[rhythmdevils]

It's easy to find or stay informed about new releases via websites like rottentomatoes and metacritic.  If it's better than 60% I consider it and sometimes below that but I read the reviews carefully.  I can often tell by the nature of the reviews whether it is being disliked for reasons I would care about.  For example a negative review about bad acting or bad storytelling is more off putting to me than a negative review saying something like "it was slow and pretentious artsy fartsy boring" or something like that, which is often a good sign IMO. 
 
But I have a heck of a time finding older movies to watch or re-watch ever since I stopped going to physical video stores.  I used to just walk the isles and it was fairly easy to find things to watch even at Blockbuster.  But I haven't found a way to do that very successfully online despite the much bigger selection.  I think Netfilx is absolutely useless for finding even new releases.  Their recommendations are horrible.  Do I really want to watch snakes on a plane because I liked Pulp Fiction?  I think that's the extent of their recommendation methodology.  Amazon is able to do a much better job with music in the "others who liked this also liked.. section" and that doesn't take into account the whole rental history and rating history that Netflix should be able to take advantage of.  Browsing on Netflix they seem to want me to watch the same 40 movies and they often put one of these 40 in multiple genres so I keep seeing it going between drama, comedy and action.  I think the only reason Netflix is so popular is because they got in first. 
 
I've had some success using rottentomatoes to browse old movies- "DVD Finder" (on the right side of the page).  They have a decent set of search parameters like between certain percentage points, years, genres, etc.  But it's still pretty cumbersome.  For one thing, once you add enough to your que for a bit, you have to start all over the next time and wade through them in the same order.
 
So I thought I'd see if you internet gurus have any tips or tricks or thoughts or whatever.  I'm stuck at home a lot right now so I need to keep the good movies coming. 

 

[cifani090]

Nice thread! I personally use IMDb and use the category section to find movies that i like, and i can also see prototype movies that will be coming out in 2012-2013. Im not a big "vintage" movie watcher kind of kid, since i love watching movies in the best format and i like my characters to be crisp

 

[Head Injury]

Word of mouth mostly, combined with IMDb research. And the occasional MLP parody on YouTube.

 

[bcasey25raptor]

I use imdb. But truthfully i never sit down and watch movies anymore. I get to bored with them.

 

[kckc]

I also use imdb and rottentomatoes. Tried Netflix but cancelled my subscription right after the 1 month free trial. 

 

[Uncle Erik]

I poke around IMdB a lot.

Drilling down through favorite actors and directors is a good way to unearth gems. The better user reviews sometimes mention other films, too.

Roger Ebert's site is good, too. Read through his lists of favorites - he's well-versed in foreign and older movies.

Also pull up favorite movies on Amazon. It often suggests other movies and the user reviews sometimes have them.

The Academy Award lists are good, too. Not just the best pictures, but look at the lists of nominees and be sure to look at the awards and nominees for other categories. This turns up several hundred movies usually worth watching.

Finally, nose around archive.org. There are lots of free and legal(!) movies to download. The original "Nosferatu" is an absolute must. Schreck is still creepy after all these years. According to legend, he freaked out the crew during the shoot. Be sure to browse the other film categories, too. Lots of old educational/training movies. My favorite find is "Soapy the Germ Fighter." Unintentionally hysterical. Must be seen to be believed.

As for new releases, I've stopped paying attention. I haven't been to the theater in 18 months and usually Red Box anything interesting. Maybe I'm just getting old, but it seems that movies are getting worse every year and there are only three or four I will enjoy. And that makes me sad.

 

[sidel]

 
Quote:

I think Netfilx is absolutely useless for finding even new releases.  Their recommendations are horrible. 

I believe Netflix's recommendations are based around ratings and movies/shows watched you share in common with other users.  Theoretically it should only get better with more data.  (out of curiosity,  how many films/shows have you rated? -- I know netflix keeps track on one of the main pages)
 
Jinni is sometimes helpful for blind stumbling.

 

[crapmonster]

 
http://mubi.com/
 
the forums have sort of gone down the crapper but it isn't a bad site to explore films.  They also have plenty of films free to watch.  There is also of course the Criterion Collection:
http://www.criterion.com/

 

[rhythmdevils]

Good suggestions, I'll check out iMdb.  Problem there is that there's no RT ratings so it takes a lot of time to weed out the crap.  And there's probably even more crappy movies than there are crappy headphones.  They are both about equally aggravating though. 
 
I've seen so many movies that I'm at the point where I'm watching movies I've already seen again, kind of cycling them through.  So my problem isn't just discovering movies I haven't seen, but just a way to browse online that works.  I can't think of all the movies that I've seen off the top of my head. 

 

[nikp]

imdb and rottentomatoes for me.

 

[bcasey25raptor]

Quote:

Good suggestions, I'll check out iMdb.  Problem there is that there's no RT ratings so it takes a lot of time to weed out the crap.  And there's probably even more crappy movies than there are crappy headphones.  They are both about equally aggravating though. 
 
I've seen so many movies that I'm at the point where I'm watching movies I've already seen again, kind of cycling them through.  So my problem isn't just discovering movies I haven't seen, but just a way to browse online that works.  I can't think of all the movies that I've seen off the top of my head. 

When it comes to imdb i generally find if a movie gets more then 7/10 i find it watch able.

 

[MuppetFace]

I've always found a seemingly inexhaustible supply of films through a sort of never-ending game of "degrees of separation." Know one director and you know his or her influences and those influences and so on and so forth.
 
It's also helpful to become familiarized with the history of cinema, as once you know of various movements you can find a whole host of films under those headings. Then the game picks up again: you can find out which were spawned from previous ones, what influenced what.

 

[Redcarmoose]

http://www.dvddrive-in.com/   I learn a lot from DVD Drive-In
 
http://www.diabolikdvd.com/ This place is a store for a few deranged souls....lol. A place not for everyone.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Most of my movie information has come from books. I really don't regularly watch mainstream movies. My wife somehow ends up finding womans movies so I see my share of those. 
 
 
Books about different film makers will list more movies than are in print or have been put on DVD. Once you have found a group of old film makers, you kind of have a mental list of the stuff you have not seen. I check DVD Drive-In every so often. I also look at Diabolik for new releases. I guess if a new movie comes out an it ends up being a hit then I end up looking for it.