BestShopSites
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Best Sites |
Description |
Accolades |
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BEST:Broadband Theater. WORST: Not very customizable." |
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Forbes Review: "Recent rumors of Reel’s demise were premature. It still provides comprehensive film information and extensive editorial suggestions, but has farmed out its selling to Buy.com. For indie fans, there are extensive international festival roundups, with plenty of fun clips and ear-to-the-ground buzz. BEST: The Screening Room, loaded with items both useful (word of mouth on upcoming films) and amusing (Thugs on Film, a cartoon review show hosted by two English hooligans). WORST: Can’t search films by genre." ZDNet review: "Need to buy a video or DVD? Reel.com is the place for movie lovers to shop. It earned a grade of A in our survey of Web site satisfaction, and the site is widely regarded as one of the best-designed shopping sites in all of cyberspace. You’ll also find lots more movie news and reviews than before; Reel.com aspires to be an entertainment portal as well. |
Forbes Selection in Best of the Web Forbes 9-11-00 "A+" & "Best of Breed" : Entertainment Weekly Fall 1999 |
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Forbes Review: "A
site specializing in DVDs. Healthy discounts (30% off of all Dvds, 20% off
all laserdiscs), but selection is limited to those films which have been
released in this burgeoning format. Also carries laserdiscs and DTS.
BEST: Catalog is easily searchable by genre, and listings carry all the technical info a DVD-head could crave, such as if the disc offers scene access or production notes. WORST: Catalog is searchable only by title, not director, actor or genre." |
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Amazon.com www.amazon.com
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Forbes Review: "Generally
well priced and user-friendly, complete with editorial and consumer
reviews. The Awards and Recommendations click lets you search Oscar,
Cannes or Sundance winners—or by essentials like director, star or
genre. New to DVD? The site offers advice on building your collection.
Kids jammed an action figure in the VCR? Click over to Amazon’s
Electronics page to replace it—or research DVD players.
BEST: Links to the Internet Movie Database (buried at the bottom of each movie page): unparalleled movie info and trivia. WORST: Prices not always the best. |
Forbes Selection in Best of the Web Forbes 9-11-00 |
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Critics' Choice Video www.ccvideo.com |
Forbes Review: "Easy
to navigate, with one of the most extensive film selections around, thanks
to an agreement with several studios granting exclusive access to certain
movies. Distinguished by its more than 50 categories, ranging from British
Cinema to Matinee Westerns to Silent Films.
BEST:. Budget section features hundreds of under-$10 videos and under-$15 DVDs. WORST: Surprisingly light on reviews and information." |
Forbes Top-Rated Favorite in Best of the Web Forbes 9-11-00 |
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NetFlix www.netflix.com |
Forbes Review: "Buy
or rent DVDs. For $19.95 per month, members can rent up to four DVDs, with
no due dates. Its library of 7,000-plus DVDs can be browsed by more than
100 categories, from Time Travel to Tearjerkers. Buyers can link to one of
six Internet retailers, including Amazon.com, Buy.com and Sam Goody.com.
NetFlix compares each vendor’s price, shipping charge and service
ratings.
BEST: NetFlix asks you to rate films every time you log on to the site (a one-to-five- star system). Over time, the site will gradually customize itself to your tastes. WORST: DVDs only." |
Forbes Selection in Best of the Web Forbes 9-11-00 |
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Spun.com www.spun.com |
Forbes Review: "Where
to go to offload that DVD of Highlander 2: The Quickening you got as a
joke gift from some old frat buddies. Spun lets you sell your used DVDs
(and music CDs and games) for credit toward the purchase of new ones.
Aside from being handy for dumping clunkers, Spun boasts some of the best
used DVD deals on the Internet. Don’t miss the site’s bargain bin.
BEST: Just punch in the title of your unwanted film, and the Pawn Shop quickly offers a price for it. WORST: Considering the piles of old videos most people have, it’s a shame you can’t unload the tapes here." |
Forbes Selection in Best of the Web Forbes 9-11-00 |
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TLA Video www.tlavideo.com |
Forbes Review: "Created
by the Philadelphia/New York City chain of independent video stores, TLA,
this site caters to independent tastes with thoughtful film suggestions.
Rich editorial on topics like actors-turned-directors and the latest and
greatest from abroad. Unfortunately, it is confusing to navigate.
BEST: Extensive under-$10 listings. WORST: Weak search. We searched for movies starring Cher, and only one out of a dozen were relevant. Results included Alexander Nevsky (1938) and City Lights (1931)." |
Forbes Selection in Best of the Web Forbes 9-11-00 |
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Online Film Critic's
Society www.ofcs.org |
Forbes Review: "A
clearinghouse for independent film journalism, ofcs.org offers hundreds of
reviews and articles by online film critics from around the world. Founded
in 1997, the Online Film Critics Society is an international organization
that aims to both inform film audiences and promote the internet as a
viable media alternative. The meeting place for society members, the OFCS
site also serves as a library of members’ writings, offering links to
reviews and the websites on which they were originally published. Forums
are unfortunately limited to members, and the site is awkwardly organized
(the Journal page could be discarded in favor of updating the Reviews and
Articles pages).
BEST: Site is a good springboard to a number of other independent internet movie sites from CompuServe.showbiz to Film Freak Central.net. WORST: Site is a bit all over the place – attempts to standardize ratings are useless and navigation is difficult. |
Forbes Selection in Best of the Web Forbes 9-11-00 |
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Internet Movie Database www.imdb.com |
Macworld's
Review:
"The ultimate resource for settling bar bets about virtually any
movie or television program, IMDb (now owned by Amazon.com) has listings
of titles, people (actors, actresses, and crew), characters, plots, and
famous quotes. You'll also find their lists of the top films of all time
(as well as the worst!) and Academy Award winners. You can even discover
which entertainers share your birthday. My favorite IMDb features are the
listings of trivia and goofs associated with individual movies. If you've
ever wondered about the significance of oranges in the Godfather movies or
thought you saw a mistake in Terminator 2, you can get the facts here.
In recent months, the site has transformed from a directory of film and TV information into an entertainment portal with discussion boards, local movie times, and entertainment news. IMDb accepts some reader submissions, so if you know something about a movie that's not already in the database, you can add it (they'll check what you tell them, of course). Forbes Review: "The folks at Amazon.com put lots of effort into this site, and it shows. More than just a place to buy videos and DVDs (although that's not a problem either thanks to easy links to the Amazon "mother" site), there is nothing about movies you can't find at this single site. Everything's here, from published reviews (organized by author's name) and news to film trailers and message boards. In fact, the overwhelming amount of information available here is the big negative. Navigation can be a chore, and by the time a user finds what he's been searching for, he'll probably have forgotten why he came to the site in the first place. BEST: Everything, and we mean everything, you would ever want to know about movies and those who star in them. WORST: Information overload will make you avoid movies for a month." |
BestShopSites
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Other Sites |
Link to Reviews |
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www.bargainflix.com
(Forbes--click here for full review) |
TechTV's Best Video Shopping Site Pick |
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www.blockbuster.com
"(Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 | |
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www.blowoutvideo.com
(Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 | |
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www.borders.com
"In the video section, information is erratic--some classic films are dated the year of their video issue, not original release, and descriptions are bloodless" (Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 |
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www.brightlightsfilm.com
"this "popular-academic" independent film journal offers film analysis, history and commentary with an eye towards movies’ societal role" (Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 |
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www.buy.com
(Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 | |
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www.cinemazone.com
(Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 | |
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www.cinematter.com
"Reviews are succinct and augmented by scoops and comments emailed by users, and links to the Internet Movie Database...Searching is speedy and customizable. Too bad the content isn’t up to speed" (Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 |
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www.facets.org
"Each film gets a brief, one-paragraph review with full information on DVD features, but surprisingly little ancillary information, such as reviews and no little ability to browse (better to know what you are looking for). Also, online ordering is unfortunately clunky--you won't know if a title's in stock till the next day, unless you order via the toll-free number" (Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 |
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www.half.com
(Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 | |
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www.hollywood.com
"Driven by star power, HOLLYWOOD.COM offers any movie hype and marketing information that users may have missed through other more traditional media outlets. Revolving around a core of some five current big-studio releases, this splashy site offers a familiar menu of movie news bites, celebrity gossip, box office stats, movie trailers and reviews from staff writers" (Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 |
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Hollywood Stock Exchange www.hsx.com "On the Hollywood Stock Exchange, users try their luck on the Movie(r) or Music Market(r), watching the ticker to see how your shares in EMURP (Eddie Murphy) or SPCOW (Space Cowboys), or CHERX (Cher) are doing. Players at this glossy game site can sign up for free and receive two million trading dollars in both markets plus free shares in a selected group of 'risk free stocks'" (Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 |
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www.ifilm.com
"Founded by internet and studio vets, this distribution site takes independent films and filmmaking seriously" (Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 |
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www.imagesjournal.com
"a website devoted to film as art form. This smartly designed online “journal of film and popular culture” combines illustration and interactivity with intelligent writing and serves as a great for computer literature" (Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 |
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www.indiewire.com
"Internet site for those in the independent and foreign film trade. The site opens with links with daily reports from festivals, interviews with filmmakers, details on recent acquisitions and distribution deals, and reviews of films still making the festival circuit before their release" (Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 |
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www.kozmo.com
(Forbes--click here for full review) |
TechTV's Best Video Shopping Site Pick |
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www.moviesunlimited.com
"retail site that is uncluttered by promos and tie-ins.... the homepage sports the usual specials and genre spotlights, which are quite eclectic" (Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 |
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Mr. Showbiz www.mrshowbiz.com "For Hollywood news and celebrity gossip, Mr. Showbiz is the guy to call on. Now part of Disney’s Go Network, this groovily retro-designed site shamelessly plugs current music, tv and film releases, but manages to impart tons of information" (Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 |
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www.secondspin.com
"Merchandise stock for this ... DVD re-seller is as unpredictable as the used bin in your local video or record store, but it is also much more organized" (Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 |
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www.sightsound.com
"first to rent full-length movies online in 1999. On May 5, 2000 they became the first to release an Internet feature film" (Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 |
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www.soontobereleased.com
(Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 | |
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www.spun.com
(Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 | |
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www.suncoast.com
(Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 | |
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www.virginmega.com
(Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 | |
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www.xhorizon.com
(Forbes--click here for full review) |
Forbes 9-11-00 |
BestShopSites.com -- Your Time Saving Guide to the Best Retail Web Sites
| *BestShopSites Bottom Line Rating | What it Means |
| +++ | World Class |
| ++ | Don't Miss It |
| + | Useful |
| 0 | Marginal |
| - | Flawed |
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