Film Research - Penn State, Brandywine

Penn State - Brandywine Campus

Resources for Film Research

Reference Sources | Film Criticism/Analysis | Film Reviews

REFERENCE SOURCES

Gale Virtual Reference Library
Gale Virtual Reference Library is a database of the latest editions of over 100 full-text specialized encyclopedias. Selected film references include:
Contemporary Theatre, Film Television
Historical Dictionary of African American Cinema
History of the American Cinema
International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers
VideoHound s Golden Movie Retriever

Film industry encyclopedias, dictionaries, and reader's guides also can be found in the Vairo Library print Reference Collection (call numbers: PN1625 - PN1998). Helpful references include:
Critical Dictionary of Film and Television Theory (Ref PN1993.45.c75 2001)
Encyclopedia of American Independent Filmmaking (Ref. PN1993.45.L63 2002)
The Film Studies Dictionary (Ref PN1993.45.B53 2001)
The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made (Ref. PN1995.C343 1999)
Reel Women: Pioneers of the Cinema, 1896 to the Present (Ref. PN1998.2.A24 1991)
Within our Gates : Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960 (Ref. PN1995.9.M56W58 1997)
Women Filmmakers & their Films (Ref. PN1998.2.W66 1998)

Resources for Time Period Research
Use these and similar resources in the Vairo Library print Reference Collection to understand the social, cultural, and political environment during the eras in which your film was set or produced. Additional time period references are included in the Gale Virtual Reference Library online.

FILM CRITICISM/ANALYSIS - ARTICLES.
Theoretical analysis and scholarly criticism can be found in many of the journals indexed in ProQuest and MLA International Bibliography. Ask for help if you need assistance using these databases.

ProQuest (multiple databases)
Display the scholarly articles in your ProQuest search results by clicking on the SCHOLARLY JOURNALS tab.

MLA International Bibliography
The MLA International Bibliography includes bibliographic records pertaining to literature, language, linguistics, and folklore and includes coverage from 1963 to the present. The MLA International Bibliography provides access to scholarly research in nearly 4,000 journals and series. It also covers relevant monographs, working papers, proceedings, bibliographies, and other formats.

FILM CRITICISM/ANALYSIS - BOOKS

Film theory, criticism, and analysis can be found in books in the Vairo Library General Collection (call numbers: PN1993 - PN1998). You can check out these books and many more at the library circulation desk. Identify additional sources in all Penn State libraries by searching THE CAT, Penn State's online catalog.

American Films of the 70s: Conflicting Visions

Celluloid Mavericks: A History of American Independent Film

A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, 1930-1980

History of American Cinema (vol. 9)- Lost Illusions: American Cinema in the Shadow of Watergate and Vietnam, 1970-1979

The New American Cinema

Comedy/Cinema/Theory

Film: A Modern Art

Film and the Critical Eye

Film Theory and Criticism

Image and the Mind: Film, Philosophy, and Cognitive Science

On Filmmaking

A Viewer Guide to Film: Arts, Artifices, and Issues

The Cinema of Oliver Stone

The Cinema of Martin Scorsese

Daughters of the Dust: the Making of an African American Woman's Film

Hitchcock's America

FILM REVIEWS - ARTICLES

Find film reviews in journals, magazines, and newspapers by searching ProQuest

ProQuest (multiple databases)
ProQuest includes full text articles from popular and scholarly publications in a wide range of disciplines. Major national and regional newspapers are also included.
Focus your ProQuest search on motion picture reviews by entering your keywords, and under MORE OPTIONS, select:

Document Type = FILM REVIEW

FILM REVIEWS/BACKGROUND - WEB SITES

The following web sites are popular sources for movie reviews, plots, and background information.

Movie Review Query Engine http://www.mrqe.com
MRQE includes film reviews from major newspapers and journals, as well as the alternative press and specialized film journals. Also includes film comments from the Internet newsgroup: rec.arts.movies.reviews
Covers over 25,000 film titles, with over 190,000 reviews. Whenever possible, movie titles are linked to coverage in the Internet Movie Database.

Internet Movie Database http://us.imdb.com
IMDb is a database of over 260,000 film and television productions made since 1892. It includes information on directors, cast & crew, film locations, awards, quotes, movie stills, and more. (Caution: reviews written by database users only.) All information is accessible through the "search the database for" form at the top of the left column.

All Movie Guide http://allmovie.com
The All Movie Guide includes plot summaries, reviews, and general information on more than 206,000 film titles. Highlights include links to: "Similar Movies," "Movies with the Same Personnel," and "Other Related Movies." Also includes over 50 film industry "Essays" on a wide range of topics and genres.

Reel Classics http://www.reelclassics.com
A comprehensive site on classic movies.

Silent Era: The Silent Film Website http://www.silentera.com/people/index.html
Comprehensive listing of silent era films and people (actors, actresses, cinematographers, executives, directors, writers), and convenient catalog of titles available on DVD or VHS.

Comprehensive Guide to Film Research Sites on the Web http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crlnews/backissues2005/september05/filmresources.htm

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Last update: October, 2008