How to Buy Movies and Television

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Contents

1 Additional Links
2 Reviews
3 Blogs
4 Movie Genres
5 Related Guides
6 International Resources

Movies and Television

Lights.... Camera.... Action! Americans spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year on movies, DVDs and rentals. Nobody wants to miss out on the next zombie movie or a huge budget summer blockbuster. We eat up movies almost as fast as the popcorn.

In the 1930s, when America was in the depths of an economic crisis known as the Great Depression, cinema was one of the few sources of entertainment. Movies increased the morale of an almost broken nation. It gave people hope and an hour or two to escape to the silver screen. Today, cinema is still hugely popular, with people accessing and renting movies online. iTunes, for example, allows people to download movies for a small charge from their iTunes store.

The Internet has a lot more to offer to movie fans than just ordering tickets, which you can do at sites like Fandango, MovieTickets and Moviefone. It's also an invaluable resource tool when you're shopping for movies. The Web has a huge bank of knowledge where you can find just about anything you could possibly want to know about your favorite films and actors, industry news and Hollywood gossip. There are sites that cater to just about every genre of film you can think of, but if you just want to read more about the last movie you saw, there's no better place to start than the Internet Movie Database. Though there have been some complaints that it became somewhat commercialized after Amazon.com bought the site, IMDB might just be the best online resource for movies. (Note: Amazon.com does use IMDB as a commercial wing to try to get users to buy movies from them.) From obscure directors to classic actors and actresses, classic films to blockbusters, IMDB has everything you're looking for. IMDB is probably one of the most complete entertainment sites you'll find on the Web.

Other movie sites also provide a good amount of information, mixed with the flash, and sometimes the gaudiness, of Hollywood. Movies.com is a decent site, with up-to-date news, but somewhat lacking on database side. Ifilm.com also has a lot of movie information, but perhaps the most interesting aspect is their Viral Video section, which has uploads of a lot of obscure television segments, old commercials and cartoons and weird home videos.

Additional Links

Quicktime -- A page for newer movie trailers. Must have Quicktime to view.
Cineaste -- Companion site to the magazine. Film news, essays, film and DVD reviews. Also includes full-text of some articles.
Film Comment -- Another companion site to the magazine. Has some online exclusives to the magazine regulars.
Hollywood Reporter -- Up-to-date film and film-industry news and gossip.
Variety -- Breaking industry and film news, movie reviews and coverage of industry events.
Indiewire -- Really good site for independent film. Lots of articles, dispatches, essays and news, along with the regular dose of movie info.
Independent Lens -- Great resource for independent films and filmmakers. Well-written articles and essays. Extensive list of useful links.
iTunes-- iTunes now offers the ability to purchase or rent movies. Movies are "rented" by downloading the movie to your computer through the iTunes store. The movie, however, is erased from your computer in 24 hours. Purchased movies are downloaded as well, but they remain on your computer for as long as you like. All movies on iTunes are very reasonably priced.
About.com -- Large database-type page for independent films.
Frontline -- Very nice companion site to the Frontline television series. Good information here on documentaries in particular.
Hong Kong Movie Database -- Lots of accurate information on HK film (kung-fu, gun movies, directors like Steven Chow and Wong Kar Wai and more). Modeled somewhat after the IMDb site, a little less flashy but a good resource.
Shaolin Chamber -- A fun kung-fu movie database.
Asian Movie Database -- Good resource here on films from all over Asia.
Planet Bollywood--Offers tons of information on new releases, hits and flops, and film music for Indian cinema.

Reviews

Rotten Tomatoes -- Links to other reviews, culls an up-or-down (tomato or splatter) verdict from each, and calculates an overall percentage of good reviews.
Metacritic -- Excerpts other reviews and determines an overall critics' rating from 0 to 100.
Roger Ebert -- The man is an institution.
Chicago Reader-- Alternative newspaper containing reviews of new releases.
Slant Magazine-- Webzine featuring reviews of new releases.