Resources for Film Buffs

The following resources are of invaluable help to anyone seriously interested in film.  Some are free.  Some charge fees.  Your critic has used each of them at one time or another.

Here they are, in no particular order:

The Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com).  This is perhaps the best resource for credits, production information, budgets, release dates, and MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) ratings.  IMDB is free.  IMDB Pro charges a small annual subscription, and has far more business information than is available on the free part of the site.  For example, if you want to contact a star’s agent or manager, you’ll find the name, address, and phone number on IMDB Pro.

Variety (www.variety.com).  The journal of showbusiness has reviewed every significant release for nearly 100 years.  The Variety archive is a treasure trove of contemporary film reviews written about as honestly as one can ask.  It is also the first draft of film history.  Go back to the 1980s and find “Notes from Film Markets at Home and Abroad.”  It’s all three-line items culled from press releases, but was it ever comprehensive.

Netflix (www.netflix.com) is a fabulous resource for film rental.  A small monthly subscription gets access to thousands of titles without late fees.  In addition to the traditional DVD in the mail way of renting films, Netflix also offers broadband internet downloads by subscription.

Amazon (www.amazon.com) is fabulous when it comes to tracking down anything that has ever been released on video, be it tape or DVD.  It’s not that Amazon stocks every film ever made.  It’s that Amazon has relationships with third party sellers, many of whom have obscure titles listed on the site.  It’s worth a look if one cannot find a title any other way.

The New York Public Library (www.nypl.org) has about 2,000 titles on disc or tape as well as thousands of books about film.  An excellent resources is the Library of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center in Manhattan (212-870-1630).  Through October 10, 2009, the Library of the Performing Arts features the exhibit, “Katharine Hepburn: In Her Own Files.”

We’ll add to this list of resources as our own resources permit.  If you have suggestions, please write to ted.faraone@gmail.com and put Tedflicks Film Resources in the subject line.

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