LINKS OF INTEREST

CRITICS

James Berardinelli and Scott Renshaw are considered two of the finest critics on the 'Net. Their reviews are literate, smart, and plenty. They are two very dedicated reviewers.
Century of Films, a wonderful feature on Film Unlimited, was a year-long endeavor for Derek Malcolm. He chose 100 films to represent movie history so far, and his list is very personal (and his brilliant, concise writings auteurist). He doesn't go down the list of the agreed-upon film canon, but picks Touch of Evil over Citizen Kane, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt over M, The Passenger over L'Avventura or Blow-Up, and The Bitter Tea of General Yen over It's a Wonderful Life or Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
Mike D'Angelo's page still thrives, despite the fact that he is supposedly retired. I'm glad that the semi-regular posting of short reviews and scattered thoughts suggests the contrary.
Nick Davis is a wonderful writer who bashed The Matrix.
Desolation has a nice section on film. The site's writer has a tendency to give low, low ratings on a 1 to 10 scale, but his writing, usually about classics, is informative and enjoyable.
Roger Ebert is one of the best critics working today that I know of. His biweekly column The Great Movies is one of the most invaluable source of a list of must-see films, and I always wait in anxious anticipation for the next review to come along. Ebert is perhaps the most respected of all the present-day critics, and he is arguably the most famous.
The Editing Room is perhaps the funniest of all the movie websites out there. Rod Hilton punctures the pomposity of some very good films and some very bad ones beautifully and perfectly by distilling their silly centers and themes in script form.
Jim Emerson's Cinepad is a movie haven and his reviews, while few, are so engaging, long, hard, juicy, and debatable and his collection of film lore is so delicious, you'd wish he wrote more prolifically.
Filmaholics Anonymous is a wonderful site for anyone suffering from the addiction named. It could use more reviews, but this guy has a great knowledge of film and is a joy to read (and communicate with).
My colleagues at Film Written, a small, well-meaning online magazine, are extremely capable. Check 'em out.
The Flick Filosopher, otherwise known as the Girl Movie Critic, is tough, intelligent, and invigoratingly opinionated. The site's great design adds much fun to one's experience.
Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus is a wonderful site that I visit often, in hopes that Frazer will post more of his critical gems soon.
Alex Fung's Film Page has an awesome collection of movie stuff including numerous critics awards, top 10 lists, and mind-bogglingly detailed Oscar colums.
Erik Gregersen's reviews are sometimes on obscure titles I never get to see, but I relish his opinions.
Gabe Klinger obviously loves movies and his wonderful site focuses on independent and foreign films. And it doesn't hurt that he likes "My Two Cents" and that his writing is smart and his spoofy interviews are funny and scathing. He called me "the next Rosenbaum," but he deserves the title much more.
Greg Murphy's The Ledgers of Life is a hilarious, witty, straight-forward page.
The folks at the New York Press are intelligent and always engaging, even when they're ranting on the death of cinema.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, one of the greatest critics who has ever lived, writes some of the longest reviews around. Few critics right this deep and heavy anymore and his insights are captivating, if at times confounding.
Rotten Tomatoes is a useful website documenting recent films, quotations from reviews, and an average scoring compiled from several different, respected critical sources that is especially helpful with movies that received mixed receptions.
Salon.com is exciting, modern, and full of articulate, thoughtful, loud, and sometimes political movie reviews.
Max Scheinin is a truly amazing young writer. He is smart, knowledgable, and opinionated while too many critics out there, even professionals, know little in the way of classics or art and have dime-a-dozen opinions that are duplicates of every other drab reviewer out there. His writings are even improving- which is a rare thing. Check him out. I hope my reviews are as literate and as intelligent as his (this is not at all lip service.)
Senses of Cinema is an Aussie online film zine. The articles are exceptional; I wish I had more time to read them (and read more in general).
Theo's Century of Movies is a marvel because of how concise its author manages to be, while still conveying a great sense of motion pictures.
Scott Tobias writes short, perceptive reviews at The Onion.
It's taken me a long time to put up this on my site, but I've been frequenting Vern's sight lately and I was looking through the archives and I read his Online Film Critics Society horror stories and I thought they were funny and creepy and stuff and this guy is smart and unprofessional and I think we need to praise the Lord for that.
Ian Waldron-Mantgani's The UK Critic happens to be the first established site to give me a link. Embarassingly, Ian's site was not a link on this page when My Two Cents was named his Site of the Week. Ian is intelligent and, like Berardinelli and Renshaw, writes smart, perceptive reviews that are wonderfully literate. His section The Great Movies doesn't include many films, but the reviews that are there are some of his best.
George Wu has an interesting page, with a huge list of all the films he's seen with ratings. He has a wonderful appreciation of films.

DATABASES

The Internet Movie Database is the most useful film site on the 'net. It is the mother, father, and lord of all internet movie sites. It includes everything: credits, summaries, meticulous coverage of almost every award, crazy credits, and almost everything else imaginble. It is the most extensive database of film I have ever seen.
The Movie Review Query Engine is a collection of tons of reviews on almost every film reviewed on the 'Net.

BUY, SHOP, RENT

Amazon.com has it all.
The Criterion Collection (DVD) makes the best DVDs- their releases are chocked full of supllements and the most intriguing commentaries. You can't buy their stuff at their website, but you can browse a list of all their current releases and DVDs soon to be released. Their Seventh Seal is essential.
Netflix.com (DVD Rentals) allows you to rent almost every DVD imaginable that you can't find at your local Blockbuster.
Reel.com has it all, too.

MISCELLANEOUS

Classic Movies needs little explanation. Just visit it and join the mailing list.
DVD Verdict is one of the many excellent sites that review DVD releases. I think it is the best. Check it out. It has insightful reviews and since a lot of discs are so bare on the features, this is a great place to find out if you're getting your money's worth.
The Greatest Films is simply awe-inspiring. Tim Dirks does not give criticism, which is something of a shame because I get curious, but he gives observant details, history, lists, recommendations, and almost complete dialogue and action of the greatest American films.
Eric Johnson's Vortex of Nothingness is a heaven for the list-lover. And you know I'm one. We all acknowledge that lists are embarassingly stupid, but we make them, and the ranking and discussing is much fun. Johnson gives out ratings of recent films, too, but it is his huge collection of material that is the highlight of his vortex.
The Motion Picture Industry: Behind the Scenes is jaw-dropping in its dedication to bringing the aspiring movie maker valuable info. The Script Buddy is the best way to write a script you can easily edit.
The Silent Majority is a tribute to the best of the silent era and a visit may help refocus you on some forgotten gems. Silent films are not going to fade away, thankfully, if these guys keep the good work up.


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