What is this thing?

cin-o-matic is a tool to help people decide what movies to go see or rent.

Why would I want to use it?

By providing a lot of information about a lot of movies in an easily scannable, filterable, and sortable format, users are quickly able to see what movies may interest them and if they're playing in their area or available on dvd/video. If not, users can add movies to their Watch List and be notified when movies become available.

What's the Watch List?

The Watch List is a way for you to keep an eye on movies of interest that aren't yet playing in your area or released on DVD/Video. When they do become available, you can be sent an email notification.

» See a sample Watch List

» See a sample email (opens in new window)

I don't like the default theaters selected.

You can completely customize the theaters that determine what's PLAYING AT MY THEATERS by signing up and visiting the member center.

What do the colors mean?

7.0 +	=	see it
5.0 - 6.9	=	proceed with caution
0 - 4.9	=	avoid

How is the AVERAGE CRITIC RATING calculated?

Simply, it's the unweighted average of the ratings of the critics you select.

I don't like the default critics selected.

You can completely customize the critics that determine the AVERAGE CRITIC RATING by signing up and visiting the member center. There are 19 different sources to choose from.

How are critics' ratings converted to the 0-10 cin-o-matic scale?

Here is the cin-o-matic conversion table:

A-F	5-stars	4-stars	0-10
A	5	-	10
A-	4.5	4	9
B+	4	3.5	8
B	3.5	3	7
B-/C+	3	2.5	6
C	2.5	2	5
C-/D+	2	1.5	4
D	1.5	1	3
D-	1	.5	2
F+	.5	-	1
F	0	0	0

Why are 4-star ratings only given a 9?

Due to critics' grade inflation a 4-star rating just doesn't mean what it used to. To our way of thinking, a 4-star review should be reserved for the very best of film, with just a handful doled out each year. But when you're Roger Ebert and give out 135 4-star ratings in 2003, how do you identify a truly great movie? While some critics have maintained the integrity of the 4-star score, such as Rolling Stone and Slant Magazine, most do not. Rather than adjust scores based on a critic's scoring style, and to maintain the integrity of our own numerical score, we've rounded down to 9.

What about critics who don't give out stars or letter grades?

Our team of editors read the reviews from these critics and submit a score of what they think the critic may have rated the movie on a 0-10 scale. The editors' average is the score we publish.

When is the site updated?

Every day.

Is this all you got?

Yep. If you have any other questions about the site, please contact us.