The Emmy Awards came on a few weeks ago and my hubbie and I got into talking about trivial facts about actors and the awards they've won. All this talk made me wonder where I could go to find information about my favorite movies. My husband is a movie buff and so I asked him what his favorite sites were for movie information.
Here's what he recommended -
1) Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com/) - was started in 1990 by British computer programmer Col Needham, who just wanted to keep up with movies that he loved. It is now an Amazon company. IMDB gives you detailed information about the actors' bios and their complete history in entertainment such as acting, directing, producing, and live appearances. There are daily updates on what movies (and television shows) are grossing over time. For instance, you can find out what a movie has done over the weekend (3-day) or get a 17-day total of how a movie has done at the box office. IMDB is great for watching movie trailers for films that are upcoming, already out or even some older movies. One note is that IMDB does not give you Broadway information. Good equivalent databases for Broadway would be the Internet Broadway Database (https://www.ibdb.com/), and Broadway.com (http://www.broadway.com). By the way, there is the Lortel Archives (formerly the Internet Off-Broadway Database) for off-Broadway productions. (http://www.lortel.org/Archives).
2) Indie Wire (http://www.indiewire.com/) - this site (launched in 1996) is great for the "movie fan" in that they discuss upcoming film projects of smaller budget movies that you would not hear about all the time. They do have general talks about full-length movies but the spotlight is on independent films. I particularly like the newsy articles on trailers, movie festivals and what movies to watch for. There is even a section on acquisitions that tell you about movie studios that have purchased the rights to stories floating around in the industry. Indiewire is a great resource for filmmakers in that there is also a section on the website called "Toolkit". It is loaded with goodies that would help filmmakers with their craft. One day I checked out the "Filmmakers' Toolkit" link under the Toolkit section, there was a story about a screenwriting lab by Lee Daniels for television screenwriters in New York City. I really also enjoy the Podcast section which has some opinionated conversations with the Indiewire staff on movie-related issues I think are pretty thought provoking.
3) Variety (http://variety.com/v/film/) - is a trade magazine for industry insiders in the entertainment industry for film and television. The film section of Variety is top-notch and really good for getting the inside scoops of the business side of movie-making before they hit popular media. There is celebrity information as well as behind the scenes stories about the making of upcoming and existing movies. If you want to know what goes on with producers, directors and how long shelved movies finally get made, then definitely read Variety to learn about the business side of entertainment. By the way, there are great sections of Variety on television, digital and video. There is a "contender" section which has stories on actors and films that are in the "Oscar race". So, you could keep up with the movies that you will most likely see at the Oscar awards.
4) Box Office Mojo (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/) - is an amazing website, managed by IMDB, that gives you the production costs of movies, indie films and the super duper blockbusters. It reports on the domestic and gross numbers of a movie at the box office. One nice feature at Mojo is that you can search all of the movies for one actor such as Denzel Washington and then get a detailed list about his success and failures (not many for Denzel) at the box office. This list gives information on all of the movies he has acted in, directed and produced. The list also includes movie release data, studio data, lifetime gross numbers at the box office along with the number of theaters, opening weekend numbers and all-time ranking for the movies. You can also find out upcoming releases for projects and when they are being planned! All on one screen with one search.
The sidebar is loaded with search pathways that break the information down by theater, movies genres, franchises, and super hero showdowns! This site contains a massive amount of information, really. Last but not least, if you are strictly a box office fanatic, you can search the box office numbers for every movie by week, by month, by quarter, by season, by year and by country. How's that!
Image credit:
Popcorn image - Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/food-popcorn-snack-movie-corn-eat-686922/)
All other images are from their respective websites.
Popcorn image - Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/food-popcorn-snack-movie-corn-eat-686922/)
All other images are from their respective websites.
