ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries June 1995/397 Internet resources for film and televisio n By Anthony J. Adam Try out Alien Homepage or Professo Neon ’s TV & Movie Mania T he proliferation o f film and TV sites on theInternet reflects the high entertainment value o f this resource. Many o f the following sites should be popular with both academic and public users, especially the film review and television show homepages. However, a num­ ber o f professional organizations have devel­ oped excellent sites which should be useful for serious researchers. This article includes only a small sample o f the hundreds of current sites. I focus on World Wide Web (W W W ) sites primarily because they reflect the elegance and richness o f the Internet as a public search tool, although I also include a few bulletin board (bbs)/mailing list sites for patrons with e-mail. As many of the following titles give little clue as to what the site holds, I have also briefly annotated each entry. In general, the studio sites are poor tools, with few coming attrac­ tions and almost nonexistent press information. Conversely, such academic sites as Cardiff and Screensite deserve special mention for their high quality and ease of use. Finally, a caveat: the majority o f these sites require audiovisual soft­ ware for full utilization; however, anyone who has tried to download even a one-minute film clip knows it normally isn’t worth the time and effort. It probably is not a good idea to have students tying up terminal time watching Ji Carrey highlights. I’d like to thank Casey Hopkins o f the Cabi­ net of Dr. Casey for his input! Ed. note: A few abbreviations are used throughout the article. FAQ means frequently r m asked questions; GIF means graphic interface file. G e n e ra l lin k sites • CinemaSpace. Includes the journal CinemaSpace, plus information on film studies resources, and a lecture on “Cinema and Be­ yond.” Access: http://remarque.berkeley.edu: 8001/~xcohen. • CineMedia Site. This Australian-based site contains 400+ links to other cinema sites. Access: http://www.gu.edu.au/gwis/cinemedia. • Clamen’s Movie Information Collec tion. An access point for numerous other sites, including Hollyweb and CineMedia. Access: http://www.cs.emu.edu:8001/afs/cs.emu.edu/ user/clamen. • Film.Com. Spotlights review o f new films, openings, and video releases, and in­ cludes interviews, criticism, film festival infor­ mation, and news. More up-to-date than studio sites. Access: http://www.film.com. • Guide to Film and Video Resources on the Internet. The link to all other film sites on the Internet. Access: http://http2.sils.umich. edu/Public/fvl/film.html. • Screensite: Film & TV Studies. This site offers almost everything anyone would want to know about the field, including educational resources (syllabi, textbook samplings), school information, job postings, archives, studio in­ formation, and links to almost every other site. The starting point for film/TV studies (along with Yahoo). Access: http://www.sa.ua.edu/ TCF/welcome.html. • TV Net. Access to almost any network around the world, plus highlighted materials (e.g., the O. J. Simpson trial). This is an excel­ lent starting point for TV programs. It claims Anthony J. Adam is a reference librarian at Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas; e-mail: z 115aa@tamvm1.tamu.edu http://remarque.berkeley.edu http://www.gu.edu.au/gwis/cinemedia http://www http://www.film.com http://http2.sils.umich http://www.sa.ua.edu/ mailto:zll5aa@tamvml.tamu.edu 3 9 8 /C&RL News 499 links to l6 l shows. It also includes infor­ mation on world television. Access: http:// www.tvnet.com. • Yahoo. The central gathering point for all film and television related material, includ­ ing all sites on this list. Access: http:// www.yahoo.com/Entertainment. O r g a n iz a t io n s • Academy o f Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Information on the Academy itself; also a prime Oscar site, along with http:// guide.oscars.org. Access: http://www.ampas. org/ampas. • FCC. Mostly gopher material, including speeches, the Daily Digest, fees, mass media materials; provides WAIS searcher. Access: http: //fee.gov. • National Association o f Broadcasters (N A B ) Homepage. Includes news releases, convention information, and access to the NAB Library. Access: http://www.nab.org. • National Association o f Telecom ­ munications Officers and Advisors. Cable franchise operators and how they deal with FCC regulations. Access: http://www.natoa. org. • National Student Television Associa­ tion Homepage. NaSTA is the parent organi­ zation for British student TV networks. The site includes links to Britain’s Channel 4, the BBC, Scandinavian student TV sites, and Polish Pub­ lic Television. Access: http://www.cs.bham.ac. uk:80/~amw/NaSTA. In d iv id u a l film s a n d g e n re s • Alien Homepage. Unusual (and bloody) GIFs, FAQ lists, and Giger information for all three A lien films, plus rumors concerning Alien4. Access: http://dutial.twi.tudelft.nl/ ~alien/alien.html. • Cabinet o f Dr. Casey. A prime source for horror movie information, past and present, with links to other nonhorror sites; some audio and video. Access: http://www.ee.pdx.edu:80/ ~caseyh/horror. • Brennon Rankin’s Cult Movie Site. Links to information on many new and old cult m ovies; see also the Cult Shop (http:// www.public.iastate.edu/~abormann) for new cult movies and stars. Access: http://wwwpub. utdallas.edu :/80/~brankin. • Experim ental Film and Video G o pher. Includes summaries o f materials from the Prelinger Archives. Access: gopher://gopher. well, sf.ca.us/ll/art/experimental.film. and. video. • The Gathering: H ighlander W W W Site. Features the movies Highlander I & II, TV series information, FAQs, and episode guide; lots of text, but no audiovisual. Access: http:// www.seachange.com/highlander. • Hong Kong Movies Homepage. Every­ thing you’d want to know about Hong Kong (e.g., John W oo) films. Access: http://www. mdstud.chalmers.se/hkmovie. • James Bond Homepage. Excellent in­ formation on all Bond movies, actors, and plots, including some audio. Access: http://www.dur. ac.uk/~dcs3pjb/jb/jbhome.html. • Rocky Horror Picture Show (RHPS) Web. RHPS scripts, parodies, FAQs, and lots o f audio and video. Access: http://weber.u. Washington.edu/~hades/pages/rhps.html. • Star Trek (Mr. Video Productions). Handy information on films and TV series; great GIFs; many links to other sites. Access: http:// www.ftms.com/vidiot. • Star Wars Multimedia W W W Page. Focuses on Star Wars films (including the up­ coming A New Hope), some script information, and audiovisual; includes material on the Star Wars TV series. Access: http://bantha.pc.cc. emu.edu: 1138/SW-HOME.html. • The VAMPYRES Film List. Synopses and biographical information on almost every vam­ pire film, series, and cartoon ever made. Access: http://ubu.hahnem ann.edu/Misc/vam p- mov.html. Film d irecto rs • Alfred Hitchcock’s W W W . A good ex­ ample of what a personality site should be. It Call for popular culture papers The Popular Culture Association is seek­ ing papers for its meeting in Las Vegas, March 24– 27, 1996. If you would like to present a paper on any aspect related to libraries and popular culture, submit an ab­ stract of not more than 250 words by Sep­ tember 15,1995, to: Allen Ellis, Library, North­ ern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, KY 41099-6101; phone: (606) 572-5527; fax: (606) 572-5390; e-mail: ellisa@nku.edu. http://www.tvnet.com http://www.yahoo.com/Entertainment http://www.ampas http://www.nab.org http://www.natoa http://www.cs.bham.ac http://dutial.twi.tudelft.nl/ http://www.ee.pdx.edu:80/ http://www.public.iastate.edu/~abormann http://wwwpub gopher://gopher http://www http://www.dur http://weber.u http://www.ftms.com/vidiot http://bantha.pc.cc http://ubu.hahnemann.edu/Misc/vamp- mailto:ellisa@nku.edu June 1995/399 lists all the films, performances, and cameos, and information on ice blondes and favorite actors. Access: http://nextdch.mty.itesm.mx/- plopezg/kaplan/hitchcock.html. • Le Monde du Tarantino. Devotional to Quentin Tarantino; see also Quentin Tarantino Central at http://trill.pc.cc.cmu.edu/~jkoga/qt_ gallery.html. Access: http://www.ios.com/~ jbonne/qt/. • Stanley Kubrick Homepage. Primarily a collection o f reviews and video bites from Cardiff and Voyager. Access: http://www.lehigh. edu/~pjl2/kubrick.html. • Taylorology Gopher. E-journal devoted to the 1920s murder of Hollywood director Wil­ liam Desmond Taylor. Access: gopher://pi.la. asu.edu/1HD%3AGopherServer%s3. Film re v ie w s • C a rd iff M ovie Database B ro w ser (a.k.a. Internet Movie Database). Perform title, actor, genre, production company, etc., searches on 40,000-plus movies, past and present. Users can add information as needed. Includes some TV information and links to other sites. Access: http://www.msstate.edu/movies. • Foresight Entertainments Centre. A quick link to new movies. Access: http:// www.foresight.co.uk/ents. • Hollyweb. A good source for film re­ views garnered from many publications. A c­ cess: http://www.ingress.com/user/spease/hw/ hollyweb.html. • Hollywood Online. Reviews, clips, and interviews. Access: http://hollywood.com. • Professor Neon’s TV & Movie Mania. A good site for audio and video clips from nu­ merous movies, including bombs and foreign film s. Access: http://w w w .vortex.com / ProfNeon.html. • P ath fin d er Review s Page (Tim e- Warner). Movie reviews from Time and En­ tertainment Weekly, plus related articles and links to other sites. Access: http://pathfinder. com/pathfinder/ reviews/reviews.html. • Video: The Video and Movie Reviews Database. User-posted reviews o f movies pri­ marily released since 1987. Access: gopher:// isumvs.iastate.edu/1%7EDB .video. Film stu dios • Disney/Buena Vista (a.k.a. Buena Vista Movieplex). Features film clips, press information from new and recent releases, in­ terviews, and stills. Though small, it is the best o f the studio sites. Access: http://www. disney.com. • MGM/UA: The Lion’s Den. Coming at­ tractions, current films, and projects. Primarily audiovisual. Access: http://www.digiplanet. com/mgm. • Paramount/Viacom. Features only Star Trek: Voyager information; hear Kate Mulgrew, see episode clips, read Captain’s Log. Access: http://paramount.com or http://voyager. paramount.com. T e le visio n n e tw o rk s • BBC. Daily program schedules, job post­ ings, online BBC magazines, and background information. Access: http://www.bbcnc.org.uk. • Bravo! W eekly program guide for Bravo!, the 24-hour Canadian Arts and Enter­ tainment channel. Access: http://www.bravo.ca/ bravo.html. • CBS Television Home Page. Informa­ tion on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Late Show, CBS Sports, and CBS News. Access: http://www.cbs.com. • C-SPAN. Primarily ordering information for transcripts. Access: gopher://c-span.org. • ESPN SportsZone. Features articles, photos, and program updates for ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN Radio. Very popular with students. Access: http://espnet.sportszone.com/studios. • Fox Broadcasting Systems. Links to homepages and sites for Fox programs, includ­ ing M arried . . . With Children and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Lots o f news! Access: http://www.eden.com/users/my-html/fox.html. • MCA/Universal Cyberwalk. Features audiovisual clips and information from both the Universal Channel (.Law & Order, Dream On, New York Undercover) and Universal Pictures’ new releases. Access: http://www.mca.com. • PBS. Monthly program listings, news, and job postings with links to other PBS program homepages (e.g., Reading Rainbow). Access: http://www.pbs.org. • Sci-Fi Channel. This site has primarily time and date show postings. Access: http:// www.scifi.com. • United Paramount Network. Link to the new network (Platypus Man, Pig Sty, et al.). Access: http://www.ftms.com/vidiot/ upn.html. • Warner Brothers Network. Unofficial link to the new network with the dancing frog logo. Access: http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/ ~aaron/wb/wb.html. http://nextdch.mty.itesm.mx/- http://trill.pc.cc.cmu.edu/~jkoga/qt_ http://www.ios.com/- http://trill.pc.cc.cmu.edu/~jkoga/qt_ http://www.lehigh gopher://pi.la http://www.msstate.edu/movies http://www.foresight.co.uk/ents http://www.ingress.com/user/spease/hw/ http://hollywood.com http://www.vortex.com/ http://pathfinder http://www http://www.digiplanet http://paramount.com http://voyager http://www.bbcnc.org.uk http://www.bravo.ca/ http://www.cbs.com gopher://c-span.org http://espnet.sportszone.com/studios http://www.eden.com/users/my-html/fox.html http://www.mca.com http://www.pbs.org http://www.scifi.com http://www.ftms.com/vidiot/ http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/ 400/C&RL News Te le visio n n e w s • Vanderbilt Television News Archive. Since August 5, 1968, the TV News Archive has recorded, abstracted, and indexed national TV newscasts. A prime source for all broadcast news. Access: http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu. Te le visio n sh o w s • Beavis and Butthead. Includes episode guide, GIFs, audio, and links to other BnB sites. Access: http://beavis.cba.uiuc.edu. • British Comedy Pages. Information on Britcoms, film series (e.g., “Carry On . . . and biographies. Access: http://beavis.cba.uiuc.edu. • Definitive UK Sitcom List. An annotated list of every British sitcom, updated monthly. Access: gopher://info.mcc.ac.uk:70/l1/miscel­ lany/sitcom. • Gay and Lesbian Television. Definitive list o f all gay/lesbian characters on U.S. and U.K. television. Access: telnet: wyatt@ccu. umanitoba.ca. • Index o f ftp/pub/tv. Quick access to information on Babylon-5, Lois and Clark, Ad­ ventures o f Brisco County, SeaQuest, and other recent shows. Access: http://www.hyperion. com/ftp/pub/tv. • John’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 W W W Page. An episode guide with audio, GIFs, and links to other sites. Access: http:// www.engin.umich.edu/~jgotts/mst3k.html. • Monty Python Sketch Scripts. Classic routines from films, live performances, and som e TV. Access: go p h er:/ / go p h er.o cf. berkeley.edu/11/library/Monty_Python. • Science Fiction TV Shows Upcoming Episodes. This site only lists episode titles, but is a good source for previews. Access: http:// www.hyperion.com/ftp/pub/tv/sftv-sched. Share your opinion with C&RL N e w s readers C&RL News is looking for well-reasoned commentaries on issues of interest to aca­ demic and research librarians for its column, “The Way I See It.” It’s an opportunity to share your thoughts with a national audience. Es­ says should be between 500–750 words and should be sent to “The Way I See It,” C&RL News, ACRL, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611-2795; fax: (312) 280-7663; e-mail: mary.ellen.davis@ala.org. • Sitcom Page. Links to currently running and/or recent U.S. sitcoms. Access: http:// pmwww.cs.vu.nl:80/service/sitcoms. • Tardis Television Database. Anno­ tated episode guides to hundreds o f inter­ national television shows, past and present; a good starting point for episode hunts. A c ­ cess: http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~dave/ guides/index, html. • The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Homepage. Features Jay and his guests, with samples from his funny headline collection. Access: http://www.nbctonightshow.com. • X-Files. Includes FAQs, newsgroup in­ formation, episode guides, and some audiovi­ sual. Access: http://www.rutgers.edu/x- files.html. • Xuxa Homepage. Highlights Brazilian- based international performer Xuxa. Access: http://:rt66.com/cj/xuxa .html. O th e r m a te ria l • Cinema Seattle. International film festi­ vals may list their schedules and programs here. Access: http://www.film.com/film/filmfests. • HollyNet. Electronic marketplace for entertainment-related information, image data­ bases, and online services. Access: http:// cwis.use.edu/dept/etc/hollynet. • Movie Cliches List. Hilarious list of stan­ dard plot devices, etc., that demonstrates how little things change. Access: http://www.well. com/www/vertigo/cliches.html. • TV Censorship Archive. Brief anno­ tated citations to various cases of TV censor­ ship (e.g., the Roseanne lesbian kiss). Access: http://fileroom.aaup.uic.edu/FileRoom/docu ments/Mbroadcastmedia.html. D iscu ssio n g ro u p s • CINEMA-L: Popular/general discussion. Access: listserv@american.edu. • FILM-L: Popular/general discussion. listserv%vmtecmex.bitnet@vm1.nodak.edu. • SCREEN-L: A cadem ic discussion. listserv@ualvm.ua.edu. Specific bulletin boards are devoted to many topics including: alt.arts.tv.soaps; alt.m ovies.silen t; a lt.sex.m ovies; alt.tv. simpsons; clari.news.movies (industry news); rec.art.movies, re views. These bulletin boards are devoted to the work o f specific directors: alt.fan.quentin­ tarantino; alt.fan.woody-allen; alt.movies.kubrick; alt.movies.scorsese; alt.movies.spielberg. http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu http://beavis.cba.uiuc.edu http://beavis.cba.uiuc.edu gopher://info.mcc.ac.uk:70/l http://www.hyperion http://www.engin.umich.edu/~jgotts/mst3k.html gopher://gopher.ocf http://www.hyperion.com/ftp/pub/tv/sftv-sched http://www.cs.vu.nl:80/service/sitcoms http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~dave/ http://www.nbctonightshow.com http://www.rutgers.edu/x- http://:rt66.com/cj/xuxa http://www.film.com/film/filmfests http://www.well http://fileroom.aaup.uic.edu/FileRoom/docu- mailto:listserv@american.edu mailto:listserv@ualvm.ua.edu mailto:mary.ellen.davis@ala.org