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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 25, 2000)
r Web site reviews offer good movie previews ■ Numerous web sites offer plenty of reviews on movies in-the-make, but not all are worth the time By Joe Walsh Oregon Daily Emerilff;' Whether you want to know who will play the next Anakin Skywalker, or you just want to find the movies and show times for your local theater, you can find it on the web. "Cinema Confidential” (cinecon.com) Have you heard there may be a fifth Batman movie? There are also rumors about a fourth “Back to the Future”, a third “Ghost busters” and a second “Men in Black”, but you probably would n’t know unless you were sleep ing with the Hollywood higher ups. Well, at Cinema Confidential, they do the dirty work so you don’t have to (or so it seems). This site has all the lat est gossip, from Leonardo’s next role (Spiderman?) to the status of the “Silence of the Lambs” se quel. There are also movie re views and previews, full trailers and a “weekend outlook” that al lows viewers to scan local movies and show times, along with letter grades and brief com ments on the films. There are even message boards and a Q & A page that allow movie buffs to post questions to other users or staff members. This site has it all, is easy to use and gets to the point... A+ "Coming Attractions” (www.corona.bc.ca/films/ homepage.htmi) This text-based Web site reads like the Wall Street Journal. It’s got all the info, but it’s not too exciting. In fact, it’s no less than incredible how much informa tion these guys can get on a movie that’s not even in produc tion yet. The “Stars Wars Episode Two” page contains around 20 pages of information, and George Lucas hasn’t even finished the script It makes one wonder: who are these people? Don’t they have something bet ter to do than sit around wonder ing whom the next Boba Fett will be? Apparently not, and that dedication to the facts has earned this site several awards, including Virgin Net’s “Cinema Top Ten Sites” (1998). This site definitely knows what’s up in Hollywood, although it can be pretty dry... C+ “Movie Bloopers Online” (moviebloopers.com) “Movie Bloopers Online” is another site that begs the ques tion: how much free time do these people have? Don’t go here if you’re expecting to see hilari ous outtakes, because that’s not what this site is about. The staff at “Movie Bloopers Online” con sists of those dorks... err... ex tremely perceptive people who find the inconsistencies in movies. Have you ever noticed the so-called blooper in “Billy Madison”? In one frame Adam Sandler is holding a beer and sun tan lotion while in the pool, but he’s not holding either item in the next frame! There’s a downloadable animated spoof on Star Wars called “Star Dudes.” “The Big Lebowski” meets “Star Wars” in this spoof that runs the course of the entire “Star Wars” movie in less than five minutes. It’s worth it just to see Darth Vader pick up a soldier by the throat and ask, “Where are the hidden plans, dude?” But that's the only thing worthwhile on the entire web site. By the way, if you are one of those peo ple who think it’s impressive when you point out movies flaws, please knock it off... D+ “The IGN.com Anti Awards” (antis.ign.com) According to this site, the Academy Awards is “an orgy of sequins, kisses, standing ovations, tears, excess, flash and pageantry.” That’s outrageous! But it’s true. The Academy Awards are intriguing, but at times it can be a bit too, well, Hol lywood. The Anti Academy, com , l*ae°Wl A Fite About Ana? W.DVD^ «»*•*,, V*%«®CA 71,6 Dark Side rfd* Forums ^-•^rsSpssswKii* W*%«©CA prising online critics, journalists and industry mavericks, takes care of that, giving out its own awards. It also lets the people decide who should win in its “People’s Choice” awards. The Anti Academy hands out many of the same awards as the real Academy, but adds a few ex tras. There are awards like “Most Underrated Film” (“Fight Club”), “Best Death” (Samuel L. Jackson in “Deep Blue Sea”) and “Biggest Dis appointment” (“Star Wars, Episode One”). It’s interesting to see a different, and well-in formed, opinion on movies, so it’s worth checking out. Of course, once you’ve seen the site once, there’s no point in going back until next year. In the meantime, check out IGN’s movie web site at movies.ign.com, where you’ll find enough pre views, reviews, features and gossip to keep you en tertained and informed until next year’s awards... B “Shadowculture’s Mr. Cranky” (mr cranky.com) When you get tired of hearing positive re views from suck-up film critics, this is the place to go. Mr. Cranky doesn’t like movies too much, and he isn’t shy about it. His ratings range from not too bad (a one bomb rating means “almost tolerable”) to terrible (a bundle of dynamite rating means “So godawful that it ruptured the very fabric of space and time with die sheer overpowering force of its mediocrity”). While Mr. Cranky is always negative, there is almost always a valid complaint that most critics aren’t willing to make. This site is funny at first, but it may not be the best resource for informative movie reviews, as it only looks for the bad. Besides, a person can only take so much negativity.. 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