CineMedia: Previous Sites of the Week (2000)

CineMedia's Previous Sites of the Week (2000)
*for the weeks of December 18 - January 1, 2000/1*	The Hollywood Reporter	The entertainment biz wakes up to the Hollywood Reporter every morning and now you can as well (with non-fat decaf latte grande in hand). Lots to thumb through here including regular columns, domestic and international entertainment news, and a great collection of biz executive speeches and interviews (check out the interview with John Waters...). The domestic box office stats are up-to-date and even include Web site ratings! But the real gem of this site is the searchable classifieds where you can find anything from "beach rentals" (well, it IS Los Angeles...) to digital FX services. Although many of the site's features are a "premium service" for a fee ("Star Power" is a detailed look at the bankability of actors from around the world), there's plenty here to keep you occupied before that next big "pitch" meeting!
*for the week of December 11 - 18, 2000!*	Advertising Hitchcock	All decked out for the holidays, Martin Dawber's elegant tribute to the "Master of Suspense" is a wonderful showcase of the lobby cards and posters promoting his films over the years. Organized around each decade of Hitchcock's prolific career (1920-1970), this site displays posters from around the world. Check out the pages for "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1956) featuring no less than 18 beautiful posters! Medium size thumbnail images give you a glimpse, a click on the image makes it large and viewable in detail. A must for any Hitchcock fan.
*for the week of November 27 - December 11, 2000!*	The Nitpickers Site	A nitpick = "a mistake, anomaly, or a small detail in a movie" and this site is a haven for such nitpickers. If it's "microphones showing up on screen" or historical inaccuracies in the plot, nitpickers will pick them up. Not the fanciest of sites, the real pay-off here is the creation of a community of nitpickers - each posting their astute observations and then commenting on other nitpickers' comments. Each nitpick is numbered and you can view these by film, category, or nitpicker. Check out the Top 10 movies for nitpicking featuring "Star Wars: Episode I" at no. 1 with 316 nitpicks ("Obi-Wan Kenobi's braid switches from his right to his left and back") and no. 10 "Saving Private Ryan" with 157 ("dead cows in the field look like they're made out of paper machee"). Heck, you can even follow the progress of the most prolific nitpickers - such as David Keller who has logged in more than 332 nitpicking postings! But "Nitpicker Mugs" for sale?????????
*for the week of November 13 - 27, 2000!*	Association of Moving Image Archivists	Film Collectors Unite! The Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) is the main professional body for all those involved in collecting, preserving, archiving, and exhibiting the moving image. Check out the "previous conference proceedings" for lively debates centered on how should we decide what films to preserve or how archives around the world operate. Or, search through the AMIA-L listserv archive for hours of discussions by the world's leading film archivists. But the real find is in the "Information & Services" section of the site. Here you can browse through a number of helpful FAQs, including our favorite - the "Video Q & A." Some of the questions that are resolved include: "Why should I 'exercise' my videotapes?" (Answer: "to re-tension the pack of tape") or "How do I 'unerase' a videotape?" (Answer: you can't!). And for those really die-hard archivists out there, be sure to purchase your very own AMIA mug (with logo in 22 karat gold) and sweatshirt (in sizes L, XL, XXL).
*for the week of November 6 - 13, 2000!*	LA 411	Anyone familiar with Hollywood filmmaking will know (even worship!) the LA 411 production resource guide (often a well-worn, torn paged directory sitting next to the phone...) and now it can be accessed online. Searchable, browsable, and very up-to-date, this site provides contacts for everything you might need to start a film, add special effects, or complete a TV commercial. In fact, there are listings for grips, composers, limos, stunt animals - anything that a production would need. And we mean everything! There are 44 listings under "Boats & Nautical Props" while "Post Production - Facilities" number 131! And here's a hint for the week: Don't tell anyone - but this is also a great starting point for collecting contacts for landing a cool job in the entertainment biz.......Shhhhh.
*for the week of October 30 - November 6, 2000!*	Halloween - The Website of Michael Myers	It's "trick or treat" this week and what better site to review than one devoted to the on-going series of horror cult film classics, "Halloween" (1-8). Hard to believe that is has been 22 years since John Carpenter's first "Halloween" premiered in Kansas City and this "Flash-heavy" (and beautiful) site does a wonderful job showcasing the antics of the infamous celluloid murderer, Michael Myers. The site is brought to you by Moustapha Akkad, executive producer for all eight of the "Halloween" films, and his Web team consists of a number of former "unofficial" Halloween site Webmasters - so you can rest assured that these guys know their stuff. The site features snappy details about each of the films with brief plot description, distribution info., photos, sound clips, etc. as well some interesting interviews and profiles. And of course, there are also plenty of opportunities to buy the films as well. So if you want to survive another round of spookiness this week, check out the site (and maybe rent one of the films as well...).
*for the week of October 16 - 30, 2000!*	007 Database	The 007 Database is THE place for everything Bond. The site features a wealth of information about James Bond films, including lists of film locations, cast & crew, Bond vehicles (Aston Martin DB5), film bloopers, and posters. There's even a continuous poll on something Bond-related: "Which has been your favourite boat?" There's a wonderful section with all the theme song's lyrics as well as mini reviews & ratings of songs we so closely associated with James Bond, from "Goldfinger" ("most unforgettable of all title themes," 10/10) to "The World Is Not Enough" ("song neither has the power and emphasis like Goldfinger had," 7/10). But our favorite section is "Q Branch" - featuring photos and descriptions of the guns & gadgets that have assisted Bond in very sticky moments - from his buzz-saw Rolex watch to Bond's standard issue briefcase equipped with "50 Gold Sovereigns, an AR-7 foldable sniper rifle, a retractable dagger and a magnetic can of tear gas." And if that's not enough, you can join in with other Bond followers in the weekly chat sessions that are held at 8pm GMT (UK). A great site!
*for the week of October 2 - 16, 2000!*	Ed Wood Appreciation Page	Ed Wood Jr. - long "celebrated" as the worst movie director of all time (and possibly best cross-dressing director of all time) - is honored on this site from Sweden. You might have seen the bio-film starring Johnny Dep - but here's a chance to learn more about this complex and interesting film director. The biography of Wood is quick and complete while the filmography has brief credits and wonderful scans of the films' posters. The "Fun Facts" section is still growing with little tid-bits about Wood and his films being submitted by site visitors and there are over 15 delicious sound clips to listen to. Additionally, great film stills from such classics as "Plan 9 From Outer Space" and "Glen or Glenda" are complimented by an entire section devoted to "Plan 9 Bloopers" - a film that is composed almost entirely on a series of mistakes! So make a night of it - throw on your favorite angora sweater, learn a bit about Wood on this site, and then go rent one of these awful classics!
*for the week of September 25 - October 2, 2000!*	Big Brother	While the UK version of "Big Brother" has just ended (and now they are auctioning off such items as the participants' bras and beds), the US version is entering its last week and all four of the remaining contestants battle on to win the $500,000 prize and ever-lasting fame (well, for a few weeks at least...). Watch the live video feeds of empty rooms or Curtis washing the dishes. OK - it sounds fairly lame, but it is fairly addictive. Archived video segments include such classic moments as "George's Internet Chicken Chat" and "Josh slings the "big fatty" football at Jamie and Curtis." There's even a daily horoscope reading for each of the housemates (Josh: "You're unavailable to anyone from outside the loop...." - Hmmm...). Come on - join everyone else - it's just for one more week - we won't tell......
*for the week of September 18 - 25, 2000!*	Movie Review Query Engine	Need a quick movie review before you rent a video? Check out the "Movie Review Query Engine" and know up-front what to watch and what to skip. This site consists of a very simple, no-fangle search engine that retrieves film reviews from sources around the world - from the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" to "filmcritic.com." With an emphasis on more contemporary films ("Scary Movie" brings back 145 individual reviews), even searches on the old classics get significant results ("Gone With the Wind" got back 64 articles). Fast, clean, and good.
*for the week of September 11 - 18, 2000!*	Why A Duck?	If you liked last week's Site of the Week ("Groucho Marx Slept Here"), you'll love this site devoted to everything "Marx!" Tons of details about the zany Bros. Marx here. The "Marx of Time" section spits out what happened today in Marx Brothers history (nothing on the day we looked...) and the "Audio & Video" section has an amazing collection of clips about the Marx (with just about every film trailer by the boys via streaming video!). While we found the "Marxes In The Sky" a bit out there (professional astrologer Kathy Biehl gives us a glimpse into the Marx Bros. personalities based on their star signs...), the "Games" section was a blast as we played Hangman (based on the Marx Bros.), Concentration (based on the Marx Bros.), Crosswords (based on the Marx Bros.), and fun little "Marx Libs." Even the entire site is searchable ("zany" brought back 4 hits)!
*for the week of September 4 - 11, 2000!*	Groucho Marx Slept Here!	"You've got the brain of a four year old boy, and I bet he was glad to get rid of it!" This and other witty wisecracks can be listened to on this fun site devoted to the painted eyebrow, cigar-smoking master of the one-liner, Groucho Marx. This is a cute, lovingly-assembled site full of all-that-is-Groucho - including a nice selection of comments from Groucho's "friends" (W.C. Fields to Greta Garbo) as well as a decent biography and filmography. But if you look through only one thing on this site, you have to check out the "Groucho File" - 10 pages of FBI's files on Groucho (referred to as "Graucho"). Amazing stuff!
*for the week of August 28 - September 4, 2000!*	FindSounds.com	Trying to find a quick way to get sound effects for your new film or CD production? Well look no further. FindSounds.com is a quick, searchable database containing links to 1,000s of sounds. Do a search for "elephant" and get back 28 different sound clips all featuring - well, the sound of an elephant. "Beavis & Butt-head" brings back 29 hits - most of them featuring the alluring, yet nervous laughs we associate with the two characters. Each search is customizable by file format (AIFF, AU, Wave), mono or stereo, sample rate, and file size. We got a bit hooked trying to find sounds that were not in the database - but no luck!!!!! A great resource.
*for the week of August 21 - 28, 2000!*	Dark Horizons	Aussie Garth Franklin is a busy guy as he maintains the "Dark Horizons" site - a great place to find out up-to-date info about new film releases. His "News & Rumours" section combines submitted gossip with this own daily rundown of what's going on in the film biz. Each film review also gives you credits, images, trailers, and global release dates. This week so far features "Godzilla 2000" and "The Cell." Franklin also tracks new releases in the US, UK, and Australia - as well as box office figures and DVD releases. But the best part of this site is that it archives all of its reviews (reaching back to 1997) and provides a treasure chest of film info and details. Cancel that expensive "Variety" subscription - most of the news and credits end up here!
*for the week of August 8 - 21, 2000!*	TV Go Home	With all the current hoopla surrounding "fly-on-the-wall" documentary TV shows such as "Big Brother" and "Survival," it's nice to know there are places on the Web where they don't take such programs (and TV in general) so seriously. "TV Go Home" is a hilarious spoof of a British "TV Guide" and dishes up new content every two weeks. This week's edition opens with a listing for a new series called "Text Message Theatre" featuring live actors clutching mobile phones and acting out dialogue and stage directions sent in by viewers at home. Another listing features "Daily Mail Island" - "Return of the popular televisual experiment in which volunteers are marooned on a distant Scottish island with no contact with the outside world apart from the Daily Mail." Sometimes Risqué, always funny.
*for the week of July 31 - August 7, 2000!*	TV Cream	TV Cream is a wonderful walk down TV memory lane for fans of classic British television. The A-Z listing mentions hundreds of TV shows with brief commentary, images, theme songs, and the "TV CREAM Immortality Rating." You'll find great tid-bits on such classics as "Thunderbirds," game show "Call My Bluff," and "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin" (TV CREAM Immortality Rating =15). The site also mentions American TV shows that found their way over the pond: "Gilligan's Island" ("old, dimwitted desert sitcom much remembered by Americans, but little seen over here"). TV CREAM Immortality Rating? 5. Also check out the "Long Shots" section mentioning those classic programs that you remember at least a little about ("Hold the Front Page:" "Denise Coffey Thames kids' series from around 1974. I remember loving this ... but hardly remember anything about it....."). A very fun site!
*for the week of July 24 - 31, 2000!*	American Movie	The hit of the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, "American Movie," continues to do wonders at the Box office. But like "The Blair witch Project," we like the Web site almost as much as the film. Gobs of info about the film's two main subjects (Mark Borchardt and his buddy, Mike Schank) including "Mark's top ten horror flicks" and "Mark's top ten films (from the heart)" - though both are fairly the same list. There's a good number of video and audio clips to play with (watch Uncle Bill trying to get his dialogue correct) and lots of out take footage. A read through Mark's journal is also quite fun (an entry from last week begins: "This weekend was a trip. Went to UFO Days in Dundee, WI......"). There's even a page that announced that you can now call Mike Schank anytime, live in his basement. The Chat section is not open yet (too bad), but you can purchase "Coven" for $14.95, signed DVDs of "American Movie" for $25.00, and Mike Schank's tape, "The Songs I Know," for $6.00. And by the way, in case you were wondering, "Coven" had sold 3207 units by the end of last week!
*for the week of July 17 - 24, 2000!*	X-Men	It's currently the #1 film in the US and there's no way to avoid the hype surrounding the release of "X-Men" - so don't fight it - enjoy it...! This Flash-heavy site has loads of goodies for the kiddies to play with, including the usual elements of film promotion sites (photos, trailers, wallpaper, etc.) as well as a very interesting interactive production info. area featuring details about the major production crew members, a "behind the scenes" area with video clips, and an array of ways to win "X-Men" stuff. If you have some time, check out "The Experience" - an online "X-Men" game. In order to enter, you need to become a member of the "Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters" and must pass an "entrance exam" - but we decided to give it a pass (took too long to load up...). A fun site to browse through before and after you see the film. But beware: youngsters with their own T-1 lines will have much more fun than their friends using only a modem.
*for the week of July 10 - 17, 2000!*	The Character Shop	Do we have a treat for you! Famous for their special effects on "Nightmare on Elm Street V" and the Budweiser Frog commercials, The Character Shop is one of the leading special effects houses in the business. Not only can you cruise their high-profile portfolio of FX (Animatronics, Prosthetics and Puppets), there is also a good deal of information about how to get into the FX biz and some of the secrets behind their creations. Check out the handy "Reference" section for details ranging from where to get dental silicone (Davis Dental Supply in North Hollywood) to foam latex kits (Burman Industries in Van Nuys). A great site that achieves a nice balance between fun, promotion, and information.
*for the week of July 3 - 10, 2000!*	The Warner Bros. Cartoon Companion	Part of Spumco's online "Cartoon Magazine," this wonderful site (written by E. O. Costello) is a glossary and "series of capsule definitions that constitute an encyclopedia of references to be found in the classic Warner Bros. cartoons." And a very fun encyclopedia it is with a wide range of irreverent definitions, from "Anvil" ("earliest use of an anvil in an offensive role is in "A Tale of Two Kitties" (Clampett, 1942), in which Clampettês prototypical Tweety tosses the Lou Costello-like cat a rope, with anvil attached") to "Zero" ("the spider in Meatless Flyday (Freleng, 1943) as he is going down in flames -- the result of a multiple hotfoot administered by his prey, a fly -- laughingly exclaims that he is a Zero"). A must see for any fan of classic WB cartoons.
*for the week of June 26 - July 3, 2000!*	Steve McQueen Film Poster Site	You know how much we love these devoted (obsessed?) fan sites and Roger Harris' collection of Steve McQueen's film posters is no exception. Get past the dowdy site design and move right on to the posters themselves - everything from "Somebody up There Likes Me" (1956) to "The Hunter" (1990) - from the US, UK, Japan, Spain, Belgium, Australia, etc., etc. etc. It's an amazing collection (over 600 posters in all...) and most of them are cleanly scanned and presented. Check out the "breakdown" chart to see exactly how many posters for each film is being exhibited on the site (broken down by type, size and country). If you get bored with the posters, there's also over 366 lobby cards ready for you to look over as well..........
*for the week of June 12 - 26, 2000!*	Saul Bass On The Web	Most famous for his snazzy film credits on movies ranging from "Vertigo"(1958) to "Casino" (1995), Saul Bass was the "graphic designer's graphic designer" as he developed his particular style over the course of many years in the business. This site appropriately salutes Bass with bio info., filmography, and a host of other features. The "Saul Food" section traces the major influence Bass has had on subsequent graphic designers, including the "Hitchcock Font" (downloadable for the Mac) and the poster for Spike Lee's "Clockers" (withdrawn after a complaint was lodged by Bass). Plenty of film stills, posters, graphic designs (including the ATT logo), and video clips to look over. Finally, Saul Bass was also noted for his construction of the storyboards for Hitchcock's famous shower scene in "Psycho" and the "Psycho Studio" section of the site allows you to edit your own version of the classic Shower Scene - Too Cool.
*for the week of June 5 - 12, 2000!*	Charlie Chaplin UK	We tip our hats off to this wonderful site devoted to the work & world of Charlie Chaplin. The brief biography is thorough - but check out the chronology of his life - WOW! - nicely laid out in table format indicating the year and highlighting Chaplin's theatre, film and personal lives. Read one of the many online articles - including the famous speech from "The Great Dictator" which you can listen to as well. Finally, the "Exhibition Hall" includes tons of film poster images as well as a very fun page showing off Chaplin statues from around the world. This is a beautiful site and a must for any fan of the Little Tramp!
*for the week of May 29 - June 5, 2000!*	Nielsen Media Research	Ever wonder how those "Nielsen Families" get to determine what shows stay on air and which ones get the hook? And what about those "People Meters" installed on people's TV sets you often hear about? Like them or not, Nielsen Media Research has a major influence on what we all watch on TV these days - and their Web site is full of explanations of what they actually do. Start with the very informative "What TV Ratings Really Mean" section as they walk you through the fairly complex manner in which they determine TV ratings. Next, check out the "Who We Are and What We Do" section which provides more detailed info. about the various "TV markets" in the US, how samples are taken, and the methodologies they follow to come up with the ratings. There's even an explanation of what the "TV sweeps" are (collection of data from all 210 TV markets in the USA during November, February, May and July of each year). Finally, if the above information is not enough to satisfy your TV ratings knowledge-base, there's plenty of reports to download, such as "TV Viewing in Internet Households." Send 'em an email and who knows, maybe you'll get invited to "join the family....."
*for the week of May 22 - 29, 2000!*	Miketown	It's Mike Myers' birthday this week (Happy 37th, Mike!) and we decided to stroll on over to Miketown - by far the best Mike Myers fan site on the Net. This is the place to find a comprehensive biography, filmography ("...from Wayne to Austin..."), a zillion film quotes, and even a great article penned by Myers himself titled "Ice Ice Hockey." The "Critical Thinking" section is a message board for everything "Mike" (and a lot of other things) while the "Mike Poll" allows visitors to vote on options based on circulating rumors, such as "Mike won't be 'Shaggy' in the new Scooby Do film, but who should be?" and so on. Finally, the "Encounters" section is a hoot to read through as star-struck fans re-tell their brushes with the Great One ("I live 2 blocks away from where Mike grew up and one day I saw him in the area. I screamed out his name and he waved. That was so kool! "). Yeah, Baby...Yeah!
*for the week of May 15 - 22, 2000!*	Pacific Film Archive	Sharing a site with the Berkeley Art Museum, the Pacific Film Archive has been one of the leading archives for getting as much of their collection in digital format and online available to the public. Previous film program notes (over 12,000) work together with online educational workshops ("How To Read A Film") to create a truly interactive film archive experience. But the real jewel of the site must be the amazing "CineFiles" database which contains reviews, press kits, festival and showcase program notes, newspaper articles, and other documents from the PFA Library's clipping files. A search for D.W. Griffith's classic film, "The Birth of a Nation," brought up 89 related documents, including basic filmography details, scanned in newspapers ads, and a host of other materials (some of which has restricted access due to copyright laws). Of course, the collection is limited and is more focused on older material rather than more contemporary films (a search for John Waters' "Pink Flamingos" only brings up a stripped-down filmography with no related material). If you have any interest in film preservation or film history, this site is a must for your bookmarks.
*for the week of May 8 - 15, 2000!*	Warner Bros.	Warner Bros. has been doing some work on their site and we are glad to report that we like what we see. There's almost too much to explore - TV, Film, Video, and even DC Comics to boot! Of course, it's all over-the-top marketing with lots of opportunities to buy the video, etc., but we just can't get enough of watching the "Wizard of Oz" trailer or flicking through Rosie O' Donnell's scrapbook. Finally, WB's "Fan Pages" (called "Acme City") is such a brilliant idea - give people some Web space to develop their own movie and star-related sites that will promote all of the things that WB does so well. It looks like the Studios have finally figured out that they should probably spend less time suing fan sites for copyright infringement and more time promoting these unofficial bastions of marketing.
*for the week of May 1 - 8, 2000!*	Movie-mistakes.com	"Movie-mistakes.com" was Jon Sandys' brainchild in 1996 and has grown into a fairly large database of movie mistakes and bloopers. Lots of films here accessed through an A-Z grid and typically a few mistakes are noted for each movie. For example, in Dead Poet's Society, "the film takes place in a private boarding school the 1950's, however one of the students is studying from a 1980's chemistry textbook." The site also offers a Top 25 of film bloopers, with Jon stating that "Now I've got a proper mistake count going, I can keep a record of which films have the most entries." And the number one entry? "Titanic" - with 93 cited errors! But the kicker is Jon's plea for no more contributions until he catches up! A growing site that keeps on growing...and growing...and growing.....
*for the week of April 24 - May 1, 2000!*	IFILM	IFILM is one of those new, hip Internet sites for film fans, filmmakers, & entertainment industry professionals showcasing independent film. Headed by former Fox TV whiz kid, Kevin Wendle, IFILM allows you to watch both streaming versions of the films (free) as well as the opportunity to purchase downloadable versions (QT format for about $2 a flick). One of our favs is "The Beckers: Cannibalism and your Teen" from Canadian animator, Steve Evangelatos. Ability to search for films by genre, region and format is augmented with lots of film biz tid-bits and news bites. Keep an eye on these guys as they continue revolutionizing the film and TV industries.
*for the week of April 17 - 24, 2000!*	Kristy McNichol en ik	OK, we just can't get enough of Kristy McNichol! Last week, we reviewed one of her fan sites, now another - from Holland. There's loads of pictures of Kristy (with both long and short hair), videos and sound clips as well as a fairly thorough biography of the star of "Little Darlings." The lengthy guest book mingles with transcribed articles from "People" and "Movieline" including such gems as "At Sweet 16, Kristy McNichol is up to her neck, but in hot properties, not water." Site owner, John, has a special page devoted to the ABC After School Special starring Kristy, "The Pinballs" (1977) which "was the first time I saw Kristy and I was so impressed." This great site ends with the wonderful disclaimer: "Please note that I am not able to forward messages to Kristy. I am just a fan of hers." And indeed, he really is.
*for the week of April 10 - 17, 2000!*	Kristy McNichol	From the "Whatever Became Of...." files. Yes, it's Serge Elnitsky tribute fan page to "Buddy" from the TV show, "Family," and Jimmy's sister - Kristy McNichol. Of course, she was in the 1998 TV series "Invasion America" as the voice of Sergeant Angie Romar - but still, Kristy is someone that many of us grew up with and we really do miss her. Links, pix, transcribed articles, and "Family" episode guide are all here. Go to the Kristy McNichol classifieds section to find such gems as: "Ad #1 - Looking for a video copy of the Saturday Morning Preview Show that Jimmy and Kristy hosted in I believe it was 1979." Hard to tell when this site was last updated, but then again, maybe not much lately has happened to Kristy to comment on. Go on, check this site out.....
*for the week of April 3 - 10, 2000!*	Broadcasting in Chicago: 1921-1989	This is the home of Rich Samuel's wonderful tribute to the NBC Studios located in Chicago's famed Merchandise Mart. You see, Rich ("the curator") is correspondent for the "Chicago Tonight" show on WTTW and was previously a reporter with WMAQ-TV - the NBC affiliate in Chicago. With a true interest in local history, he's set out to create a small online museum dedicated to the early broadcasting ventures of NBC. His loving tributes to radio's "Amos 'n' Andy" and TV's "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" - all broadcast from the NBC Studios in Chicago - mingle with historical backgrounds of the Merchandise Mart and WLS Radio. Be sure to check out the tour of the studios as they appeared in 1930 - Priceless!
*for the week of March 27 - April 3, 2000!*	Movie Posters - The Swedish Style	Have scanner, will travel! This is one of those sites we love to stumble upon. Staffan Cederfeldt's lovingly, sweet site is devoted to Swedish one sheet posters. Essentially, the site is composed of scans of Swedish film posters, ranging from Abbott & Costello to Tati (with a few indigenous posters of Swedish flicks thrown in for good measure) - and that's about it. The images are decent with brief credits and a very good links page takes you to other movie poster sites. But this is a real labor of love - as Staffan says almost apologetically, "most of [the posters] are mended with tape...." Like we said, sweet site.
*for the week of March 20 - 27, 2000!*	A Clockwork Orange	With Stanley Kubrick's ultra-violent (even by today's standards) apocalyptic film, "A Clockwork Orange" finally re-opening on cinema screens in the UK after almost 30 years of Kubrick's self-imposed ban, it might be handy to brush up on the doings of Alex and his gang of thugs. This straightforward site offers plenty of info. about the film and the novel as well as a supply of the usual suspects: articles, script, sounds, images and credits. The kind of site that makes you want to go "singin' in the rain" - er - well, maybe not.......
*for the week of March 13 - 20, 2000!*	ivansxtc.	Lights, Camera, Render...(?) Lots of critics have been praising Bernard Rose's (director of "Immortal Beloved" and "Candyman") new flick and we thought we'd hop on to the bandwagon. It's one of those stories that's all the buzz in Net Land these days - filmmaker tosses out the old film camera and whips out the digital camcorder to make a really great film! Result = "ivansxtc." Of course, we're not at all interested in the actual film ("based on Leo Tolstoy's 'The Death of Ivan Ilyich' with a synopsis that begins: "Ivan Beckman, the hottest agent in Hollywood, the heir apparent to the most powerful agency - Media Talent Agency has suddenly died......)." It's the digital filmmaking thing that makes this site so interesting to follow. Check it out. As the site concludes - "Film is dead, long live cinema."
*for the week of March 6 - 13, 2000!*	Gribble's "Taxi" Pages	Jim Carrey-as-Andy Kaufman - er, we mean, Latka, welcomes you to this fun site devoted to everyone's favorite TV show about a bunch of folks who hang around a cabby garage. Click on Latka or the taxi a bit and see what happens. Designed in a clean and straight forward fashion, this site provides a wealth of information about the hit 1978-83 show (not counting syndication). The "Taxi Timeline" uses interactive java to move you through the series' history - pointing out its highs and lows - as well as the various episodes. Also included is a trivia page with quick-answer buttons. Finally, "Taxi Chat" allows you to talk with other people who like watching a show about a bunch of folks who hang around a cabby garage. A site well worth the fare.
*for the week of Feb. 28 - March 6, 2000!*	Atom-Bomb.com	Competing with a number of other Web sites trying to establish themselves as central portals for streaming media, ATOM-BOMB.COM is arguably one of the leaders in this race. The site is divided up by media - TV, cinema, radio, and music & the snappy database gets you around to information about each presentation in no time. Yet what really sets this site off from the others - such as broadcast.com - is their focus on building an entertainment community and each account (free and quick to sign up for) comes with email address and web space. Oh, and the selection of movies and TV programmes ain't too bad either.
*for the week of Feb. 21 - 28, 2000!*	De Bus	Just like "The Real World" - only this time they're Dutch and all living on a bus. Premise: 11 strangers live in a double-decker bus for 4 months travelling around Holland - and you get to watch them live 24 hours a day via a web cam (and if you live in the Netherlands, you get to watch 45 minutes of "highlights" six days a week on SBS TV). The fun part about the show is that viewers get to vote for who they like on the bus and every two weeks the least-liked person is booted off the bus. Although the site's in Dutch, there's enough English to get you around and this site is well worth a cruise. PS: You need Windows Media Player to watch the live bits.
*for the week of Feb. 14 - 21, 2000!*	American Beauty	OK - you might have read in the papers that the "official" American Beauty Web site was being hosted by amazon.com and that it really looks like a page from amazon.com and that it was really set up in an obvious fashion to sell videos and soundtracks. Well, it's all true...but still is an excellent site for info. about the film. Interviews with each of the main actors (complete with links to each of their favorite videos, books and CDs - all available for sale from amazon.com...) mix it up with a photo gallery and honors page. But beware: links to other films typically lead you to amazon.com pages selling the video. Hint: for the good stuff, head down to the link towards the bottom right and go to the other part of the official site - hosted by the film's production company, DreamWorks SKG, with the sort of flash you typically expect from a major film site these days.
*for the week of Feb. 7 - 14, 2000!*	Gilliamland	This is a wonderful site for all of you who are fans of director (and former Monty Python) Terry Gilliam. Clean, simple, and quite funny. The site leads off with Gilliam's very humorous "Chaos Theory Made Easy" full of great illustrations and a new take on Chaos Theory. Like any good fan site, there's an "Electronic Fan Kit" hosting five early pictures of "the only Yank Python." There's also three new cartoon sketches (from Terry's notebook) as well as stills from "Twelve Monkeys." Of course, our favorite part of the site is the hilarious "Electronic Autographs" section featuring 11 signed photographs of Gilliam (all with the same photo, but different salutations: "To my darling friend," "To my love bucket," "To smartypants," etc.). Fun for a quick spin.
*for the week of Jan. 31 - Feb. 7, 2000!*	International Buster Keaton Society - The Damfinos Website	Buster Keaton's Classic film, The General, was released this week in 1927 and the Damfinos' wonderful Buster Keaton Website is the perfect place to learn more about the "Great Stone Face." The site's "Biography" section is amazingly full of great photos and useful information while the "News" section tells you about various Keaton-related screenings and events during the month. Curious what Buster Keaton was up to today in history? The "Timeframe" section tells you - complete with rare photos and details from Myra Keaton's scrapbook. Finally, for those really die-hard Keaton fans, there's also on-going quizzes and contests (the current contest awards the first person to correctly answer both parts of the following question a 1997 & 1998 Buster mug.....). A fitting tribute page to one of cinema's masters.
*for the week of Jan. 24 - 31, 2000!*	The German-Hollywood Connection	Hyde Flippo's fantastic German-Hollywood Connection Web site is a great place to learn all sorts of things about the Teutonic influence in Hollywood. The site is mainly divided into "People," "Films", and "Studios" sections and contains a vast network of crosslinks. But the best thing about this site are the surprises it hits you with. For example, scrolling down the "People" section the name Leonardo DiCaprio shows up. Q: "Hmmm, wonder where the German connection is here?, we asked. A: And the site answers with: "The name DiCaprio doesn't sound very German, but Leonardo DiCaprio's middle name is Wilhelm, he speaks a little German, his mom is German, and his 84-year-old Oma (grandma) lives in Germany." OK - Settled. This particular page has loads of details about Leonardo's movie life and even includes an "Interview with Leo's German Grandma." Relatedly, there is a "Wer kann bitte helfen?" (Whatever became of...?) page listing a number of "missing" Austrian filmmakers and stars - email them if you know anything about their whereabouts. This site is absolutely "Toll"!
*for the week of Jan. 17 - 24, 2000!*	The Simpsons	It's the 10th Anniversary of America's favorite cartoon family, The Simpsons, and FOX's official Web site has plenty to offer. Lots of celebrating going on - like the family receiving their star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame (you can even watch an archived Webcast of the event from the site). Current promotion allows you to even sign up for free Internet service and email from thesimpsons.com. Site contains plenty of the usual as well: Bios of the characters, actors, and guest stars (Adam West in "Mr. Plow" episode (11/19/92), or Meryl Streep in the 1994 episode titled, "Bart's Girlfriend"), episode guides (season by season), interactive voting at the Springfield Community Center ("If Springfield had a Walk of Fame, who do you think deserves a star?" - Krusty the Clown was leading the poll on the day that we voted), and of course, loads of promo ads for other Fox programming. Stay tuned to this site 'cause it's a great example of how TV and the Web can function in an integrated fashion.
*for the week of Jan. 10 - 17, 2000!*	Palm Springs International Film Festival	This week kicks off the Palm Springs International Film Festival and their excellent Web site is a fun way to get a taste of contemporary, world filmmaking. Featuring 180 films from over 50 countries, the PSIFF is surely one of the top, hip showcases of new films. The snappy, searchable film program database gives you loads of details about each film, including limited credits, synopses, running time, Web address, etc. If you can't be in the land of sunshine and golf courses, at least you can get a sense of some of the hottest new films on the scene.

Read Previous Sites of the Week From 1999!