Metacritic

Opinions about the latest movies, books, and TV shows seem to be expanding exponentially. Thankfully, savvy consumers have Metacritic. Metacritic is a one-stop Web site, an aggregated database of film, music, television, book, and video game reviews. Metacritic gathers authoritative reviews from respected Web sites of prominent newspapers, publications such as Entertainment Weekly, the New Yorker, Time and Variety, Web journals like Salon and Slate, publishing and library reviewing journals, and gamer magazines. Using a unique rating system, Metacritic combines individual critic scores into an overall consensus grade for each item (here's a sample) while also providing the full individual reviews. Started by three attorneys as a film review database in 2001, its scope and popularity have expanded but its mission remains “helping consumers make an informed decision about how to spend their money on entertainment.”

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