Ain't It Cool News

Last updated

Ain't It Cool News
Aintitcool.com screenshot.png
Ain't It Cool News home page
Type of site
 Film review, television review, comic books
Available inEnglish
OwnerHarry Knowles
Created byHarry Knowles
URL aintitcool.com
Launched1996;27 years ago (1996)
Current statusActive

Ain't It Cool News (AICN) is an entertainment news website founded by Harry Knowles and run by his sister Dannie Knowles since September 2017, dedicated to news, rumors, and reviews of upcoming and current films, television, and comic book projects, with an emphasis on science fiction, superhero, fantasy, horror, and action genres.

Contents

History

Ain't It Cool News was launched in 1996, and its name is attributed to a quote from John Travolta's character in the film Broken Arrow . [1] Knowles began surfing the internet while recovering from a debilitating accident in 1994. He spent a lot of time in newsgroups exchanging gossip and rumors about upcoming films, eventually creating his own website as part of his internet hobby. A principal offering was Knowles' colorful movie reviews, but the primary distinction from other sites was the (ostensible) insider news articles. Production assistants, people in the industry, secretaries, and other behind-the-scenes folk would submit news such as casting decisions, scripts, and release dates, though Knowles himself has admitted that in the beginning, some of the articles from these alleged "spies" were his own work generated from scouring the newsgroups.

Over the next few years the site expanded by adding associate contributors across the globe, most of whom would go by pseudonyms, such as Chicago movie critic Steve Prokopy, who goes by the name "Capone" on AICN; Eric Vespe ("Quint"); Moises Chiullan ("Monty Cristo"); and UK-based critic Adam Stephen Kelly ("Britgeek"). [2]

The website garnered national attention in 1997 with the release of Batman & Robin . Knowles posted several negative reviews from preview screenings. [3] When the film performed poorly at the box office, studio executives complained that it had been sabotaged by the leaks to the Internet. [4] However, negative reviews from other, more traditional, media confirmed what Knowles had posted. From there, the site's popularity rapidly expanded. National magazines such as People and Newsweek called for interviews with Knowles. [5] [6]

The site was parodied in the film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back when the lead characters look at the Movie Poop Shoot site. [7] That site was created at MoviePoopShoot.com as part of the film's publicity, and existed as a similar site for some time. However, after the release of Clerks II , the site was shut down. A site has since been put back up at that same URL, now run by Quick Stop Entertainment, a company probably best known for running the semi-official site for the TV series Scrubs and the official sites for the other films by Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back writer/director Kevin Smith.

Occasionally, filmmakers interact with fans on the site. Sylvester Stallone answered numerous questions from fans in the site's message boards while publicizing the release of Rocky Balboa as well as The Expendables. [8] Bruce Willis also posted on the website briefly to promote his film Live Free or Die Hard . [9]

On April 5, 2012, the first episode of Ain't It Cool with Harry Knowles was posted on YouTube. This scripted film news show, presented by Harry Knowles, is intended "to translate the fantasy-esque world of Ain't It Cool News to a different medium". [10] In this episode, Knowles reviewed what he claimed to be the script for Ridley Scott's highly anticipated film Prometheus ; however, screenwriter Damon Lindelof announced that Knowles must have been "duped", as the script was a fake [11] that had been posted on the Internet almost a month before. Knowles then updated the story on the site and attempted an explanation. [12]

Decline of AICN in popularity

According to an April 5, 2013, article in The Hollywood Reporter , Knowles' site made $700,000 per year in revenue in its early 2000s prime. [13] However, by 2013, traffic had dwindled and ad revenue had dropped to the low six figures. [13] The Hollywood Reporter also noted that Knowles owed $300,000 in back taxes to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service by that point, and the inability of AICN to adapt beyond a dated '90s web template, being outpaced by newer sites, and its continuing difficulty generating the scoops and headlines it was known for in its prime. [13]

Sexual assault allegations against Harry Knowles

On September 23, 2017, it was reported on IndieWire [14] and circulated in other national media [15] that Knowles had allegedly sexually assaulted a woman named Jasmine Baker on two occasions in 1999 and 2000 at official Alamo Drafthouse events in Austin, Texas, and that when informed of the incidents by Baker, Drafthouse owners took no action. Knowles denied the allegations. [14]

In response to the story, a number of Ain't It Cool News contributors resigned from the site. [16] Blogger Horrorella announced her departure on September 24. [17] Longtime writers Steve Prokopy, who used the pseudonym "Capone," and Eric Vespe, who as "Quint," had been with the site since its beginnings, announced that they were leaving AICN. [18] Alamo Drafthouse owner Tim League announced that the company, whose theater had served as home to the annual Butt-Numb-a-Thon film fest Knowles organized to commemorate his own birthday, had severed all ties with Knowles as a result of the controversy, [19] and the Austin Film Critics Association voted to remove Knowles as a member of the group. [20]

By September 26, four more women had made accusations of sexual assault and harassment. [21] Knowles announced that he was stepping down from the site for "therapy, detox, and getting to a better place." He placed his sister, Dannie, who used the moniker "Pekosa Peligrosa," in control, and suggested that he was training her to run the site. [22] Dannie herself started posting September 26, claiming a period of "female control" and intimating that there would be more female-accessible content for the foreseeable future. [23] [24]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Spacey</span> American actor (born 1959)

Kevin Spacey Fowler is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolades for his performances on stage and screen including two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Tony Award, two Laurence Olivier Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. He received nominations for a Grammy Award as well as twelve Primetime Emmy Awards. Spacey received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999, and was named an honorary Commander and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 and 2015, respectively.

<i>True Lies</i> 1994 film by James Cameron

True Lies is a 1994 American spy action comedy film written and directed by James Cameron, based on the 1991 French comedy film La Totale!. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as Harry Tasker, a U.S. government agent who struggles to balance his double life as a spy with his familial duties. Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton, Art Malik, and Tia Carrere star in supporting roles. True Lies was the first Lightstorm Entertainment project to be distributed under Cameron's multimillion-dollar production deal with 20th Century Fox, as well as the first major production for the visual effects company Digital Domain, which was co-founded by Cameron. It was also the first film to cost $100 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Knowles</span> American film critic and writer

Harry Jay Knowles is an American film critic and writer known for his website called Ain't It Cool News. Knowles was a member of the Austin Film Critics Association until he was removed in September 2017 "by a substantial majority vote" of the organization following allegations of sexual assault.

<i>Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot</i> 1992 American film

Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot is a 1992 American buddy cop action comedy directed by Roger Spottiswoode and starring Sylvester Stallone and Estelle Getty. The film was released in the United States on February 21, 1992. The film received highly negative reviews upon release but grossed $70.6 million worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryan Singer</span> American filmmaker (born 1965)

Bryan Jay Singer is an American filmmaker. He is the founder of Bad Hat Harry Productions and has produced almost all of the films he has directed.

<i>Punisher: War Zone</i> 2008 action thriller film directed by Lexi Alexander

Punisher: War Zone is a 2008 action thriller film based on the Marvel Comics character the Punisher, directed by Lexi Alexander. The film is a reboot that follows the war waged by vigilante Frank Castle on crime and corruption, in particular on the disfigured mob boss known as Billy "Jigsaw" Russotti, rather than a sequel to 2004's The Punisher. It is the third feature film adaptation of The Punisher, the second reboot thereof and the first of two films to be produced under the Marvel Knights production banner, which focuses on films for mature audiences. Punisher: War Zone was released in North America by Lionsgate on December 5, 2008, and it was released in the United Kingdom by Sony Pictures Releasing on February 6, 2009 to negative reviews and grossed $10 million worldwide, making it a commercial failure. Its related soundtrack hit the #23 slot on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart.

<i>The Punisher</i> (2004 film) Action film by Jonathan Hensleigh

The Punisher is a 2004 American vigilante action film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, directed by Jonathan Hensleigh, written by Hensleigh and Michael France. It stars Thomas Jane as the antihero Frank Castle and John Travolta as Howard Saint, a crime boss who orders the death of Castle's entire family.

<i>Harbinger</i> (comic book) American comic book series

Harbinger is an American comic book series published by Valiant Comics about a group of teenage super-powered outcasts known as Harbingers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JoBlo.com</span> Film review website

JoBlo.com is an anchor website of the JoBlo Movie Network, and it focuses on news, film reviews, and movie trailers. The network has YouTube channels that focus on trailers, movie clips, celebrity interviews, original content, and film distribution.

The Butt-Numb-A-Thon was a film marathon held in Austin, Texas every December from 1999 to 2016. It was hosted by Harry Knowles of the Ain't It Cool News website in celebration of his birthday. The festival showed 24 hours of vintage films as well as premieres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alamo Drafthouse Cinema</span> American movie theater chain

The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is an American cinema chain founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, which is famous for serving dinner and drinks during the movie, as well as its strict policy of requiring its audiences to maintain proper cinema-going etiquette.

<i>Faust</i> (comics) American series of comics by David Quinn & Tim Vigil

Faust is the lead superhero character and title of a collective series of comic books by Tim Vigil (art) and playwright David Quinn (stories), released by American publishers Northstar Comics, Avatar Press, and principally by Vigil and Quinn's own Rebel Studios.

<i>Pathogen</i> (film) 2006 American film

Pathogen is a 2006 zombie horror independent film written, directed, and produced by Emily Hagins, who was twelve at the time of the film's production. The film was released on March 25, 2006 and focuses on several middle school students who discover that an infection is turning people into zombies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punisher in film</span> Adaptations of the Punisher in films

The fictional character Frank Castle / Punisher, a comic book vigilante antihero created by Gerry Conway, John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru and featured in Marvel Comics publications, has appeared as a main character in multiple theatrical and straight-to-video films, many of them unrelated to each other. The first live-action film in 1989, was released theatrically worldwide then straight-to-video in the United States, starring Dolph Lundgren, while the second film was released in theaters in 2004, starring Thomas Jane. After an unsuccessful script of Punisher 2, the film series was then rebooted again in 2008 with the film Punisher: War Zone, starring Ray Stevenson.

Shrapnel is an American military science fiction limited comic book series published by Radical Comics in collaboration with Zombie Studios. The story was created and plotted by Mark Long and Nick Sagan, the final script was written by M. Zachary Sherman, and the art is provided by Bagus Hutomo based on designs by Kai.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim League</span> American film producer

Tim League is an American entrepreneur and film producer based in Austin, Texas. He is the founder of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain and the founder of the film distribution company Drafthouse Films, where League has produced films including The ABCs of Death. He is also the co-founder of genre film festival Fantastic Fest, the entertainment merchandise entity Mondo, and the film distribution and production company Neon.

Screen Anarchy, previously known as Twitch Film or Twitch, is a Canadian English-language website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown. In addition to films, the website covers various film festivals from Sundance, Toronto and Fantasia to Sitges, Cannes and the Berlinale. They partnered with Instinctive Film in 2011 to found Interactor, a crowd funding and viral marketing site, and with Indiegogo in 2013. Brown is a partner at XYZ Films, and Variety credits Twitch Film as helping to popularize the production company's films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gattlin Griffith</span> American actor (born 1998)

Gattlin Tadd Griffith is an American actor, best known for portraying Walter Collins in the historical crime drama Changeling (2008), Tim Tyson in the autobiographical civil rights film Blood Done Sign My Name (2010) and for starring in the romantic drama Labor Day (2013). He also had episodic roles on TV series such as Cold Case, Eli Stone, Supernatural, Criminal Minds and the films The New Daughter and Green Lantern.

<i>Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation</i> 1989 American fan film

Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation is a 1989 American fan film, made as a shot-for-shot remake of the 1981 Indiana Jones adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark. Using the original film's screenplay and score, it principally starred and was filmed, directed, and produced over a seven-year period by three Mississippi teenagers.

THEM Anime Reviews, otherwise known as THEM or T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews, is an anime review website that writes about current and past anime in any form, including OVAs and ONAs. The website offers reviews, editorial content and hosts forums.

References

  1. ↑ Hart, Lianne (August 6, 1997). "This Guy is Driving Hollywood NUTS!". The Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on June 12, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
  2. ↑ Ebert, Roger. "Okay, kids, play on my lawn" Archived August 11, 2010, at the Wayback Machine , "Roger Ebert's Journal", Chicago Sun-Times , July 1, 2010
  3. ↑ Weinraub, Bernard (November 16, 1997). "The Two Hollywoods; Harry Knowles Is Always Listening". The New York Times . Archived from the original on September 4, 2018. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
  4. ↑ Shaw, David (February 12, 2001). "Cyberspace Taking the 'Sneak' Out of Sneak Previews". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
  5. ↑ Marin, Rick (July 27, 1998). "The Buzz Machine". Newsweek. Archived from the original on June 12, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
  6. ↑ "Best of Bytes: Ain't It Cool News". People. December 29, 1997. p. 49.
  7. ↑ Whipp, Glenn (August 24, 2001). "Director has right to remain 'silent', but doesn't". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
  8. ↑ "Round One With Sylvester Stallone Q&A!!". Ain't It Cool News. December 1, 2006. Archived from the original on March 4, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
  9. ↑ "Lights, Camera, Action Hero". Belfast Telegraph. June 29, 2007. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
  10. ↑ Knowles, Harry (April 5, 2012). "AIN'T IT COOL with Harry Knowles: Episode 1..." Ain't It Cool News. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved April 5, 2012.
  11. ↑ Rosen, Christopher (April 6, 2012). "'Prometheus' Script: Damon Lindelof Comments On Harry Knowles' Review [UPDATE]". The Huffington Post . Archived from the original on April 8, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  12. ↑ Knowles, Harry (April 6, 2012). "Here's Harry's promised look at the PROMETHEUS script or was it - no outright spoilers - but if you already want to see this film, don't read this!". Ain't It Cool News. Archived from the original on April 8, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  13. 1 2 3 Espen, Hal; Kit, Borys (March 28, 2013). "Ain't It Cool's Harry Knowles: The Cash-Strapped King of the Nerds Plots a Comeback". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on February 23, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  14. 1 2 Erbland, Kate (September 23, 2017). "Harry Knowles Allegedly Sexually Assaulted Austin Woman Two Decades Ago, and Drafthouse Owners Didn't Take Action". IndieWire. Archived from the original on September 26, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  15. ↑ Washington, Arlene (September 24, 2017). "Ain't It Cool News Founder Harry Knowles Accused of Sexual Assault". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on September 25, 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  16. ↑ Maddaus, Gene (September 25, 2017). "Ain't It Cool News Contributors Step Down Amid Sexual Assault Controversy". Variety. Archived from the original on January 3, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  17. ↑ Jude Terror (September 25, 2017). "Quint, Capone, Horrorella Step Down From Ain't It Cool News In Wake Of Harry Knowles Allegations". Bleedingcool.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  18. ↑ Maddaus, Gene (September 25, 2017). "Ain't It Cool News Contributors Step Down Amid Sexual Assault Controversy". Variety.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  19. ↑ Abid Rahman (September 25, 2017). "Alamo Drafthouse Severs Ties With Harry Knowles Over Sexual Assault Allegations". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on September 29, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  20. ↑ Chavez, Danette (September 26, 2017). "The Austin Film Critics Association votes to remove Harry Knowles". The A.V. Club . Archived from the original on September 28, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  21. ↑ Erbland, Kate (September 26, 2017). "Four More Women Accuse Harry Knowles of Sexual Assault and Harassment". Indiewire.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  22. ↑ Harris, Dana (September 26, 2017). "Harry Knowles To Step Down From AICN After Sexual Assault Accusations". Indiewire.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  23. ↑ Peligrosa, Pekosa (September 26, 2017). "Netflix drops Angelina Jolie's FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER Trailer". Aintitcool.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  24. ↑ Harry Knowles (March 11, 2020). "An Apology". Aint It Cool News.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.