JoBlo.com is an anchor website of the JoBlo Movie Network focused 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.[1]
 | |
Type of site | Film review |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Owner | Berge Garabedian |
| Created by | Berge Garabedian |
| URL | Official website |
| Launched | 1998 |
| Current status | Active |
History
In 1998, Berge "JoBlo" Garabedian founded JoBlo.com. His film reviews generally critiqued movies from the perspective of an average movie-goer. The site eventually hired other critics to write reviews. Garabedian wrote more than 1,400 reviews as the site's main critic, until health problems forced him to withdraw in 2007. The website’s name is a play on "Joe Blow", and registered users of the website were known as "schmoes". The site also features news about movies, movie trailers, movie previews, and celebrity interviews.
In 2001, the site started holding an annual awards presentation for films chosen by the sites' visitors that became became known as "The Golden Schmoes".[2][3]
In 2007, Garabedian was invited to take part in the "Masters of the Web" panel at the SDCC alongside other popular movie fansites such as ComingSoon.net, Dark Horizons, CHUD, Ain't It Cool News, and Collider.[4]
In February 2009, JoBlo.com started a weekly podcast called The Good, The Bad, and The JoBlo Movie Podcast. Podcast guests have included Bobcat Goldthwait, Duncan Jones, and Clifton Collins, Jr.
In 2009, JoBlo.com launched the movie community section called MovieFanCentral. The community was shut down in early 2018.[4]
In 2010, Garabedian was interviewed for the documentary film, The People vs George Lucas. That year, he created JoBlo Movie Productions to executive-produce several of his own films, including 2015's The Shelter and two documentaries, Arcade Dreams and 1982: Greatest Geek Year Ever.
In 2019, JoBlo.com's Editor-in-Chief Chris Bumbray began doing weekly movie reviews on the CTV NEWS channel.[5]
Reception
In 2006, Entertainment Weekly called JoBlo one of its 25 favorite online entertainment sites.[6] In 2007, Time magazine called Garabedian one of the "new tastemakers" in Hollywood.[7] In 2001, USA Today called JoBlo.com one of the "Web's hottest fansites".[8] In 2004, Variety said that "Websites like JoBlo.com and Ain't-It-Cool-News, which were once 'renegades', are now courted heavily by publicists"[9] and that JoBlo was considered an "E-frathouse; strident in its opinions but less reliant on the rumor mill".[10] Maclean’s September 29, 2014, issue called JoBlo one of the "YouTube stars" who was "making the most of it".
Writer/director Kevin Smith wrote the foreword to Garabedian’s 2002 book, JoBlo.com presents the 50 Coolest Movies of All-Time,[11] in which Smith compared the film critic to a "good blowjob".