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To commemorate the 10th anniversary of Rotten Tomatoes, we asked some of the founding members of RT to share their memories. What follows is an oral history of Rotten Tomatoes’ early years, from the people who were there at the beginning. In this installment, we cover the genesis of the site — how the founding Tomatoes turned their love of movies into a destination for cinema fanatics the world over.
In 1998, Senh Duong (right) was working as the creative director of Design Reactor, a Bay Area web design firm founded by a group of University of California-Berkeley graduates. A big movie buff, Senh was looking for reviews of Jackie Chan movies one night when a light bulb went off in his head.
Senh Duong: My first visit to the theater was in junior high. And it was a double bill — Raw Deal starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Cobra with Sylvester Stallone). My friends and I thought Cobra was the better of the two. So my inclinations tended toward action movies. It’s my favorite genre. And my favorite actors then were action stars: Arnold, Stallone, and Bruce Willis.
I discovered Jet Li and Jackie Chan during high school, and I’ve always felt it was a shame that neither were known in the US then. When I got to college and was living in the dorms, I would always put on a Jackie or Jet movie, and they would always draw a crowd. When Rumble in the Bronx came out in the US, I was really curious to see how critics would react to it. I would search the web for reviews of each of his Asian imports.
I had the idea while searching for reviews of Jackie Chan imports — Rumble in the Bronx, Supercop, Twin Dragons, and First Strike.
In high school, I started looking at the box office charts every week to see what movies were popular. I also started watching Siskel & Ebert, which obviously had a huge influence on me. When I was started picking a domain name for Rotten Tomatoes, I was gonna call it “Thumbs Up” as a tribute to them, but luckily (for copyright reasons), all variations of the show’s trademarked rating system were taken. I ended up with Rotten Tomatoes because I didn’t think anyone had used it as domain name. And I was right!

rottentomatoes.com

It seems that everywhere you look in Jackson, American 1 Federal Credit Union is sponsoring something.
From the $112,500 over 10 years for naming rights to the Fair Events Center, to the $60,000 five-year sponsorship of the Rose Parade and Party at the Park, the credit union has increasingly been lending its name and resources to community events.
Sponsoring more than 20 events throughout the year, and coordinating and organizing most of them, the American 1 spends about $150,000 a year in event marketing.
“All the community involvement that we do helps to build our brand within the community and overall build relationships and trust and brings people in our doors,” said Kristi Latoszewski, vice president of marketing and communications.
The amount spent has been growing gradually each year, she said.
But in a struggling economy, how is American 1 benefiting from the dollars it spends to promote itself?
“We are able to do these things because we have had a very successful 2007 and we are continuing to grow,” Latoszewski said. “We feel that it is our obligation to do what we can for the community.”
Much of American 1’s success comes from the company’s marketing efforts, Latoszewski said, adding that she “absolutely” believes it attracts business.
For more on this story, visit mlive.com/citpat Tuesday, or pick up Tuesday’s Jackson Citizen Patriot.

blog.mlive.com

A good defence beats a good offence. This is one of those truisms that is repeated in the context of every sport. Pitching beats hitting in baseball. In football it’s defence wins championships. In hockey? Say hello to the neutral zone trap. And in basketball whenever anyone tries to go against the grain – the Suns, Warriors or Nuggets come to mind – naysayers are always quick to point out that those teams score nicely in the regular season, but have always fell short at playoff time. It’s not like the Celtics are a terrible offensive team or the Lakers an awful defensive team, it’s just that Boston is a great team without the ball and the Gasol-era Lakers have been shockingly good with it. Something had to give, people figured. Game 1 was an interesting microcosm in that respect: The Lakers shot a comfortable 50 per cent in the first half and led by six. The Celtics packed it in better in the second half, forcing a misfiring Kobe Bryant to make those jumpers, and they end up winning going away.
It will be really interesting to see how Paul Pierce responds come Sunday. While not pretending to be an elite athlete or anything, my experience with strains and sprains suffered in games is that you can usually get through the event as long as the injury isn’t too traumatic. The problems come in the next few days when the swelling starts and the stiffness sets in. The adrenaline is gone and all you’ve got a sore knee, or whatever. Just because Pierce finished strong last night is no reflection on what he’ll have to offer Sunday. He might be fine, but he might be really hobbled. Obviously the story line to follow in the next few days.
I’m a big Ray Allen fan. Although his game seems pretty limited now compared to what it was – he could really crown guys way back; now he goes to the paint like he’s trying not to sprain his ankles – he’s still enjoyable to watch in that Reggie Miller, Richard Hamilton kind of way. I got to the arena early last night and there was Allen doing his three-hours-before-the-game shooting routine, like always. He describes the ritual as a calming kind of experience, the pleasure he takes in being in the arena alone with the ball and his thoughts an essential part of his preparation. Well he was there last night but so was everyone else. There must have been 300 people around and on the floor three hours before the game – media, tech folk and who knows who else. Not exactly the most Zen-like setting. But Allen was out there doing his thing, every step choreographed. There was no expression on his makes, which were about 90 per cent, and just winces for the odd miss. He looked great, really magnificent. And then the cool part was when he was done he made a point of shaking the hands of everyone who was on the floor with him: a couple of Celtics trainers; about four or five ball boys. And not just little lookaway daps either. They were formal, ball-under-the-left-arm, right hand extended, old school, firm grips. Cool, I have to say.

theglobeandmail.com