Explainer: Hollywood rating system CinemaScore, ratings of recent films
How do you decide which film to catch in the theaters, especially when the paradox of choice weighs heavily on you? Do you check the critics' reviews, the IMDb ratings, the score on Rotten Tomatoes, or how much money has it minted at the box office? Perhaps, you can see the grade it has received from CinemaScore. Not familiar with it? Here's your guide.
This is what it does
CinemaScore is an American organization that speaks directly to moviegoers, checks what they feel about a film, and then assigns grades accordingly. Its website says, "We provide unbiased measurement of audience response that helps gauge movie appeal and success by polling movie audiences on opening night for their reaction to the latest major movie releases." It's been going strong since 1978!
How is it 'better' than film reviews?
But, why is such a system needed at all? CinemaScore says, "CinemaScore was born when its founders saw a need for theater audiences to have a 'public voice' for their opinions about movie appeal." "While a movie critic only provides a single perspective on a movie, a statistically robust sample of a national audience offers a broader and more varied point of view."
How are people's opinions recorded?
The website explains, "On opening night around [America], CinemaScore polls moviegoers for their opinions on new movie releases. Audience members fill out ballot cards at the theater, grading a movie A to F and providing demographic information." "CinemaScore uses this direct balloting approach to establish a movie's grade." "With [several options available.]...the need for a 'movie-quality benchmark' is greater than ever."
Grades of recently released Hollywood films
Here's how recent films have been graded by CinemaScore. Matthew Vaughn's Argylle (C+), Will Gluck's Anyone But You (B+), James Wan's Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (B), Francis Lawrence's The Hunger Games: Ballads of Songbirds and Snakes (B+), Sean Durkin's The Iron Claw (A-), Ridley Scott's Napoleon (B-), Paul King's Wonka (A-), and Walt Dohrn's Trolls Band Together (A).
The best and the worst films, per CinemaScore
Films such as Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Richard Attenborough's Gandhi, Sylvester Stallone's Rocky III, Peter Weir's Dead Poets Society, Kevin Costner's Dances With Wolves, and James Cameron's Titanic have all been honored with the A+ grading. However, movies such as Jane Campion's In the Cut, William Malone's Fear Dot Com, and Uwe Boll's Alone in the Dark were slapped with an F score.
