Film Reviews (Yale Library Film Studies)

Selected Subject Headings for Searching Orbis

Search the Orbis catalog for Film Reviews using the example subject headings below as a guide.

Motion pictures--Reviews
Motion pictures--Reviews--Indexes
Motion pictures--Reviews--Periodicals
Motion pictures--Brazil--Reviews
Motion pictures, Italian--Reviews

A Selected List of Periodical Indexes and Websites

Use the resources below to locate Film Reviews.
Really IMPORTANT Indexes are marked with

Academic Search: Use Academic Search to search for articles in thousands of different scholarly journals and general interest magazines. Coverage extends back to the mid-1980s, and in many cases the full text of the article is available.
Academic Universe: Academic Universe is a full-text news and information service that provides access to newspapers, magazines, transcripts, business and legal information and much more. Select the Guided News Search tab. Under Select a news categoy, choose Arts & Sports News. Then, under Select a news source select Book, movie, music & play reviews (List of Sources included in Book, Movie, Music & Play Reviews ). You may also want to look at the Entertainment News section in the same area.

Ain't It Cool News

Cinemonkey: Film, video, books & film, and DVD review and general commentary website.

Film Threat: "Hollywood's Indie Voice."
FIAF International FilmArchive Database
Continues: International Index to Film Periodicals. 1972- (New York: Bowker, 1973-)
SML, Reference Z5784 M9 +I58 (LC): Indexes 65-80 international periodicals of "aesthetic or critical value." The paper version has separate volume of subject headings for this index.
Film Index International (Alexandria, VA: Chadwyck-Healey, 1994-98)
SML CD-ROM Reference Center PN1993 P5563: Film Index International focuses on entertainment films and personalities. The database indexes of over 115,000 films - from the first silent movies to the latest blockbusters - and biographical information for almost 57,000 personalities. Its content also includes coverage of international film awards and prizes as well as searchable plot summaries and full cast and crew lists.
Film and Television Literature Index: FTLI takes over where the Film Literature Index ends. See below for further information
Film Literature Index 1976-2001
SML, Reference Z5784 M9 F55 (LC): 1973- (Albany, NY: Filmdex, 1974-): One of the most important indexes for research in Film Studies. It indexes over 300 international film periodicals. Film title, personal name, and subject indexes are included. The print edition covers film criticism from 1974 to 2004; the online database only covers 1976-2001, and it has been succeeded by FLTI (above). Film Literature Index also includes critical articles on television and video (section two of the print version). For earlier scholarship, consult the Retrospective Index to Film Periodicals, below.
Film Review Annual. (Englewood, N.J.: Jerome S. Ozer, 1981-): CCL Stacks, PN1995 F543 (LC) [most recent volume]
SML Stacks, PN1995 F543 (LC) [previous volumes]
This series reprints film reviews from various resources for each film.
Film Review Index. Ed. Patricia King Hanson. (Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1986): SML Reference Z5784 M9 +F554 (LC)
Two-volume comprehensive index of movie reviews from 1882 through 1985. Consult this for a good listing of reviews and short articles. For reviews of movies produced after 1985, use WilsonWeb (full text) or Film Review Annual.
FilmFour: Interviews, reviews, film shorts. Comprehensive resource for current film releases on screen, TV, and DVD.
Films in Review. (New York: National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.) Ceased as of January 1997.: LSF Hae69 +N21b [for 1942-1949] [under the title The New Movies: the National Board of Review magazine]; LSF Hae60 F49 [for 1950-1997]; Online versions: 01/01/1990 to 09/30/1996 (Academic Search Premier)
and Full text only for Jan/Feb 1997 [final issue] (Art Full Text).
How to Locate Reviews of Plays and Films: a bibliography of criticism from the beginnings to the present. Samples, Gordon. (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1976).: SML, Reference Z5781 S19 (LC)
Index to Motion Pictures Reviewed By Variety, 1907-1980. Alvarez, Max Joseph. (Metuschen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1982): SML Reference PN1995 A39 1982
International Index to the Performing Arts: IIPA draws its current content from more than 130 international periodicals and also indexes articles and obituaries appearing in The New York Times and The Washington Post. IIPA covers nearly all aspects of the world of performing arts, including film, theater, and opera. Most IIPA records in the current file (1998 forward) contain an abstract.
kamera.co.uk: UK-based website covering arthouse, independent, and world cinema. Features, interviews, reviews, forums, directories, and a bookshop available on their website.
Movie Review Query Engine (MRQE): Simple and well-organized search engine query webpage for finding movie review articles on film titles. Also browseable by pre-compiled lists of titles by category/awards nominations.

Movie Reviews UK: Reviews of movies, both past and present (including movies outside of the UK).
New York Times Film Reviews (New York: Arno, 1970-1998): SML Reference PN1995 +N49
Photographic reprints of film reviews as they appeared in the the New York Times from 1913 to the present. The print edition has two parts. The first is a set of volumes covering 1913-1968, with a single name/title index. From 1969-1998, volumes are annual cumulations of articles. The New York Times Historical database also has film reviews, but they can be much harder to find. See also Academic Universe (see explanation above).
Nitrate Online: Full-text reviews and some interviews, mainly of recent films. Some foreign and older movies are also reviewed.
Roger Ebert on Movies: Movie reviews by film critic Roger Ebert.
The New Film Index: A Bibliography of Magazine Articles in English, 1930-1970. MacCann, Richard D. (New York: Dutton, 1975): SML, Reference Z5784 M9 M29 (LC)
Variety Film Reviews, 1907-1980. (New York: Garland, 1983-86) 18v.
LSF PN1995 +V34 1983: This 18-volume set reprints and indexes reviews from variety films. It is also available at the Drama School Library.
WilsonWeb: A collection of periodical indexes. Select Art Index, Humanities Abstracts, Readers' Guide Abstracts, and Essay and General Literature to find film criticism and reviews of films. Type [name of film] Motion Picture Review to find reviews of particular films. For example: Fargo Motion Picture or Midnight Garden Good Evil Motion Picture Review (hints: you need to omit all stopwords when searching in Wilson Web and add the word review if you want to limit your search to reviews only)
Yahoo: Films Reviews