Jim Karpen Tips

November 2000

How could I have missed this one? How could I have written a column several months ago about movie sites and not come across Movies.Com? Big oversight. So let me stand corrected. After a quick tour I think I'll have to give this site the nod over the Internet Movie Database site.

You get everything you now expect from a movie site: reviews, trailers, box office stats, DVD/video, trivia, showtimes, and more. But somehow Movies.Com makes it all fit together better in a site that is easy to navigate and uses impressive technology.

First off, the main thing you want from a movie site is to answer the big question: will I like the movie that I'm thinking of seeing? Movies.Com organizes the reviews better than any site I've seen. For each movie, the site offers a handy table that summarizes all the reviews. The first column gives the publication name, the second column that reviewer's rating, and the third column a telling sentence from the review. The table groups the positive reviews, negative reviews, and mixed reviews.

I checked out the new Dr. Seuss movie, which had positive reviews from three publications such as the Boston Globe and TV Guide, negative reviews from eight publications ranging from the New York Times to LA Weekly, and six mixed reviews, including the Chicago Tribune and Entertainment Weekly. You can click on the telling snippet to see the whole review. Or you can ignore the reviews altogether and click on a section in which people have posted their own comments. And by clicking on the Box Office area of the site, you can see how people voted with their feet. The fact is, the Grinch had a great opening weekend despite the reviews.

I really like the way that Movies.Com presents the information for each movie. At a glance on a single page you not only get the above tabular summary of reviews but also a capsule summary of the movie, a host of related links, and information about the MPAA rating, genre, and release date. The links include related web sites, the trailer, cast and credits, showtimes, and a photo gallery. Plus, there is a section of links titled Related News that takes you to industry news reports and feature articles that are related to the movie, the director, and the stars.

The most novel aspect of Movies.Com is Fact City, which offers quick answers to questions using a fill-in-the-blank interface. The questions include: who starred in, who directed, who produced, list all movies starring, what is the running time of, who won the academy award for, and other questions.

© 2000 by Jim Karpen, Ph.D. (#241)