopped listening at 3.43 min. Sorry guys...

      Umm, so Brett.. although I want to have your babies and all.. just so your DNA can replicated somehow. I don't think was a winner to your comedic strengths...maybe you're better off solo.

      And the girl.. umm Ellen. Yeah, LOOk, you seem nice and potentially a good TV personality. TV- as in regular cable shows/networks/NBC nightly news/ whatever- not really Current. You don't really fit the vibe. You seem too normal and that's hard for viewers to relate to. If you haven't noticed we are weirdos, funny and smart, but weirdos.

      So that's my critique of the hosts. I would if I could give some feedback on the whole show, but like I said.. I stopped before 4 minutes in.

    • 4 years ago
  • Xion
    • 0
      Xion  

    • Personally, I wouldn't judge this on the first episode.
      I'm waiting a while to see if this show can get a swagger.

    • 4 years ago
  • itdango
  • squidteeth
  • realfran
    • 0
      realfran  

    • im kinda dissapointed, i agree with squiteeth, CURRENT LOWDOWN was awesome!
      in that show the reviews were truly funny.
      this one felt just weird, i honestly wanted to like the show but i dont know what happened, im sorry but please just leave the reviews to the viewers, when brett or ellen appear something is off.

    • 4 years ago
  • squidteeth
    • 0
      squidteeth  

    • wow.
      Just when i thought Brett Erlich could make anything awesome...
      ... i saw this show.

      Current, you had a good thing going with the 3 minute movie reviews from viewers. they were raw, they were insightful, hilarious, BRilliantly edited and most of the time totally dead on.

      so what the heck is this... garbage?

      It’s a show that claims to keep the same chemistry, (videos of people + movies = funny) but fails MISERably.

      Yes it is a review show, and yes there are clips of people talking to their computers. But some how, out of the infinite number of internet videos out there, none of the reviews they've discovered seem to be funny.

      It falls into that same old boring pattern that has been beaten to death by regular tv. They show 4 seconds of clip, after which the review is completely dominated by the host... which is only barely tolerable when that host is Brett.

      Let me just say this about your hostess, Ellen Fox. If you had told me there was a person who could make Brett Erlich not funny just by being in the same room as him, I wouldn't have believed it. There aren't WORDS to describe the chemistry between these two. Its like ...negative chemistry. It's anti-chemistry.

      Where in gods name did you find this woman? She's not fresh or hip, talks in that obnoxious tv voice, and seems to have nothing intelligent or funny to say. Yet some how, she keeps... TALKING.

      While discussing "Street Fighter", she openly admitted to knowing nothing about Street Fighter before spewing into a worthless monologue about what the lead actress brought to the film. If she has no legitimate opinions about Street Fighter... then why is she on the show talking about Street Fighter?

      Constant, cheesy little annoying tomato graphics (in case you forgot within the first five minutes that you're watching a show with the word "tomato" in the title), an annoying host, all flashing around and distracting you from the fact that none of the things they have to say about these films are in any way entertaining.

      You basically took everything annoying about regular tv and some how managed to cram it into one half hour.

      Current, I don’t know what happened on this one... but its just not you.

      fix it, or ditch it.

    • 4 years ago
  • cauthoncrazy
  • AliciaBin3D
    • 0
      AliciaBin3D  
    • squidteeth:

      Wow squid, thanks for so concisely nailing exactly the serious flaws with this craptastrophe. Douchy, but on point.

      Seriously though, I hate to say it, even from that first split-second b/w teaser (before the intro) that plays the "funniest" phrase was foreboding. How'd ya even do that?

      Not that a movie reviews show demands dynamic electricity between hosts, but really, ellen looks like she seconds from stabbing brett with a triton. Its as though this was filmed after a night of disappointing, awkward sex. (My apologies if anyone's grandmother died before filming -- another plausible excuse)

      I agree - get rid of the graphics. They were long enough to replace content although I wasn't looking forward to much more.

      Sorry for the hating, not usually my style. Just a jarring letdown after consistently amusing lead in, infomania.

      In sum, instant high killer. Negative 10 thousand points.

    • 4 years ago
  • superfinet
  • pelotador
    • 0
      pelotador  

    • I was mildly disappointed. The whole show felt stilted, and I have never seen Brett be less funny. Still, he was hilarious, though Ellen detracts from his irreverence.
      The show is still looking for its own character, as it takes Infomania's style without the smooth efficiency of Conor. The future of this show should change.
      It is like watching the Phoenix Suns without Steve Nash- the most dynamic member is placed somewhere where his extraordinary talent is wasted. Let Brett roam free, without the tacky graphics and forced co-hostmanship.

    • 4 years ago
  • kremlin
    • 0
      kremlin  
    • pelotador:

      So in this analogy is Steve Nash out with an injury, or is he hamstrung by Shaq's (Ellen Fox's) inability to get up and down the court? Or is it Terry Porter's (producer's) insistence on running a prep school offense?

      Personally I prefer to compare the first Rotten Tomatoes to Rafer Alston (a.k.a. 'Skip 2 my Lou', a.k.a. Brett) being hemmed in by the antiquated rules of the NBA. Sure, first year film students probably shouldn't crab dribble, but it's a big mistake to remove it from Brett's repertoire.

      On a positive note, many all-star fusions start out a little unstable only to become unstoppable. Just look at Iverson and Anthony. Hmmmm. Well, here's where the analogy gets blurred. From a record point of view Iverson/Anthony was of modest success at best. From an entertainment point of view that sh*t was dope. I guess Brett would be both Iverson and Anthony in this comparison, and Ellen would be Marcus Camby, which is actually a pretty vital component, Ellen, cause those two play terrible defense.

    • 4 years ago
  • drnknjbbrsh
  • kremlin
    • 0
      kremlin  
    • pelotador:

      @drnknjbbrsh

      I know Brett from InfoMania, Campaign Updates, and Viral Video Film School, which when converted to our basketball analogy would be Ventura Junior College, Fresno State and And 1's Mix Tape Tour. All of which were good, unconstrained venues for showcasing his talent.

      I also want to stress that I actually like Ellen Fox's contribution to the show. I mean seriously, you need someone who can clean up in the paint.

      Finally, I should point out that there are other threads regarding Brett and Ellen's relative merits that don't involve basketball comparisons. So you don't have to use this one.

      cheers,
      kremlin

    • 4 years ago
  • pelotador
    • 0
      pelotador  
    • pelotador:

      Brett Erlich is in a whole different sport when it comes to his other shows. He is at the top of his game in the Campaign Update series. Think watching Larry Bird with the Celtics or Kareem Abdul Jabbar for the Lakers- while no longer especially relevant, they are stunning performances by those at the pinnacle of their talents. Viral Video Film School is more like the Miami Heat: there are always redeeming qualities to their play, but you never know if D-Wade is going to blow your pants off with something amazing. Whatever else he does or says is equally amazing.
      I am rather proud of myself for coming up with these basketball metaphors because I am a soccer player- in which case Brett Erlich might be Robinho for Man City in Rotten Tomatoes or something. So maybe, like Robinho has redeemed the blue side of Manchester, Brett can turn around this sinking ship. They certainly have put a lot of capital into the infrastructure to suck this much. (I am talking to you rich oil sheik who owns City)
      Returning to basketball analogies, Shaq could very well represent Ellen Fox in my analogy. In soccer, I would use the more apt analogy of Beckham at the LA Galaxy. Becks could obviously do the mainstream circuit because of his good looks and narrow skill set, but he is not suited to play for fun and build respect. Landon Donovan, like Brett, has to suffer this intrusion though he obviously the much better player and more dedicated. While the Galaxy sucked, Brett and Ellen might get some of the coolness that Becks and L.D. got at points last season.
      Pelotador Out.

    • 4 years ago
  • ivanbnice
  • kalorca
    • 0
      kalorca  

    • Wow .... I feel like I'm sitting around on a bong water stained sofa with my over educated film student friends who unfortunately can't actually get work in the film industry. I did watch the whole think and even laughed a couple of times ... I guess that says a something. But let's do a few more reviews like the ones you gave for The Conversation and The Manchurian Candidate. You know, talk about film like you actually like film and aren't soooo above it all.

    • 4 years ago
  • nkeg87
  • BunnyHaze
  • kafka2k
  • asherp
  • escarondito
  • PROYECTOarismuca
    • 0
      PROYECTOarismuca  

    • OK, upon seeing the top 5, I see two possible reasons they are from decades ago: movies where better in the past, or critics where not flaw-spotting freaks back then. I vote for the last one.

    • 4 years ago
  • kremlin
    • 0
      kremlin  

    • I felt like the topless Aussie gave the movie a degree of verisimilitude. I mean, how do you think those people obtained their renown mastery of wild beasts? In fact Dundee's thumb and pinkie sedation of the water buffalo was just a rough approximation of wobbling nipples.

      anyway, keep up the killer work Brett. You too Ellen.

    • 4 years ago
  • basketcase
  • naty_forty
  • elizs
  • Sarah_Haskins
  • dpaul420
    • 0
      dpaul420  

    • ok, live action video versions of video games and manga should stop, but for a great video game movie, look no further than Final Fantasy: Advent Children. Even Resident Evil: Degeneration wasnt bad. Looks like CG video game movies are the only ones that do well.

    • 4 years ago
  • KarlitoMosquito
    • 0
      KarlitoMosquito  

    • This show is AWESOME!! I am so glad that I get to see more of Brett, and his co-host is pretty hot too, she seems like a perfect match for Brett. I look forward to watching more of this show in the future!

    • 4 years ago
  • kid_amy
  • smurph25
    • 0
      smurph25  

    • What a great new show (and in 16:9 widescreen, first for you guys at Current). Inspires me to post a webcam review of Watchmen, after I watch it...

    • 4 years ago
  • ILiveonaClock
  • jade_azul16
  • KI4CLZ
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