Paddington 2 Knocks Citizen Kane Off Top Spot

It's now best-reviewed film of all time on Rotten Tomatoes
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 28, 2021 2:37 PM CDT
Paddington 2 Knocks Citizen Kane Off Top Spot
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows the character Paddington, voiced by Ben Whishaw, in a scene from " Paddington 2."   (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

Is Citizen Kane overrated? A movie reviewer at the Chicago Tribune thought so 80 years ago—and that recently unearthed negative review has knocked Orson Welles' masterpiece off its perch as the best-reviewed movie of all time on Rotten Tomatoes, reports Vanity Fair. That honor now goes to Paddington 2, which has a 100% positive rating—and more reviews than others with 100% positive reviews, including The Terminator and Singing in the Rain. "I do hope Mr Kane won't be too upset when he hears I've overtaken him with rotten tomatoes," the official Paddington account tweeted.

Paul King, who directed both Paddington movies, tells the Hollywood Reporter that he won't let it go to his head. "It's extremely lovely to be on on any list, which includes Citizen Kane, but it is obviously quite an eccentric list that goes from Citizen Kane to Paddington 2, so I'll try not to take it too seriously," he says. The Tribune reports that the negative review—titled "Citizen Kane Fails to Impress Critic as Greatest Ever Filmed"—was one of numerous old reviews recently posted by review curation manager Tim Ryan. The critic, who wrote that Kane was "bizarre enough to become a museum piece" but that "its sacrifice of simplicity to eccentricity robs it of distinction and general entertainment value," went by the pseudonym "Mae Tinee," which was used by various Tribune writers between 1915 and 1966. (More Paddington Bear stories.)

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