Links
British Federation of Film Societies Scotland Wiki
Guide to Film Sites on the Internet
(based on Nick Curtis' Scotsman article, 26 July 2007)
Best Archive Resource
The Internet Movie Database gives reams of information on films - cast, crew releas dates, certificates, awards and nominations, trivia, and user rating reviews.
Owned by: Amazon
IMDB is the most accurate, comprehensive and easy-to-use film database.
However, it's a bit po-faced - apart from the frankly bonkers user-generated content.
Best for Reviews
Newly launched version of the American website that rates films by collating reviews from print and online critics
Owned by: IGN Entertainment
Gleeful celebration of truly awful movies alongside truly great ones, but a bit slow to load and difficult to navigate.
Best Film Blog
Critic Jeffrey Wells covers all aspects of the film world, fom Spiderman director Sam Raimi's political donations to George Bush, through Oscar nominations, to the plight of threatened historic cinemas in America.
Owned by: Jeffrey Wells
Well informed, beautifully written and partisan, which is everything you want (but rarely what you get) in a blog. However, it's redundant: the man places new posts all the time - can be exhausting.
Best for Downloads
Although download sites are still at the teething stage, CinemaNow offers the widest selection of films and the greatest range of ways to watch them.
Owned by: CinemaNow, Inc.
1,500 films for you to buy and rent or many free if you subscribe - and there is a parental filter. However downloading takes up a lot of time, bandwidth and storage space. Not many films you've heard of. You can't use it on a portable device (unlike iTunes' downloadable movies for the most powerful iPods).
Best for DVD Rental
A site that will post you one, two or three DVDs at a time to watch at your leisure. You return your DVDs in prepaid envelopes when you have finished. The service is now branching out into downloads, too.
Owned by: LOVEFiLM International
It's got 65,000 films, including all major new releases, there is a variety of subscription packages from £4.99, and the whole site seems soused with enthusiasm. the down side is waiting for your films to arrive in the post, realizing that you've changed your mind when they do andforgetting to watch them or send them back again for weeks
The best bit is the chance to rent the 100 Must-See movies collection.
Best for demented Movie Fans
Vituperative, highly influential fansite founded in 1996 and still run by Harry Knowles: the pre-opening demolition job it did on Batman and Robin was spoofed inKevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
Owned by: Ain't It Cool Inc.
Still heated after all these years and still scoops other sites with sneaky reviews of preview screenings (such as the Coen brothers' No Country For Old Men, due for rel;ease here in September). However, the site still looks as if it was designed by a ten-year-old in his bedroom.
Best for Industry Gossip
The established film industry bible and the best of its many upstart rivals
Owned by: Reed Elsevier Inc and Time Warner Inc, respectively.
Variety scores, scoops and proudly emulates its print edition's arcane insider grammar; EW plucks many stories from other sources (including Variety) but is more gossipy and digestible. However, Variety is a bit dry and, at $165 (£80) for a year's subscription, expensive. EW is scant on detail.
Best for Salacious Gossip
Ted Casablanca's hyper-camp, extremely long-running gossip column on the E! Channel's website.
Owned by: E! Entertainment Television Inc.
Arch, bitchy and specialises in innuendo, but often proves accurate in hinting at which film star is in rehab, has been caught in flagrante delicto, or is in the closet. Too much Britney Spears, though, and not enough Tom Cruise.
Best for Trailers and Sneak Peeks
Site dedicated to trailers, clips, interviews, or - as in the case of Disney's forthcoming Ratatouille - a big chunk of the actual film.
Owned by: Crave Online Media
It links you straight into footage without tedious pop-ups, but is completely uncritical: if it's new, they'll show it.
Best for Trivia
User-generated list of continuity errors, bloopers, historical errors and other mistakes in films.
Owned by: Jon Sandys
Blissfully obsessive - someone actually noticed that the tape of Ride of the Valkyries doesn't touch the tape heads during the Wagnerian helicopter gunship attack in Apocolypse Now, and that there's a crane in the background in Becoming Jane. However, it features nought but bog-standard pictures (of visual mistakes, of course), and can boast very few frills.
Best of the Rest
more scandalous gossip and clips
for ordering arthouse, foreign and classic DVDs.
more facts and trivia than you will ever need to know about the Academy Awards.