filmfan's diary

This is pretty cool. If you like movies (films, really, but its a US-centric blog today) as much as I do you'll spend ages exploring the snazzy interactive thingy from The New York Times. They've plotted the box office takings of the films that were out in the last 22 years and its quite interesting to see what was popular at a particular time and how long it lasted. 

I found out about this at one of my new favourite haunts online - www.firstshowing.net . I'll try not to blog about everything they do, but I thought this was pretty fun.

Bits and pieces now.....

The BBC's movies section (oddly part of their Film section) is a great resource. I like the film diary, but the whole site is invaluable to a cinephile such as myself. Full of great interview, reviews and so on.

Obviously IMDb is like catnip to me. Its a time-sponge is what it is. I'm working my way through the Top 250, I'm almost a fifth of the way through. At the rate I'm going I might have seen them all before I'm 100. Mind you, it is updated so I might do better if I keep picking corkers like Juno and No Country For Old Men.

Not to be outdone, Channel 4 are great for movie stuff. Film4 the channel is free, which is great for me, and the related Facebook app. is quite good too. The website's Movie Rush is great for trailers, interviews etc. and the Box Office Top 10 bit at the bottom of the Cinema section is great for sorting the wheat from the chaff and cutting through the hype to find the films worth seeing.

The Guardian's film section is worth a look too. 

I watch too much telly. I used to get it all through a TV, as you do, but I keep finding myself watching telly on the net as well. Here's where I'm going.

bbc.co.uk/iplayer Officialy launched at christmas you can catch up with pretty much any BBC show you might have missed, and find new ones to enjoy, like 'Click', a prog about the internet and tech in general. 

tvcatchup.com Go here to catch up on programmes from the best freeview channels - E4, five, BBC3 & 4 etc. Plus the terrestrial ones. I'm enjoying 'Pocoyo', which is a bit sad, 'cos its for kids. Voiceover from Stephen Fry though, so can't all be bad.

I could be using 4OD, channel 4's  catchup service, but I'm not, so there. Same with ITV and five's services though they aren't bad. I have also been on NBC's website, to watch a load of DVD extra-like stuff about Heroes. There's some excellent online comics up there too, but start from number one, 'cos they be spoilers on that site.