Jim Karpen Tips

June 2001

Almost everybody likes movies. And as a moviegoer you usually have two questions: "What's playing?" and "Is it good?" We've covered other movie sites in the past that answer these questions, and now here's another: Amazon.

To get to the section about current movies, go to the home page and click on "In Theaters" at the left. Once you type in your Zip Code, it will show you the movies that are currently playing in your area and will give the location and show times. The site will also let you see what movies are playing in a 30-mile radius from your location. (You can adjust this increment by clicking on the "Now Playing" link at the top, though your choices are limited to 30 miles or less.)

If you're interested in what movies will be opening in the coming weeks, you can click on the "Coming Soon" link at the top to see what movies are coming to your area and where they'll be playing. You can also receive movie information via e-mail. If you sign up for their weekly newsletter, they'll send you a list of movies and show times each week.

For each movie the site offers a page which shows the poster and gives the rating (G, PG, etc.), the show times, the address of the theater, and the box office telephone number. Included are links to the trailers in RealVideo format and a series of reviews by people who've seen the movie. When I visited, there were 21 reviews for the movie "Pearl Harbor." As with all Amazon items, each reviewer rates the movie on a scale of one to five stars. Amazon also gives you the average reviewer rating (3.5 for "Pearl Harbor").

Like other areas of its site, Amazon makes customer recommendations. For each movie currently playing it offers a list of movies under a heading that says, "Customers interested in this film were also interested in these films." Similarly, it offers links to videos, books, and CDs under a heading that says, "Customers interested in this film were also interested in these items." You can't blame Amazon for wanting to sell products, and this feature isn't too intrusive.

Other links include "Cast List" and Quotes & Trivia." If you click on a link associated with the director or stars, it will show you a list of the other current films of these individuals.

At the very bottom of the page Amazon invites you to enter your e-mail address if you want to be notified when the movie comes out in VHS or DVD. And there's also a link to the Internet Movie Database in case you want to find out even more information about the movie.

© 2001 by Jim Karpen, Ph.D. (#268)