Flicka is a 2006 American family adventure drama film loosely based on the 1941 children's novel My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara . The film is directed by Michael Mayer and written by Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner . The novel had previously been made into a film by 20th Century Fox in 1943 , and served as the inspiration for My Friend Flicka , a 39-episode TV series in 1956–1957. In this version, set in the 21st century, the protagonist is a girl, played by Alison Lohman . The film also features Maria Bello , Ryan Kwanten and country singer Tim McGraw , who also served as executive producer of the soundtrack album. This USD 15 million-budgeted film grossed $ 21 million in the United States theaters, and then it went on to become a surprise hit in DVD market in the United States ; it made more than $ 48 million on DVD sales and more than $ 19 million on DVD/Home Video rental.
49-410: A sequel, Flicka 2 , was released direct to DVD on May 4, 2010, and another sequel, Flicka: Country Pride , was released on May 1, 2012. Katherine "Katy" McLaughlin has dreams of running her father's Wyoming horse ranch, but her father, Rob, has other plans. He is grooming her older brother, Howard, to take over the ranch and sends Katy away to a private school where she feels like a misfit. Rob
98-408: A black wild mustang , and feels a connection with the horse. She sets off to tame " Flicka " ( Swedish for little girl), despite her father's protests. Flicka is captured during a roundup, and Rob asks Katy not to go near Flicka. Determined to prove she can run the ranch, Katy starts training Flicka at night. Flicka slowly warms to Katy and the two develop a close bond. However, Rob sells Flicka to
147-573: A sequel to Flicka (2006). The film is about a city girl who finds herself in the country not by choice and befriends a horse. Neither girl or horse are wanted and they find a common bond. The film stars Patrick Warburton , Tammin Sursok and Clint Black . After the death of her mother, Carrie McLaughlin ( Tammin Sursok ), a city girl, has been living with her grandmother in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . However, when her grandmother needs to go to
196-529: A 100: Tokyo Story ; The Godfather ; Citizen Kane ; Rear Window ; Casablanca ; Boyhood ; Three Colors: Red ; Vertigo ; Fanny and Alexander ; Notorious ; Lawrence of Arabia ; Dekalog ; The Leopard ; and The Conformist . There are five TV show seasons that have received a 99, including Season 4 of Rectify , Season 4 and Season 6 of The Larry Sanders Show , Season 1 of Murder One , and Season 5 of Breaking Bad . The standalone highest-rated album of all time on
245-584: A Nation , Hardbodies , Mother's Day and United Passions . The standalone lowest-rated TV show of all time is The 1/2 Hour News Hour , with a 13. The standalone lowest-rated album of all time is Playing with Fire by Kevin Federline , with a 15. Metacritic has received mixed reviews from website critics, commentators, and columnists. Its efficacy has been analyzed, with conclusions finding it to be generally useful or unreliable and biased. The website won two annual Webby Awards for excellence in
294-437: A chart illustrating a downward trend in the average critical ratings of the company's games. He took the ratings seriously and stressed the need for the company to bounce back. Also in 2008, Microsoft used Metacritic averages to delist underperforming Xbox Live Arcade games. Scores are weighted averages . Certain publications are given more significance "because of their stature". Metacritic has said that it will not reveal
343-469: A fierce thunderstorm moves in. Katy and Flicka are attacked by a mountain lion . Flicka bolts, throwing Katy to the ground and the lion goes to attack her. Flicka protects Katy, but is badly wounded in the process. Katy binds Flicka's wounds and refuses to leave her in the storm, resulting in her developing a fever . Rob finds the two and brings a delirious Katy back to the house. As her fever spikes, Katy calls for Flicka as Nell tends to her. Rob thinks Flicka
392-478: A game's potential sales and, by extension, the publisher's stock price". However, a 2015 study analyzing over 88 Xbox 360 and 80 PS3 games from 2012 found that Metacritic scores did not impact actual sales. Controversially, the website has been used by game publishers as a means of determining whether a game's developer receives additional royalties. One notable example is the 2010 game Fallout: New Vegas , which received an average Metascore of 84, one short of
441-449: A game's state in the future due to post-release updates and patches as well as most press reviews of games taking place around their launch. For example, the metascore for MediEvil (2019) was mixed mainly due to performance issues that existed around the time of the game's launch. These issues were fixed in post-release patches that made the game run smoothly, which would have led to a higher metascore in its patched state. Another example
490-453: A greater investment of time and money, gamers are more informed about reviews than are fans of film or music; they want to know "whether that hotly anticipated title is going to deliver". In June 2018, Metacritic established the "Must-See" label for a movie that "achieves a Metascore of 81 or higher and has been reviewed by a minimum of 15 professional critics". In September 2018, it added the "Must-Play" certification for video games attaining
539-564: A moviegoing experience that involves a lot of eye-rolling". Two horses died during the production of this film. The first death occurred at Big Sky Ranch in Simi Valley , California, on April 11, 2005 during a running scene. According to the American Humane Association (AHA), the horse broke its leg after a misstep and suffered a very rare injury requiring the animal to be euthanized. The AHA's report concluded that
SECTION 10
#1732786747762588-523: A nursing home, Carrie has to move in with her father, Hank ( Patrick Warburton ), a rancher in Wyoming , whom she hasn't seen him before since she was a baby. Initially reluctant to adapt to country living, Carrie soon meets Flicka, a beautiful black Mustang that previously had belonged to Carrie's cousin Katy ( Alison Lohman ), who asked Hank to look after Flicka when her father sold their own ranch. Flicka
637-503: A plot that wanders into the countryside and never comes back". On Metacritic , the film has a score of 57 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale. This version of the My Friend Flicka film and book series had a mixed to negative reception, praising Tim McGraw and Maria Bello's performances but criticizing
686-421: A qualitative assessment of a game. Kotaku also highlighted a practice alleged to be used by some publishers who use Metacritic scores as a way to leverage more favorable terms for the publisher or deny developers bonuses should they not reach a certain score. Doyle countered this by saying "Metacritic has absolutely nothing to do with how the industry uses our numbers... Metacritic has always been about educating
735-477: A score of 90% or more, and a minimum number of 15 reviews from industry professionals. The standalone highest-rated game of all time on the site is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time , with a 99. The three games with a 98 are Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 , Grand Theft Auto IV , and Soulcalibur . There are about two dozen 97-rated games with standouts including Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto V . There are fourteen movies that have received
784-441: Is dead. The next morning, Nell finds Rob walking back to the house, supporting the injured Flicka. She runs outside to help and finds out that the gunshot was actually him shooting at the mountain lion. Both are stunned that Flicka is not dead, and decide not to put her down. Katy starts to feel sick and she begins to recover. As he watches over his daughter, Rob reads the story that Katy had been writing about Flicka, eventually typing
833-450: Is having trouble understanding his daughter as she continually defies his authority to follow her own path. When she comes home for the summer, Katy is met with her father's disapproval because she did not finish a writing assignment at school, but is welcomed by her mother, Nell, and Howard. Howard wants to attend college instead of running the ranch, but is afraid of what his father would think if he told him. While out riding, Katy finds
882-429: Is instant animosity between Carrie and Amy, mainly because Amy also likes Jake. When Carrie accidentally disobeys her father's rules regarding visits to the nearest town, Hank decides to punish Carrie by temporarily relocating Flicka to the farm of one of his ranch hands: Toby ( Clint Black ). After a midnight visit by Carrie, Flicka tries to run away to Toby's ranch by following Carrie home to Hank's ranch, but ends up on
931-420: Is mortally wounded and believes she should be put down. Overhearing the argument, a dazed Katy stumbles into the room and gives her father permission to "shoot us now". Rob goes outside and starts to cry as he finally understands his daughter's feelings - her pain and what a prideful, angry and selfish person he's been to his family all of these years. A gunshot is heard and Katy bursts into tears, thinking Flicka
980-424: Is wild and dangerous and, according to the ranchers, longs for Katy. However, when Carrie is attacked by a prairie rattlesnake , Flicka saves her and the two form a bond. Carrie also meets Jake (Reilly Dolman), an attractive ranch hand hoping to become a country singer, and Amy Walker ( Emily Tennant ), the proud and arrogant daughter of a neighbor. Although Jake and Carrie take an immediate liking to each other, there
1029-524: The Toronto Star , Daphne Gordon also praised Alison Lohman, claiming that she "makes the whole thing worth watching" but conceding that "there are some flaws in the script that make the drama seem overwrought and manipulative". On the other hand, Andrea Gronvall was unimpressed by Lohman while writing for the Chicago Reader , calling her performance "alternately shrill and pouty" and deeming
SECTION 20
#17327867477621078-525: The Flicka franchise could follow the Air Bud , Beethoven and Marley & Me franchises by having its animal star talk, Damian responded: "I don't think so. But you know, never say never, because you never know what will happen. Stranger things have happened. I'm open to everything". A soundtrack album was released October 17, 2006. Flicka 2 Flicka 2 is a 2010 American drama film and
1127-453: The "Guides/Ratings/Reviews" category, in 2010 and 2015. Metacritic has been criticized for converting all scoring systems into a single quantitative percentage-based scale. For example, an "A" score equates to the value of 100, an "F" the value of zero, and a "B−" the value of 67. Joe Dodson, former editor at GameRevolution , criticized Metacritic and similar sites for turning reviews into scores that he found to be too low. Doyle defended
1176-753: The "death was accidental and could not have been predicted or prevented". The second horse died two weeks later on April 25, at the Hansen Dam Equestrian Center in San Fernando Valley . Reports from both the AHA and the Los Angeles Animal Services Department concluded that during the shooting of a scene involving four horses, one of them got loose from the cowboy who was holding its lead rope, and after having been running loose for some 20 seconds,
1225-434: The 85 points required by Bethesda Softworks , the game's publisher. As a result, its developer, Obsidian Entertainment , received no additional bonus. Columnists took issue with the company's use of Metacritic, with one suggesting that this makes game critics ultimately accountable for deciding the developer's profits and another pointing out that a Metascore of 84 is not significantly lower than 85. The latter also pointed out
1274-535: The crowd and camera flashes from the audience. HD and Amy decide to have Flicka killed the next day, but Carrie frees the horse during the night and sets her free to join a nearby herd of mustangs. One year later, Carrie, Hank, and Toby are riding in the mountains when they encounter the same herd of mustangs, including Flicka and her newborn foal. Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films , television shows , music albums , video games , and formerly books . For each product,
1323-527: The film as "wonderful", called it "the best horse-and-kid picture since The Black Stallion " and "a young adult drama that rings emotionally true, with nary a manufactured note struck" that is "sharply observed and acted". Similarly, Stephen Hunter in The Washington Post described it as "a well-made family drama pitched to young adults that's honest, tough and surprisingly engaging" while praising McGraw's, Bello's and Lohman's performances. In
1372-531: The film for its script, lacking classic , teen drama , plot in comparison, narration , unofficial characters (which aren't even authorized in the books and original films), mild profanity, horse-girl stereotype, changing Flicka's fur color appearance from chestnut to black and the removal of the 10-year-old boy and official protagonist Ken McLaughlin out of the story for an unofficial female lead character instead, unlike 20th Century Fox 's original film franchise and its books. Variety ' s Todd McCarthy praised
1421-545: The film to be "another miscalculation" on the part of director Michael Mayer. Writing for The New York Times , Manohla Dargis also mocked Lohman's "pouty" performance and labeled the film as "entertainingly ridiculous" with "parts [that] never cohere dramatically". Toddy Burton of the Austin Chronicle was less down on Lohman, conceding that she "has a couple of emotionally true moments" but ultimately felt that "the thin plot and absence of genuine emotion result in
1470-599: The filmmakers. A sequel to Flicka , Flicka 2 was released directly to DVD on May 4, 2010. The sequel bears an entirely new cast and character list and is not a direct follow-up to Flicka . Flicka 2 features Patrick Warburton , Tammin Sursok and Clint Black . The film was directed by Michael Damian . Another sequel, Flicka: Country Pride , was released on May 1, 2012. With Damian returning as director, it also features Clint Black, along with Kacey Rohl, Black's wife Lisa Hartman-Black , Max Lloyd-Jones, Siobhan Williams, Laura Solties and Alexander Calvert . When asked if
1519-589: The gamer. We're using product reviews as a tool to help them make the most of their time and money." Metacritic has also been criticized for how it handles banning users and their reviews, with no notice or formal process for appeal. Critics and developers have pointed out that a product can suffer from rating manipulation by users, as by garnering low ratings that purposely damage its reputation or by receiving high ratings from throwaway accounts to make it appear more popular than it actually is. Signal Studios president and creative director Douglas Albright described
Flicka - Misplaced Pages Continue
1568-491: The grading system, believing that every scale should be converted directly to that of the website, with its lowest possible score being 0 and the highest 100. Further criticism was directed to the website's refusal to publicize how it aggregates scores. According to Doyle, publishers often try to persuade him to exclude reviews they feel are unfair, but he said that once a publication is included, he refuses to omit any of its reviews. A Washington Post review of Uncharted 4
1617-399: The horse changed direction and tripped on the regulation length 13-foot lead rope and fell to the ground, breaking its neck and dying instantly. As the accident would not have happened if the horse had not come loose, the Los Angeles Animal Services Department concluded that the accident had been preventable. However, after an investigation, the AHA declared that the deaths were not the fault of
1666-433: The impressive sales of five million sold units and US$ 300 million in revenue, and also noted a series of Obsidian's layoffs in 2011 and 2012. The website has also been used by columnists and commentators as a general reference for critical reception, and by publishers as a tool of improving their products. Along with other executives, in 2008, John Riccitiello , then CEO of Electronic Arts, showed Wall Street analysts
1715-464: The ranch belonging to Amy's father HD Walker ( Ted Whittall ). Upon entering the Walker ranch, Flicka destroys a fence and releases some of HD's prize cows. At Amy's request, HD asks for Flicka as payment for the damage, threatening to turn it into a lawsuit if Hank refuses. Amy then starts training with Flicka for a championship, but performs poorly during the actual competition because of Flicka's fear of
1764-402: The relative weight assigned to each reviewer. Games Editor Marc Doyle was interviewed in 2008 by Keith Stuart of The Guardian to "get a look behind the metascoring process". Stuart wrote: "The Metascore phenomenon, namely Metacritic and GameRankings , have become an enormously important element of online games journalism over the past few years". Doyle said that because video games lead to
1813-467: The respective rapid rise and fall in company values after BioShock and Spider-Man 3 were released. In an interview with The Guardian , Marc Doyle cited two major publishers that "conducted comprehensive statistical surveys through which they've been able to draw a correlation between high metascores and stronger sales" in certain genres. He claimed that an increasing number of businesses and financial analysts use Metacritic as "an early indicator of
1862-443: The rodeo, Howard and Katy enter the competition that Flicka is being used in, hoping to get the horse back. Flicka runs from Katy until she calls her name. Rob tries to intervene, and Katy freezes at the sight of him. Howard boosts his sister onto Flicka, and the two escape. After the two escape, Katy suddenly becomes lost in the mountains, and allows Flicka to make her way towards the ranch. The family reconciles and searches for Katy as
1911-436: The rodeo, leaving Katy depressed. Nell and Howard are angry at Rob about making the decision without including them. Howard then stands up to his father and says that he does not want the ranch, but Rob doesn't want to take Flicka back. In turn, Howard and Nell refuse to help Rob with the ranch, which he is now considering selling, since Howard does not want it. Katy starts writing about Flicka so that she can escape her pain. At
1960-418: The sales of games and the stocks of video game publishers". He explains its influence as coming from the higher cost of buying video games than music or movie tickets. Many executives say that low scores "can hurt the long-term sales potential". Wingfield wrote that Wall Street pays attention to Metacritic and GameRankings because the sites typically post scores before sales data are publicly available, citing
2009-402: The scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average ). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc Doyle, and Julie Doyle Roberts in 1999, and was acquired by Fandom, Inc. in 2022. Metacritic turns each review into a percentage score. This can be done either by calculating the score from the rating given or by making a subjective decision based on the review's quality. Before averaging
Flicka - Misplaced Pages Continue
2058-438: The scores, they are adjusted based on the critic's popularity, reputation, and the number of reviews they have written. The site also includes a summary from each review and links to the original source, using colors like green, yellow, or red to indicate the overall sentiment of the critics. Metacritic won two Webby Awards for excellence as an aggregation website. It is regarded as the foremost online review aggregation site for
2107-475: The site is Ten Freedom Summers by American trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith , with a 99. The standalone lowest-rated game of all time is Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing , with an 8. There are eleven movies that have received a 1: Bio-Dome , 10 Rules for Sleeping Around , Chaos , Inappropriate Comedy , Not Cool , The Singing Forest , The Garbage Pail Kids Movie , Death of
2156-650: The site. Rotten Tomatoes was already compiling movie reviews, but Doyle, Roberts, and Dietz saw an opportunity to cover a broader range of media. Metacritic was sold to CNET in 2005. CNET and Metacritic were later acquired by the CBS Corporation . In 2020, Metacritic and other CNET titles were bought by Red Ventures . In 2022, Red Ventures sold Metacritic and other entertainment websites to Fandom, Inc. Metacritic has been used by businesses to predict future sales. In 2007, Nick Wingfield of The Wall Street Journal wrote that Metacritic "influence[s]
2205-444: The story and sending it to the school so that Katy can pass for the year. When Katy wakes from the fever, she and Rob reconcile and he takes her to see Flicka. Rob apologizes to Howard and gives his son his blessing and Howard prepares for college. As a family, they decide to not sell the ranch, making it both a working ranch and a refuge for wild mustangs. Flicka was theatrically released on October 20, 2006, by 20th Century Fox . It
2254-501: The video game industry. Criticism of the site has focused on the assessment system, the assignment of scores to reviews that do not include ratings, third-party attempts to influence the scores, and the reported lack of staff oversight for user reviews. Metacritic was launched in January 2001 by Marc Doyle, his sister Julie Doyle Roberts, and his University of Southern California law classmate Jason Dietz, after two years of developing
2303-440: The website as having no standards. In July 2020, Metacritic added a 36-hour waiting period for user reviews to be posted for video games at launch in an effort to reduce user score review-bombing during that period by users that have not played or barely played the game during a period when most players will not have finished the game. Some have noted that Metacritic scores for modern video games may not be accurately reflective of
2352-522: Was assigned with a rating of 40/100 by Metacritic; this was the only negative review of the game. Readers who disapproved of the review petitioned Metacritic to remove the Post as a trusted source. As a result of its perceived negative influence on the industry, several reviewing sites, including Kotaku and Eurogamer , have dropped numerical reviews that would appear in Metacritic, instead favoring
2401-495: Was released on DVD on February 6, 2007, by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment . Flicka received mixed reviews from critics and fans of the original 1943 film and its novel. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 53% based on 79 reviews, with an average rating of 5.70/10. The site's consensus states: "The rebellious protagonist will rally girls and children, but adults may find Flicka saddled with thin characters, over-the-top dialogue, and
#761238