Zoom Plummets to Tomatomater Purgatory

The rating system used at RottenTomatoes.com is a fairly simple one: Positive reviews are "fresh," negative ones are "rotten," and any film scoring over 60% gets a nifty little tomato instead of a nasty little splat. It's certainly not the most scientific method for the aggregation of movie reviews, but hey: If 6 out of 10 film critics recommend a movie, that's good enough for me to maintain interest.

But the fun comes in when you descend extra-deeply into the tomato patch's nether-regions; past the 13% approval rating for White Chicks, the 9% for Grind, and the 1% freshness of Alone in the Dark -- that's where the true stinkers lie. Prior to this month, only seven movies had earned a spot in the 0% Tomatometer Hall of Shame:

• 3 Strikes (2000): 28 reviews, all negative
• Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002): 98, not one positive
• Pinocchio (2002): 53 unanimous Benigni-bashers
• Gold Diggers (2004): 39 poor souls reviewed this one
• SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2 (2004): 36 permanently scarred brains
• Daltry Calhoun (2005): 26 unhappy critics
• King's Ransom (2005): 44 hostages

And now ... drum roll please ... we are thrilled to announce the eighth arrival in the Rotten Tomatoes 0% Hall of Mega-Shame! Starring Tim Allen (of The Shaggy Dog (27%), Joe Somebody (14%), Jungle 2 Jungle (10%), Christmas with the Kranks (4%) shame), and directed by Peter Hewitt (of Garfield: The Movie (13%)) is Zoom, recipient of 39 reviews -- all nasty. Congrats to all of those who worked extra hard on turning Jason Lethcoe's comic book series into one of the very worst movies of a very bad movie year.

In complete fairness to Mr. Allen (an actor I genuinely dislike), the guy was also in Galaxy Quest (86%) and both Toy Story movies (200%).