'Toy Story' Narrowly Misses Perfect Trilogy Marks (Thanks, Armond White)

By Zach Dionne Posted Jun 20th 2010 02:00PM

Thursday, 'Toy Story 3' had a shot at something special -- it stood to propel the three films into history, becoming the only trilogy rated 100 percent fresh across the board on Rotten Tomatoes.

Friday, that hope was dashed. As Roger Ebert and others predicted, notoriously contrary New York Press film critic Armond White dissed the third installment in Pixar's flagship franchise. White's review deems the nearly universally acclaimed film "essentially a bored [sic] game that only the brainwashed will buy into" and posits the series is only fit for "non-thinking children and adults."

The other negative review (seriously, there were two) comes from a critic named Cole Smithey. His "news outlet"? ColeSmithey.com, of course, where he dubs himself "The Smartest Film Critic in the World." No word on who he actually, y'know, is, or why he sits alongside the likes of critics like Ebert, A.O. Scott, Peter Travers and Owen Gleiberman on the review-compiling website.

It's hard to ignore the fact that the two Scrooges' opinions fly in the face of much of the Internet and more than 150 critics on Rotten Tomatoes -- the consensus seems to be that the film is a stellar conclusion to a shining series.

"Maybe Smithey and White – a lifelong devil's advocate who has made a career out of railing against popular opinion – used their reviews more as a means of grabbing attention," Time magazine writes in a post titled 'Can 147 Critics Be Wrong? Meet the Two Pundits Who Trashed Toy Story 3.'

The tally now stands at 155 fresh reviews and two rotten ones. Unfortunately, the pair of unsavory reviews keep 'Toy Story' from being the only trilogy of all time to receive perfect marks:

June 22 update: A third rotten review has rolled in, dipping the film's score to 98 percent with 167 positive reviews, three negative ones.

To turn off our journalistic objectivity device for a minute (what do you mean, we turned that off for the headline and never looked back?!), we'd be remiss if we didn't point out Armond White dished a positive review to 'Jonah Hex,' an 80-minute feature film receiving a severe drubbing from critics (15 percent fresh on Rotten Tomates). White also suggested 'Transformers 2' as a superior alternative to 'Toy Story 3.'

White's chink in 'Toy Story's' armor was the final straw for some film fans -- a petition, 'Ban Armond White from RottenTomates.com,' has received nearly 2,000 signatures. The petition spotlights White's approval of films like 'Norbit' and 'Confessions of Shopaholic' and his poor reviews of critic- and fan-favorites 'The Dark Knight' and 'There Will Be Blood.'

"I am forced to conclude that White is, as charged, a troll," Ebert wrote last summer.

Entertainment Weekly reports 'Toy Story 3' could earn as much as $120 million in its first weekend. Pixar's current opening weekend record is $70.5 million for 'The Incredibles.'

Read more: 'Surveying Cinema's Biggest Franchises,' in which PopEater's Jason Newman spotlights Pixar's 10-for-10 run with fans and critics.

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Tags: Armond White, Toy Story 3

Comments

(72)

Monday 21 June

By Nikki

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Toy Story is still epic in my eyes. So it got a 99%. Big whoop. At least its not anything less from that.
Tjose critics know that that was one of the best movies they've seen ALL YEAR but just want to push some buttons. Pfft.

Tuesday 22 June

By sae316

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Film critics are worse than weather forecasters, they miss it more than 49% of the time. I don't know why people bother with most of them. They live in a vacuum and their opinions/tastes do not reflect most peoples. I give most of the 0%, this was not even news worthy.

By Teressa Adams

Who are these losers? Of course I NEVER listen to critics if I did I would have missed some really good/great movies. I have 3 year old twin boys so yes we will se it this week but no way was I going to fight a crowd over the weekend to see it.

By Jay

Who cares about that website, they bash good films all the time. All there is are a bunch of losers who rate great films low for minor reasons. If you really wanna know if the film is good or not, actually SEE IT. Why is this website even relevant to a great movie like toy story 3.

By redtide3122

The fact that anyone cares what any critic thinks is kind of funny (yes that means you too Ebert). The one thing everyone has is an opinion, and thus everyone is or can be a critic. Different people like different things for different reasons. If you saw the movie and enjoyed it then great and if not then great too. I could care less what some schlock says or what Ebert or the other so called "established" critics have to say.

By Cameron Gmehlin

What is wrong with Armond White? His reviews are poorly constructed. For being a "professional reviewer" I was incredibly surprised with his apparent ineptitude at crafting paragraphs. Did he have any professional journalistic training at all? I believe that each and every review should be unbiased, professional, and stylish. He portrayed none of these three key requirements in his review. I am 100% sure that he was after attention.

By Laura

HAHAHAHAHA! I clicked expecting an IMPORTANT record. I imagine that the only people who read reviews are... other critics. Don't need someone else's opinion to decide my own. And besides, I was under the impression that the lot of them are trolls.

By LISA

I liked the movie as an adult but I thought it was too nervewracking/scary for children under 7. And what was with the poltergeist baby???

By kassidy

In my personal opion as a girl growing up with pixar this movie was great. me and my whole family loved it. pixar is amazing at making movies and they never dissapoint. Toy Story 3 was great and it has been an 11 year difference from the time Toy Story 2 came out making it an 15 year difference from when the first one came out. it was so awsome how with such a long year span between movies. usually most animated mocies dont do well with sequels such as shrek. the first three were good but the fourth one that was released a month ago was pretty bad. it didnt really have the child image in mind like the other ones did. which was great about toy story 3, because in every movie it was made for children but as well as for adults because it had that adult humer. in shrek 4 the children where talking throught the whole movie restless and confused saying "what happened to shrek, wheres Fiona", mean while in toy story the children where laughing as well as adults and enjoying the movie. another thing that is great about the movie is the cast. they chose a stellar cast and kept it (unfortunatlly the guy who plays slinky dog was recasted for the third one becuase he died.) to me pixar did not disapoint. i love Pixar and i hope that people wouldnt stop watching there movies just becuase of some stupid review from a critic who probably dispises great movies.

(i apologize if some things are mispelled.)

By Bob

Just what makes the opinion of a film critic, any film critic, so special? I need a job like that! Watch movies and get paid to write opinions that are only important to me.

By Jackie

If loving movies like toy story 3 make me a non-thinking adult then I am ok with that....I would hate to over think and miss out on all the great things in life and all three toy story movies are definitly something I would hate to miss out on....saw it and LOVED it....mad me laugh...almost cry...and had me on the edge of my seat at times. I love these movies because they take me back to childhood and remind me of the imagination and love for toys that you forget about as you grow into adulthood.

By Debi

I usually stay clear of movies that critics love as they are generally uninteresting, unexciting garbage. Go take the kids to Toy Story 3 if it doesn't bring tears then you are not human.

By Carlos

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Hey White... REACH FOR THE SKY!!!

By pastorm

My wife and I saw the movie, enjoyed it tremendously. Great story. And though it's not real, it has several human elements to the story line. You just have to be intelligent and human enough to see them.

By Greetings W9ACT

As so many others have stated here, the ONLY honest opuinion of the movie is your own. Go see it for yourself.

By Prissy

Mr White what is that brown stuff on the end of your nose? I don't think it's fudge. You must be on strong medication. People are the real critics here not you. I love the movie and so did my Grandson. It was sold out all weekend. I vote to terminate your movie rights and your paycheck.

By Pete

Film Critics, a NOT needed bunch if there ever was one. I would Not believe them if they said it was raining and I was standing up to my neck in water. They are needed as much as more politicians. I will choose my own movies to go see. Too many times I went to see a movie they were touting, Boreing as hell.

By NaCl 1337 pAnDa

RT should be able to purge these rotten ratings when they are clearly done just to spite everybody and play devils advocate. they shouldnt be allowed to mess up a trilogys perfect rating, i know its pretty unimportant in the grand scheme of things, but still....why let them get the attention they seek and ruin everyones party.

By Pierre

I'm glad there's at least one critic who might poit out that the Pixar films are basically the same thing over and over. The problem is that people peg you as a contrarian for saying that you don't think they're wonderful. I find them a bit simplistic, but I'm not going to actively seek out everyone to vent my views. I just don't like them. it's fine if you do, but I'm entitled to my opinion.

By Sherry

Hands down,that was the best movie I have seen in a loong time,in any genre.I can't remember when I have laughed that hard.I would see it again,I probably WILL see it again.My two teenage daughters were little when the first two movies came out.Our house was full of Toy Story toys back then.This year,my oldest graduated from high school,so watching Andy leave for college was heartbreaking for me.Bring tissues!!

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