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CINEMAS
What's on
 |
Virgin
Net Cinema
www.virgin.net/cinema
Virgin's cinema
section has
everything you want in an online listings site. Dates, times and venues
are easy to find and there's plenty of potted reviews and witty
articles
to keep you amused should you have time to browse. |
ABC
Cinemas
www.abc-cinemas.co.uk
It's as easy as
ABC to find
out what's on at your local cinema with this site, which is also very
easy
on the eye thanks to clever use of Flash technology. It also features
precis'
and trailers of all the big releases. |
Cinemas
in the U.K
www.aber.ac.uk/-jwp/cinemas
A directory
of cinemas throughout the UK listed alkphabetically by town. The
authors
have done their homework not only do you get the address and phone
number
for each entry, but also how many screens and seats, includes links to
the big cinema chains. |
National
Film Theatre
www.nft.co.uk
This site is
needlessly heavy
on text, but is a mine of information all the same for the capital's
film
goers. It will tell you what's showing at the NFT over the next few
weeks,
so you don't miss out on any arty or classic gems, while it also
contains
listings for the impressive IMAX cinema. |
Odeon
Cinemas
www.odeon.co.uk
Here, you can not
only find
out what's showing at your nearest Odeon, but also book your tickets
online.
Add reviews of the latest releases and well-stocked video and DVD store
and you have a very well-implemented site. |
Scoot
Cinema Guide
www.cinema.scoot.co.uk
The most
accessible, accurate
and easy-to-use film finder on the Web. Scoot even provides directions
to the cinema, along with information on the facilities provided and
potted
reviews of the films on offer. |
UCI
Cinemas
www.uci-cinemas.co.uk
The owners of
many of the plush
mulitplexes springing up on the edge of towns all over the country, UCI
has put together this very impressive site. |
Yell
Film Finder
www.yell.co.uk/yell/ff
Finding your
nearest cinema
with this site is a little laborious, but the information on films and
times is comprehensive and bang up to date. There's also access to
useful
additional information, such as local restaurants and the nearest pub. |
|
Cinemas
Background Information
|
International
Movie Database
www.imdb.com
with
over 170,000 films listed, the International Movie Database is the
Granddaddy
of all movie sites on the web. Not only that, but it's one of the best
online resources of any kind. A huge database of just about every movie
ever made, you'll find information on everything from the cast and crew
to continuity errors. |
Brit
Movie
www.britmovie.co.uk
Even though
people are continually
berating the state of the British film industry, we have made some fine
movies over the years, as this site proves. A huge collection of the
best
British movies ever made, the list spans from early masterpieces like
The
39 Steps to the Ealing comedies and from Sixties classics like Alfie to
modern success stories like the Full Monty. Each is accompanied by
details
of the cast and crew and a short synopsis. Then there are articles on
actors,
actresses and genres. |
British
Board of Film Classification
www.bbfc.co.uk
This is the
organisation that
decides what you watch and who can legally watch it. It explains the
decision-making
process in some detail, along with the rationale behind the various
classifications.
Recent adjudications of the Board are also reproduced online, while the
most interesting part of the site is that devoted to controversial
decisions
of the past. Student Union favourites like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and
A Clockwork Orange are dissected, along with the reasons why they were
withdrawn. |
Exposure
www.exposure.co.uk
This useful
resource is aimed
at young film makers who want to emulate the phenomenal success of The
Blair Witch Project. The centrepiece is the witty and worthwhile
'Complete
Eejits Guide to Film making'. Covering everything from writing your
screenplay
to getting your film shown, this site should give you some inspiration
when your creative juices are running dry. There's also a handy
contacts
list and details of screenplay competitions. |
Film
100
www.film100.com
This is a well
considered list
of the 100 most influential figures in cinema history, in the author's
opinion, of course. From Walt Disney to the Lumiere brothers, the
innovative
split-screen format will allow you to browse through the entries with
ease.
Each is accompanied by a witty and well-written biography, while the
whole
site is well designed and organised. |
Carry
Online
www.carryonline.com
The Carry On
films are undoubtedly
an institution and this huge site will take you back in time to the
days
when Barbara Windsor wasn't a pub landlord and Kenneth Williams was
still
with us. The atmosphere of ribald innuendo is perfectly judged and the
level of detail incredible. You'll find accounts of all the films, from
Carry on Sergeant in 1958 to the ill-judged Carry on Columbus in 1992,
and detailed biographies of all the actors. |
Jurassic
Punk
www.jurassicpunk.com
This site might
not be much
to look at initially, but there's a whole host of film clips and
trailers
beneath the dowdy exterior. If you're one of those who can't wait to
see
the big new releases, then you'll find a wide selection of trailers for
each new blockbuster. There's fresh content added every day - from a
variety
of sources - and not many of the latest releases escape the Punk's
grasp. |
The
Movie Cliches List
www.moviecliches.com
Hollywood
blockbusters might
be an easy target, but don't let that stop you enjoying this huge list
of all the ridiculous excesses that separate Hollywood from the real
world.Gems
like, 'A hero will show no pain even during the most terrific beating,
yet he will wince if a women attempts to clean a facial wound', and
many
more besides will have you laughing out loud. Helpfully divided into
sections,
these observations are all funny because they're true. |
Film
Four
www.filmfour.com
As well as
promoting the Film
Four cable channel, and providing easy-to-follow online listings to
help
you plan your viewing, this site contains plenty of interesting
content.
Even if you don't subscribe to Film Four, you'll enjoy the
streaming-video
interviews with big-name directors and special spotlights on
independent
film festivals around the world. There are also comprehensive and
well-researched
retrospectives of major films, stars and directors. And you can see
what
the film-making arm that funded Four Weddings and a Funeral is up to. |
Dark
Horizons
www.darkhorizons.com
An excellent site
for cinephiles
that is bursting with the latest news, images, clips and reviews of all
the current and upcoming blockbuster films.
Each film is
given extensive
treatment, with details of the plot, cast, crew and rumours from the
set.
There's also an excellent news section that will keep you up to date
with
everything going on in Hollywood - including the early word on the big
releases, whispers of new projects and so on. Then there's a huge
archive
of everything on the site over the last three years. |
Empire
www.empireonline.co.uk
A slick, well
stocked site
that is easily a match for its popular print cousin. The very latest
movie
news and reviews are regularly updated so if you really want to know
what
is going on from a UK perspective, this should be one of your first
stops.
What really marks it out as a quality site, apart from the stylish
design,
are he insightful features and the quality of the chat on the well-used
message board. |
Oscars
www.oscar.com
If once a year
isn't enough
for you, you can relive the tears and triumph of the Oscars all year
round
at this well put together official site. Featuring a comprehensive
spread
of subjects, you can read about everything from Oscar fashion to the
history
of the awards. There's also a wide selection of streaming video clips
so
you can enjoy once again the tension of the announcements or the tears
of Gwyneth Paltrow. |
Film
Scouts
www.filmscouts.com
This stylish site
could provide
a pointer to the future of movies on the Internet. It features short
films
by independent film-makers, many of which are actually very good. And
if
you've got a reasonably fast connection, the quality isn't bad
either.
Film buffs will
also enjoy
the in-depth documentaries. When we visited, there was a fascinating
insight
into the weird world of David Lynch on offer. |
Greatest
Films
www.greatestfilms.org
As this site
explains, choosing
the greatest films of all time is always going to be a tricky business
and much of it is down to personal taste. So, Greatest Films has
garnered
opinion from a variety of expert sources and left it to you to make
your
own mind up. This is one of those sites that seems nothing special at
first
glance, but contains such a wealth of interesting information that you
can spend ages surfing around. |
Script-o-rama
www.script-o-rama
A great site that
will appeal
to anyone who lives and breathes the cinema. It's a mammoth resource
that
contains the original scripts for just about every major feature film
ever
made.Relive your favourite moments from Star Wars or Casablanca or
marvel
at the changes made during filming. There's also a selection of as yet
unfilmed screenplays by up-and-coming writers and a large variety of
television
scripts. |
Site
Officiel du Festival de Cannes
www.festival-cannes.fr
Cannes has long
been a glamorous
affair and the lavish website, with its clean black and gold
typesetting,
almost matches it sequin-for-sequin. Available in both French and
English,
it not only covers this year's events - making good use of audio-visual
trickery - but has a first rate database of past Cannes folk and films
to rival the IMDB. The real winner though, is the archive section -
which
gives a vibrant sense of this annual gathering in the name of cinema |
|
Film
Reviews
|
At
a Glance Film Reviews
www.rinkworks.com/movies
An extremely
useful and comprehensive
resource put together by a pair of movie buffs named Sam and Dean.
Somehow
they've managed to find the time to review and rate hundreds of films,
covering all genres and eras as they go. The reviews are all short and
to the point so can be consulted quickly and easily. Having two reviews
of each film also means that you can formulate your opinion more easily
than simply being told whether a film is good or bad. |
Atom
Films
www.atomfilms.com
Wonderful site
where you can
see and download the latest short films. Everything from the new
Aardman
Animations ( who made Wallace and Gromit) creation to the latest Oscar
winning short.... but watch out for Joe Cartoon's foul mouthed gerbil
in
the microwave. They email regular updates. |
Blunt
Review
www.bluntreview.com
Blunt by name,
blunt by nature
is the maxim of this site, on which all of the new releases are
reviewed
by one Emily Blunt. In fact, her opinions are actually much fairer and
more reasoned than she gives herself credit for. Not only that but
they're
nicely laid out, not too long and clearly well-informed. Ms Blunt also
has a nice line in sarcasm and a rather unusual rating system. |
Bollywood
www.bollywood.org.uk/
News,music, new releases and profiles from
the exotic
world of Indian films |
Filmweek
www.filmweek.co.uk
It may not have
as many entries
or look as stylish as other review sites but Filmweek's writers
certainly
know their movies. Well-considered reviews are added as new movies are
released and these are then archived for later viewing. Most
importantly,
Filmweek is British, so you'll only hear about films that have actually
been released on this side of the pond. |
Hollywood
www.hollywood.com
Coming directly
from the heart
of the movie industry, Hollywood is a hotbed of reviews, trailers,
previews
and exclusive pictures. The design is a little chaotic but there's so
much
to see that it hardly matters. Because it's a US site most of the films
featured won't be out over here for some months but at least you'll
know
which blockbusters are on their way. |
Film
99
www.bbc.co.uk/film99
Coming directly
from the heart
of the movie industry, Hollywood is a hotbed of reviews, trailers,
previews
and exclusive pictures. The design is a little chaotic but there's so
much
to see that it hardly matters. Because it's a US site most of the films
featured won't be out over here for some months but at least you'll
know
which blockbusters are on their way. |
Aint
it Cool News
www.aint-it-cool-news.com
Harry Knowles has
long been
a thorn in the side of the big Hollywood studios. Armed with a long
list
of contacts in the industry, his aim is to bring you the latest movie
news
and reviews before anyone else. The layout is somewhat chaotic but that
just adds to the sense that this is news and gossip hot off the
presses.
The enthusiastic team take great delight in pricking the fragile egos
of
the great and the good and why not? |
Movie
Review Query Engine
www.mrqe.com
A supremely
useful site that
will search a hand-picked selection of reputable sites, to bring back
as
many reviews as it can find. In particular, this will also be a useful
resource for those interested in foreign language films, which are
often
hard to track down elsewhere. And even if you're not looking for a
particular
flick, movie buffs can while away many a happy hour leafing through the
most popular and most recent reviews. |
Movie
Bloopers
www.moviebloopers.com
Now you seeit,
now you don't.
Silly little mistakes that film makers shouldn't have made are pointed
out frame by frame in this site. |
Oh
the Humanity
www.ohthehumanity.com
Not content with
the narrow
subject areas covered by the Tokyo Stomp site, the very professional
looking
Oh the Humanity takes things several steps further in the quest to find
the worst film in history.
From laughable
special effects
to nonsensical plots, we've all seen films that are truly terrible.
This
site allows you to share the horror and recoil in fear at the sheer
number
of bad movies out there. |
Inside
Out
www.insideout.co.uk
Recently we seem
to have been
blessed by more and more UK-based movie review sites, going some way to
correcting the extreme US bias that exists. This is one of the best,
combining
intelligent, knowledgeable reviews with extensive coverage of film
festivals
in the UK.
The London and
Edinburgh Film
Festivals are covered in exhaustive detail by a roving reporter, who
picks
out the highlights and lowlights of each. We also liked the clear,
unfussy
design, which reflected the nature of the reviews. |
Film
Unlimited
www.filmunlimited.com
The Guardian's
online offerings
are so unfailingly excellent that it comes as no surprise to find that
Film Unlimited contains some of the best film criticism on the Web.
Each Friday, its
team of critics
set about the latest batch of new releases - and for a supposed bunch
of
liberals they can be quite vicious! Nevertheless, it's clear that those
who produce the site have a great love for the cinema, while those who
design it ensure that their work is showcased to best effect. |
Film.com
www.film.com
A very
professional US-based
site that has been around for a long time. It may not have the wit and
irreverence of some of the newer kids on the block, but it more than
makes
up for that with its authoritative, comprehensive review section.
There's
also a healthy dose of trailers to watch and a number of quizzes and
polls
to participate in. The excellent 'Greatest Films You Never Saw' section
should also give you a few ideas for your next trip to the video shop. |
Popcorn
www.popcorn.co.uk
The problem with
most decent
movie sites is that they're heavily American in focus, which means that
they concentrate on films that aren't even out here yet. Fortunately,
Popcorn
goes some way towards restoring the balance and is particularly strong
on securing exclusive interviews with major British talent like Hugh
Grant
and Ewan Macgregor. The reviews aren't as authoritative as they might
be
but the movie news is bang up to date. |
Kamera
www.kamera.co.uk
If you're often
to be seen
perusing the listings outside your local arthouse cinema with a copy of
Sight & Sound tucked under your arm, then this is the site for you.
While it does review the big films too, often offering a new slant on
them,
Kamera concentrates more on leftfield, less mainstream offerings.
As well as the
excellent reviews,
clearly written by true movie buffs, there's a smattering of excellent
articles, interviews and essays, all of which should appeal to anyone
who
knows their Annie Hall from their Annie. |
Movie
a Minute
rinkworks.com/movieaminute
Do you often find
yourself
at a loose end when the conversation turns to classic films? Then take
a look at this amusing site, which features hundreds of movies, all
reduced
to two or three line précis.
Most of them are
hilarious,
as classic films - from It's a Wonderful Life to Return of the Jedi are
put to the sword with glee. |
Oscars.com
www.oscar.com
Applause!
Applause The official
all singing, all dancing site that contains everrything you need to
know
about the Academy Award Ceremonies dating back to when all movies were
only made in black and white. Good reports on the nominees for the 2000
ceremony - tearful acceptance speeches and all. |
Stomp
Tokyo
www.stomptokyo.com
This review site
is a little
different to say the least, concentrating not on the latest
blockbusters
but on those movies usually found gathering dust on the back shelf of
the
video shop.
Godzilla,
B-movies, kung-fu
and films that are just so bad they're good come together in a melting
pot of truly awful movie-making. Movies are rated in lava lamps, bad
films
are good, good films are bad and all the while you're left wondering
whether
the authors are being serious or not. |
Total
Film
www.totalfilm.co.uk
Rather than just
transplanting
its entire operation to the Web, snappy film magazine Total Film has
used
its site to provide a dual service to its readers.
On the one hand,
it reacts
quickly to any new premiere and has a snapshot review up on its site.
On
the other, it archives particularly interesting features and interviews
from the magazine.
The design is
deliberately
sparse to make navigation quick and easy, too. |
6degrees
www.6degrees.co.uk
6degrees is the
UK independant
film magasine- featuring film, video, book,DVD and soundtrack reviews,
plus monthly articles on filmakers, stars, industry professionals and
film
organisations. 6degrees also offers free small-ads pages, weekly email
news letters, festival and cinema guides, trailers, competitions, film
society information, education guides, video interviews and much more
besides. |
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|
DVD's
& Videos
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BlackStar
www.blackstar.co.uk
The simple design
of this site
means it's fast to load and easy to work your way around. You're
tempted
in on the front page with special offers and free postage costs on DVDs
and videos. You can browse by film genre or search for specific titles.
There's a plot summary for most of the films and suggestions of other
films
you might like to see in the same genre. The site is not short on
bargains
either - some popular videos were available for a mere £3.99. |
DVD
Box Office
www.dvdboxoffice.com
This site offers
free shipping
worldwide, which makes a pleasant surprise. Of course because Boxoffice
is based in the States you can get hold of films before they're
available
in the UK and they're much cheaper than over here. New Arrivals take
centre
stage on the opening page of the site and you're looking at prices
between
$25 and $30 for the latest movies. |
DVD
Express
www.dvdexpress.com
If you are
serious about DVD,
then the only way to go is to import titles from America. The problem
is
choosing a suitably reliable site. DVD Express is one such site.
Offering
thousands of titles, as well as music CD's and movie merchandise, this
is a great site. The design allows you to search for a title based on a
key word, or delve through the structure in place. |
DVDplus
www.dvdplus.co.uk
This site looks
very stylish
and proved to be easy to navigate. You can search for videos or DVDs by
title, actor or director or you can browse by genre. Each DVD comes
with
a plot summary, reviews and a star rating. If you're stuck for gift
ideas
then why not visit the Inspire Me section where you'll find a list of
10
classic films that anyone would appreciate. |
Filmstore
www.filmstore.co.uk
This site is a
subsidiary of
the Odeon cinema group and it sells the top DVDs and videos. Each movie
comes with a plot summary and you can search for specific actors or
directors.
There's a special section called TV Heaven for cult soaps and TV shows
on video which contains classics such as Brideshead Revisited. |
Filmworld
www.filmworld.co.uk
You'll
find a good selection of videos and CDs on sale at Filmworld. The
movies
are accompanied by detailed background information. Movie buffs will
appreciate
the many and varied ways you can search the Filmworld database - by
film
title, director, actor, distributor or by a specific year. You could
even
use the online Film Atlas to choose films made in specific countries.
And
just to get you in the mood, you can even check out a few film trailers
online. |
Video
Paradise
www.videoparadise.com
Video Paradise is
yet another
WH Smith spin off. You'll find plenty of special offers on the site,
with
most of the videos being backed up by comprehensive movie reviews along
with customer comments. If you're not sure what you fancy watching then
check out the video charts for inspiration. Videos are sent out within
48 hours and delivery is charged at £2.95. |
Entertainment
Express
www.entexpress.com
Not only does
Entertainment
Express sell videos but it also turns its hands to CDs and software.
You'll
always find some attractive special offers at the site with many videos
going for as little as £3.99. If you're looking for inspiration
you
can browse by genre or find a specific title by typing in a movie title
or an actor's name. The prices are good and include delivery costs. |
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Fan Mags
|
Clint
Eastwood: The World Wide Web Page!
www.clinteastwood.net
An outstanding,
stylish and
utterly satisfying tribute to the iconic actor-director. The site
manages
to cover most aspects of his public life, building around an
intelligent
biography with an excellent filmography, trivia, and video downloads
from
choice moments from Clint's films (including 14 minutes of footage from
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly). Most importantly, there are a few
quirky
gems; the best is a set of audio downloads from mid-60s bestseller
Clint
Eastwood Sings Cowboy Favourites. Fantastic. |
Degrees
of Kevin Bacon
www.fas.harvard.edu/~salm/student/sdokb
It has recently
been estimated
that no site on the Internet is more than 13 clicks away from another.
But the discovery that it really is a small world was first enforced by
a mere film trivia game - and floppy-haired Tremors star Kevin Bacon.
Basically
- as this site demonstrates - the idea is that Bacon is the hub of the
entertainments world. Any actor/actress can be traced to him through
the
movies on which they have worked, in six steps or less. The details and
variations on the game are described in full here. |
Kubrick
Multimedia Film Guide
www.indelibleinc.com/kubrick
The late director
was not terribly
well served by the Web before his death and even after, there's not
much
to be found in one place. This tactful, largely monochrome site spares
the comments on Kubrick's life and films, letting an abundant supply of
images and aural extracts from the works do the talking instead. While
material for the early days is slightly lacking, most of the later
movies
are covered well (including a section on AI, the film that never was).
Further links are heaped on, if you want further reading. |
The
OneRing.net
www.theonering.net
Remember the
Internet furore
over the recent Star Wars movie in the months before its release? Well,
the whole thing's about to happen again, as Peter Jackson's Lord Of The
Rings adaptation begins filming, for release in 2001. Tolkien's seminal
trilogy has a huge fanbase and The OneRing.net is one of the best of
half-a-dozen
sites tracking the films in production and posting rumours, confirmed
castings
and script details as they come in. |
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