Ain't It Cool News
Screenshot of Ain't It Cool News home page
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Type of site
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Film review, television review, comic books |
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| Available in | English |
| Owner | Harry Knowles |
| Created by | Harry Knowles |
| Website | aintitcool |
| Alexa rank |
 15,313 (March 2016[update]) |
| Launched | 1996 |
| Current status | Active |
Ain't It Cool News (AICN) is a website founded and run by Harry Knowles, 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.
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. 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 Web site as part of his Internet hobby. A principal offering was Knowles's 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").
The website garnered national attention in 1997 with the release of Batman & Robin. Knowles posted several negative reviews from preview screenings. When the film performed poorly at the box office, studio executives complained that it had been sabotaged by the leaks to the Internet. 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.
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