Film and Movie Resources

The purpose of this webpage is to list and annotate selected websites pertaining to various aspects of films and motion pictures. Your questions, information, and comments are appreciated and should be directed to: tgreives@asu.edu

General Resources | Film History | Film Reviews | Film Journals Film Literature Sources | Local Film Resources Bibliography

General Resources

Internet Sources

The Internet Movie Database

Internet megasource for movie information. World-wide in scope, IMDb now covers over 150,000 movies from the earliest period of cinema photography to the present including movies in production. Around two million filmographic entries address all aspects of the genre including: plot summaries, production information, cast, movie ratings, release dates, running times, awards, lists of critics commentaries and references to print reviews, quotes, trivia, goofs and much, much more. A sophisticated searching screen allows the user to search by word, title, cast or character name. Copious cross indexing of entries make it very convenient to follow various avenues of information. One can even download a clip or trailer of your favorite movie---if you have a few kilobytes to spare.

The Greatest Films of All Time

One of the great websites dealing with American Movies. This site is built around the concept of selecting the 100 Greatest American films (and 100 runner-ups) as a core for a tremendous amount of information is provided including:

• Film Genres - with links to each of the twenty- six categories
• Cinematic History by Decade
• Greatest Film Moments and Famous Scenes
• References, sources and links to other internet sites
• Classic and Vintage Film Posters
• Memorable Film Quotes Quiz

This widely praised site is the work of Tim Dirks of Palo Alto, California.

 Mega Media-Links

Extremely complex web location indexing hot links to all aspects of electronic media on the WWW. For information on film sites, access the following sub-categories from the main index:
 
• Film History and Early Cinema
• Film/Media Databases
• Research and Critical Studies Sources/Archives
• National Cinema and Special Interest Sites
• Movies on the WWW
• Actors. Filmmakers and Personalities

And much, much more! This site has a handy internal search engine. C. Webb Young and OMNIBUS:EYE media produce this site in Chicago.

  Print Sources in ASU Libraries
 

• The Motion Picture Guide: 1927 - 1983
  PN 1993.M4334 - Hayden Reference

Edited by Jay Robert Nash and Stanley Ralph Ross for Cinebooks Inc. of Chicago in 1985. This 12 volume encyclopedia presents basic information on some 50,000 titles including about 3000 entries on movies from the silent era. All information is organized under movie title.

 

Film History

 

Internet Sources

 Greatest Films - Cinematic History by Decade

Excellent history of cinema organized into a series of essays outlining the chronological development of films by decade and emphasizing the greatest American movies of the period. A subsection of Tim Dirks website - Greatest Films.

Films--Research and Resources--Cinema History

Brief but informative of the history of cinema. The history of cinema is divided into six parts or chapters. In addition to a synoptic essay Robert E. Yahnke provide tables of important films of that era including; the date of production, director, country of origin and the title of the film. Note that Professor Yahnke of the general college at the University of Minnesota is a specialist "...on the subject of aging as it is depicted in films and literary works..." Therefore one will find important information on the subject at this site in the form of two guides; Images of Aging: A Film and Video Resource Guide and Intergenerational Relationships in feature-Length Films: 1970-1995.
 
•  Films from the Silent Era
•  Classic Films from the Hollywood Studios, 1934-1946
•  Classic International Films, 1934-1960
•  The 1950s--Focus on American Films
• Growing Up on the Films of the 1960s
• The 1960s--Rise of the Director as "Auteur"

 Print Sources in ASU Libraries
 

• Mast, Gerald. The Movies: A Short History/Gerald Mast. New York: Macmillan, 1996.
  PN 1993.5.A1 M39 1996b - Hayden Reference
  
  
• Sklar, Robert. Film: An International History of the Medium. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1990.
  PN 1993.5.A1 S55 1993 - Hayden Reference
  
  
• Shipman, David. The Story of Cinema: An Illustrates History. London: Holder and Stoughton, c1982-c1984.
  PN 1993.5.A1 S52 1982 - Hayden Reference
  
  
  

 Film Reviews

 

Internet Sources

Movie Review Query Engine at Telerama

An central clearing house for more than 60,000 movie reviews that have been posted to internet sources. It is directly linked to The Internet Movie Database as well as many other internet sources. This database and search engine are maintained by Stewart M. Clamen and is part of The Pittsburgh Cinema Project.

 Roger Ebert's Reviews

Roger Ebert's website at the Chicago Sun-times for astute reviews of films currently being screened. Movies from 1985 to present are reviewed and rated. Also presented art his feature articles, his choices for "The Greatest Movies" and answers to reader's questions-some quite interesting!

 ReelViews

Film reviews by James Berardinelli. Approximately a thousand reviews written since 1993. Search engine allows searching by title, date, rating and "special category".  Information is provided on recent film festivals in Toronto, Philadelphia, and Austin. Good site for reviews of recently released movie and links to other movie-related websites.
 

 Film.com

Founded in 1994 by Lucy Mohl of Seattle, Film.com is "...an independent voice of film criticism on the Internet." The mission of this organization "...is to provide an unprecedented collection of material on film for a world-wide audience, offering breadth and depth, and bringing together critics, writers, and movie buffs everywhere." Nearly 2500 reviews by more than 30 professional reviewers on 1300 films are presented at this site. The reviews are search able by keyword, reviewers, and film title. Reviews of movies currently being screened are featured.

 Yahoo - Movie and Film Reviews

Print Sources in ASU Libraries

•  Film Review Index     PN 1995.F5134x

Reviews on film produced from 1882 to 1986 in two volumes. Organized by film title, director, year produced and country of origin. Important source of reviews for early material. Compiled by Patricia King Hanson and Stephen L. Hanson. Published in by Oryx, 1986-1987. Located at Hayden Reference and West Reference.
 
•  Film Review Annual    PN 1995 .F465
   
  Created for the convenience of the user, this one-stop resource presents a collection of reviews from various sources around the U. S. in one volume. One may access these reviews by eight indexes; cast, producers, directors, screenwriters, cinematographers, editors, music, and production crew. At the end of each collection of reviews are lists of additional citations of reviews for which this publication was unable to receive permission to publish. It is published by Jerome S. Ozer in Englewood, N. J. Publication of this annual began in 1981 and continues to the present. Located at Hayden Reference.
   
• The New York Times Film Reviews    PN 1995 .N4x
   
  Photographic reprints of reviews published from 1913 to the present in the paper that prints "All the news that's fit to print". A biennial publication since 1969/70.  Presently published by Times Books and Garland Publishing Inc. of New York. Located on Index Table 7B in Hayden Reference.
   
   
• Magill's Survey of Cinema: English Language Films: First Series    PN 1993.45 .M3
  Reviews of 515 English language films produced after 1927 in four volumes. Each review covers production, direction, screen writing, acting, cinematography, and editing. Edited by Frank N. Magill, Patricia King Hanson, and  Stephen L. Hanson. Published by Salem Press in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1980. Hayden Reference.
   
• Magill's Survey of Cinema: English Language Films: Second Series   PN 1993.45 .M32
  These six volumes are an extension of the First Series above. As in the First Series, several aspects of  the films are considered including production background, story line, direction, performances, technical merits, critical and popular response and awards. Reviews of an additional 751 titles of english language films released in the period  from 1927 to 1981 are provided. Same editors and publishers as the  First Series. 1981. Hayden Reference.
   
• Magill's Cinema Annual    PN 1993.45 .M33x
  Continuation in the form of annual (1981 to present) updates of  Magill's Survey of Cinema. About 100 films are reviewed in each volume. Frank Magill remains editor and salem Press the publisher until the 1995 volume when the reference source became part of  Detroit based Gale Research's VideoHound product line. From this point in time the publication has expanded its scope to include many additional elements including; photographs, trivia, quotes and soundbites, more complete awards and nominations listings, box offices grosses, publicity taglines, annotated lists of selected film books, and obituaries . The 1997 edition features an index in which information may be accessed nine different ways -  director, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, art director, music, performer, subject and title (cumulative). Hayden Reference.
   
• Magill's Survey of Cinema: Foreign Language Films    PN 1993.45  .M34
  Eight volumes containing reviews of some 700 non-english language films. Edited by Frank Magill and Published by Salem Press of Englewood Cliffs, N. J.,1985. Hayden Reference.
   
• Magill's Survey of Cinema: Silent Films    PN 1995.75 .M33
  Three volume set reviewing 308 films from the silent era, 1902-36. Includes essays on important aspects of the formative period of film-making and a glossary of cinematic terms. Edited by Frank Magill, Patricia king Hanson and Stephen L. Hanson, Salem Press of Englewood Cliffs, N. J., 1985. Hayden Reference.
   
   
  

  Film Journals

  
  
   

  Images: A Journal of Film and Popular Culture

  Images is "...a fusion of popular and academic approaches to film and popular culture." It is edited by Grant Tracy and Chris Norton and published by Gary Johnson in Kansas City.
  

  Millennium Film Journal

  This journal has been in publication since 1978. It focuses on "...independent, experimental, and avant-garde cinema, video, and more..." This journal is edited by Tony Pipolo and Grahame Weinbren. It is published by the Millennium Film Workshop which is directed by Howard Guttenplan in New York. The website is maintained by Dayoan Daumont.
  

  Screening the Past

  An electronic journal concerned with "...the history of film, television and multimedia; the representation of history on/in these media; the role of these media in social history." It is edited by Ira Bertrand at La Trobe University in Bundoora, Victoria, Australia.
  

  Wide Angle: A Film Quarterly of Theory, Criticism, and Practice

  Wide Angle "...presents some of today's foremost scholarship in film studies and examines a variety of topics ranging from international cinema to the history and aesthetics of film." It is produced in cooperation of  The Ohio University college of Fine Arts and the Athens Center for Film and Video and edited by Ruth Bradley.
   
  
  

  Film Literature Sources

  
  
  Online Datadases
  
  Expanded Academic Index
  EBSCOhost
  Film Indexes Online
  Periodical Abstracts
  Newspaper Abstracts
  
  
  
  Print Sources in ASU Libraries
  
  
• Film Literature Index
  PN 1993 .F46x - Hayden ReferenceWest Reference
  
  
  International in scope this source also indexes information on television and videos. Information from more than 300 periodicals is organized by subject and author. It is updated quarterly by the Film and Television Documentation Center of the state University of New York at Albany, 1974 to the present.
  
  
  
  

  Local Film Resources

  
  

  Arizona Central - Movies

  The website of The Arizona Republic. A search engine is provided to access information on movies. The Movies section lists new releases with hotlinks to reviews and Feature articles on the subject film. A hotlink is provided to The Wire, the website of The Associated Press, for further information and additional critical movie reviews from around the country. Quickfiles give a short blurb about the movie and rates them by giving an award of one to five stars. Five being the highest possible award. A Video section provides links to reviews and feature stories from the archives of The Arizona Republic. A convenient feature of this site is the Times section that allows one to search the the Valley of the Sun for the location and time of current screenings of specific movies.
   

    Film Vault

  Reviews of hundreds of films by critics of the Tucson Weekly, a newspaper belonging to the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies.
  

Bibliography

Information on the sources cited in this document came from the resource itself or from :

Balay, Robert, ed. Guide to Reference Books: Covering materials from 1985-1990. Chicago: ALA, 1996. Located in
Hayden Reference    Z1035.1 .S42.