A world wide web of movies (From Gazette & Herald)

A world wide web of movies

There's a world wide web of information out there, and this new guide to the web can help you find it. Each column will focus on a particular subject, reviewing the most interesting sites available. This week, we begin with film and cinema, with sites covering everything from golden oldies to the latest blockbusters.

The Internet Movie Database: http://uk.imdb.com/ Rating: 4/5

A wealth of information from the latest news on the Oscars to star biographies, dating back to the 1930s. You can search for any film and bring up pages of details on the cast, crew and plot. You can also link to published reviews, read user reviews, or even submit your own. For the true movie buff, it is also possible to search by other categories such as people, characters or quotes. The one slight drawback is that even on this UK version, some parts of the site, such as cinema times, are geared towards America.

Brit Movie Online: http://www.britmovie.co.uk/ Rating: 3/5

As the title suggests, this site is dedicated to British films, actors and directors. There is a short history of British cinema, a message board for discussing films, and a small selection of feature articles. You can browse through the archive of films by studio, director, cast or genre, and there is also a search facility. However, the site doesn't claim to cover all films, and some of the entries in their guestbook suggest that there may be a few gaps in their information.

Empire Online: http://www.empireonline.co.uk/ Rating: 4/5

This website is brought to you by the film magazine of the same name. It has reviews of all films released in the last four years, with a user rating facility where you can add your vote. There are also features on subjects such as a guide to the 100 DVDs you should own, as well as star interviews, and reports from movie premieres. Although it only covers more recent films, the intuitive layout and variety of features make this site an enjoyable one to browse.

Film four: http://www.filmfour.com Rating: 5/5

The most interactive of the sites reviewed. As well as news and reviews of both new and older films, there are movie clips, video recordings of interviews, a variety of online quizzes, and several forums where users can post and read messages. The site also has the advantage of providing cinema and television information that is centred around the UK, with a search that allows you to look for films by genre, star or director as well as by title.

Just for fun:

Movie Quiz: http://www.thetieman.co.uk/quiz.php

On this site, you can test your movie knowledge by answering 20 randomly selected questions in the shortest time possible. The only annoyance is that you don't get to see the answers to the ones you got wrong! See if you can get into the top ten.

Do you have your own favourite site, or is there a particular subject area you think should be covered? E-mail us at gazette@ycp.co.uk and let us know, and we will try to include it in a future column.

Updated: 11:28 Thursday, March 20, 2003