All
Movie Guide Film Finder
This database is very similar to the Internet
Movie Database (described below). It is an excellent
source for historical data about feature films.
Two very handy features of their movie databases
are the inclusion of four-star rating system and
also when a film is to be shown on television
in the coming month, it is noted with an icon
linked to the air date and channel. The site also
includes an interface for searching for people
involved with production on a given movie including
actors, directors, writer, costume designer, etc.
Editor's choice
Amazon
Amazon has become a go-to site for film and video reference. It provides the largest catalog of commercially-available videos on earth which includes used copies sold by third-party vendors , videos in non-US formats, and placeholder records of films that have yet to be released. It also includes the usual features that Amazon users are familiar with such as production and release data and user ratings. Amazon is also a good source for finding soundtracks and movie posters
British
Board of Film Classification Database
This interesting site not only gives a film's
British classification but also its running time,
distributor, director, and cast information. There
are also notes included describing whether there
had been cuts made and "decision commentary".
DocuSeek Film and Video Finder
DocuSeek is a search site for independent documentary, social issue, and educational videos available in the U.S. and Canada. DocuSeek allows you to simultaneously search eight leading film distributors' complete collections of over 3,200 titles of high quality documentary and instructional videos.
Ebert
and Roeper and the movies
This is the television movie review program that
has continued since the death of original Ebert
co-host and show co-founder, Gene Siskel. The
database contains Siskel and Ebert's thumbs up
and thumbs down votes, audio reviews, and reviews
by a number of other show co-hosts including Richard
Roeper.
Educational Media Reviews Online
Educational Media Reviews Online (EMRO) is a database of video, DVD, audio CD and CD-ROM reviews of materials from major educational and documentary distributors and independent filmmakers. The reviews are written by librarians and teaching faculty in institutions across the United States and Canada.
The reviews are aimed at an educational audience, primarily academic librarians. There are some reviews of K-12 titles in the database, but they are not the main focus. Reviews are included in OCLC's Worldcat.org database
Facets Multi-Media
Facets Multi-Media's mission is to preserve, present and distribute independent, world and classic film, and to educate adults and children in the art and legacy of film. Their website is loaded with all kinds of goodies including director top ten lists, films news, a blog, and information about film appreciation classes they host. They also have an enormous video catalog that’s handy for identifying whether a motion picture is in release or no longer available.
Film
Literature Index Online
The online version of the print reference serial Film Literature Index, this database contains citations of articles from 150 film and television periodicals and 200 other periodicals - ranging from the scholarly to the popular. The FLI Online contains approximately 700,000 citations to articles, film reviews and book reviews published 1976-2001. This is a static resource that will not be updated. The subscription database Film and Television Literature Index (available via www.aladin.wrlc.org) is a continuation of this database and covers 1988-present.
Film.com
This site contains a movie review database with
titles beginning in 1998 in addition to many other
features about the motion picture industry such
as film festivals, awards, box office data, film
clips, and viewing recommendations.
Great Directors – A Critical Database
A database of critical essays by film scholars on over 200 internationally-recognized film directors. Each essay is accompanied by a filmography, a bibliography, and a list of web resources.
Internet
Movie Database
This is a master source for conducting film research.
It contains production data, awards, user reviews,
plot summaries, and whether it is commercially
available onvideo or DVD. The database can be
searched for titles, personal names, plots, quotes,
and character names. Here are some numbers: over
200,000 films and tv shows cited, information
on over 400,000 actors and actresses and 40,000
directors. Editor's choice
Metacritic.com
Metacritic compiles reviews from respected critics and publications for film, video/dvd, books, music, television and games. Their unique Metascores show the crtical consensus at a glance by taking a weighted average of critic grades.
Movie
Review Index
A database of links to over 250,000 online reviews
from over 280 websites. A sample search on "Gangs
of New York" yielded 137 individual reviews,
though the vast majority are from little known
sources such as Ross Anthony's Hollywood Report
Card and DVD Talk.
Movie
Review Query Engine
This is the best free movie review database currently
available. It contains over 140,000 articles of
over 20,000 titles. The articles span the history
of cinema, for instance, a search on "The Cabinet
of Dr. Caligari" (1920) yielded 13 articles. Editor's
choice
Movies
Unlimited
Movies Unlimited is a vendor of over 40,000 film
and television programs on video and DVD. If you
are trying to find whether a feature film or old
TV show is on video, this is a very good place
to start. Editor's choice
Moving
Image Collections
A window to the world’s moving images. A
really cool union catalog of moving images from
collections worldwide with information on how
to obtain access to the footage. Editor’s
choice
MPAA
Ratings Database
Keyword search this database from the Motion Picture
Association of America. Database comntains titles
since 1968.
Rotten Tomatoes
Over 7 million readers each month use Rotten Tomatoes globally as a dependable,
objective resource for coverage of movies and DVDs. With more than
250,000 titles and 850,000 review links in its database,
Rotten Tomatoes offers a fun and informative way to discover the critical reaction
on movies neatly summarized via the Tomatometer.
They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They
This is an amazing website by and for film buffs. Among the best features are a thorough guide to film directors and a crazy giant list of “The 1000 Greatest Films” that the editors compile by crunching rankings by “1,825 critics, filmmakers, reviewers, scholars and other likely film types.”
About.com
- Entertainment
About.com is also an authority site that uses
a variety of contributor experts to compile annotated
lists of links. Other catagories include - Anime, Classic movies, Documentaries, Hollywood movies, Horror and Suspensel movies, Kids movies and TV, and World / Independent film.
Academic
Info - Film Studies Gateway
This is another authority site, notable because
it is aimed more specifically at academic users.
Some of the links are annotated.
FilmSound.org
“Learning space dedicated to the art and
analyses of film sound design.” This site
includes many full-text articles and a trove of
useful information on the film sound industry. Editor’s
choice
Librarians' Internet Index- Media: Film, Movies and Video
This is a very selective page of annotated
links categorized under: Best of ..., Directories,
Databases, and Specific Resources. Editor's
choice
Open
Directory Project: Arts: Movies
The Open Directory Project is very similar to
the format used by the Yahoo site, there are brief
annotations but the site will include links to
all sites submitted to them without discrimination.
For the searcher who is looking for an exhaistive
listing of film-related websites, the Open Directory
project is the best, almost twice as many links
as Yahoo. The site's search engine can be limited
to searching within the Movies section. Editor's
choice
Public
Moving Image Archives and Research Centers
A master list of links to moving image collections
worldwide.
ScreenSite
The is an outstanding academic site developed
and maintained by the University of Alabama -
Telecommunication and Film department. The mission
of the site is to facilitate the serious study
of film and television, unlike the majority of
film websites that are targeted primarily to fans
rather than scholars. Among its many interesting
features are a page of course syllabi from film
classes worldwide, film program descriptions,
open teaching position listings, film textbook
reviews, and much more. It is a treasure trove
of information and could easily draw one into
hours of browsing. Editor's
choice
Yahoo
- Entertainment - Movies and Film
This section of the Yahoo Portal contains about
10,000 links to movie-related websites divided
into about 40 categories. Yahoo editors categorize
the links and include very brief annotations but
make no attempt to evaluate the sites listed.
The site's search engine can be limited to searching
within the Movies and Film section.
