Other Movie Websites
"She reviews movies for a living,
which is unassailably cool."
--John Cusack, High Fidelity
Reviewing movies is such an attractive pastime that many people do it for fun. Just take a look at an Internet directory such as the Open Directory or Yahoo! But Internet movie reviews are all over the map in usefulness and quality. Here are some I like:
James Berardinelli (www.reelviews.net). A "hobbyist" movie reviewer who should quit his day job, Berardinelli produces an extraordinary volume of observant, informative reviews. His broad knowledge of film gives him perspective on comparable films, directors, and performances. He also writes commentaries and essays on various cinematic subjects. Sometimes I think he misses the mark on the merits of a particular film, but he never fails to justify his opinions. Writing style is sometimes unpolished.
If it's virtuosity you seek, Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader's the one you want. Or maybe Stanley Kauffman of the New Republic.
When it comes to movie reviews, the Internet is the new kid on the block; movie reviews traditionally have been disseminated in newspapers and magazines. There are some citics who are not available on the web (to my knowledge), but who leave most Internet sites in the dust. You'll not find better reviews anywhere than those of Anthony Lane in the New Yorker.
Informational movie websites:
Jeffrey Wells' blog/site, www.hollywood-elsewhere.com, is updated continuously, with so much under-the-radar, up-to-the-minute, way-inside scoop it'll make your computer screen smoke . . . and if you’re really a junkie for this sort of thing, check out Movie City News, where endless links to cinematic palaver are collected . . . but watch out, before you know it, you’ll end up wasting the whole day.
Internet movie database (http://us.imdb.com). A wealth of information, searchable by movie title, name of cast member, or name of crew member. Want to know who's in a particular movie? Who directed? What other movies an actor or director has made? The IMDB's search engine will find it for you. You can even search by character name or quotation, or find reviews. Owned by amazon.com.
Movie Review Query Engine (www.mrqe.com). Put in the name of a movie, and up come links to more reviews than you could read. Runs the gamut from the New York Times to amateurish offerings (including, uh, my own).
Rotten Tomatoes (www.rottentomatoes.com). Reviews collected, with a short quote from each, and a cumulative percentage rating of "rotten" or "fresh" to indicate consensus of critical opinion. Very popular, but oversimplified: how do they classify movies that are just so-so?
For detailed recaps of classic films, complete rundown of Oscar winners since day one, and a wealth of useful information on many film-related topics, check out Tim Dirks's site, "The Greatest Films".
Movie release schedules for upcoming weeks can be found at filmreleases.com. For detailed descriptions and production info on what's in the pipeline, go to upcomingmovies.com.
Recent and upcoming releases on DVD may be found at dvdplanet.com or dvdreview.com.