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Professor
Ed Gleason
Library Liaison
Keith Chevalier
Contents
Introduction
Reference Sources for
Background Information
Locate Journal Articles
Locate Books/Secondary
Sources
Selected Websites
How to Cite Your Sources
Subject Guide
English
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This is a guide to selected sources of information related to film criticism at the Geisel Library. It is meant as a starting point for your research and an aid for searching and locating relevant information sources. For further research assistance, please stop by the Reference Desk in person or pose your question online at Ask a Librarian.
Reference books are shelved by call number in the reference stacks near the reference desk on the Main Level of the library. They may not be checked out, but photocopiers are available on the Lower Level of the library. Use reference resources to locate background information on authors and literary works, as well as the social issues, historical periods, and themes being addressed in this course. A few selected titles are listed below.
Select Dictionaries, Indexes and Encyclopedias in the Reference Collection
The Complete Film Dictionary
Ref PN1993.45 .K66
Dictionary of Film Terms: The Aesthetic Companion to Film Art
Ref PN1993.45 .B33
The Encyclopedia of American Independent Filmmaking
Ref PN1993.45 .L63
The Film Encyclopedia
Ref PN1993.45 .K34
Film Review Index
Ref PN1995.F57
Includes citations to reviews from journals and magazines and books. Volume 1 covers 1882–1949 and Volume 2 covers 1950–1985.
The New Biographical Dictionary of Film
Ref PN1998.2 .T49
Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film (4 vols.)
Ref PN1993.45 .G65
Variety International Film Guide
Ref PN1993.3 .I544
Readers Guide to Periodical Literature
Reference Index Area
To locate individual film titles dated prior to February 1977, turn to the subject heading "moving picture plays—criticisms, plots, etc.—single works." There will be an alphabetical list of film titles and citations to reviews. After February 1977, look up the subject heading "motion picture reviews—single works."
Select Listing of Film Critics
Film Critics
The following is a brief listing of some influential critics in the discourse of film. These names would be a good starting point in exploring film criticism in books and online resources.
- David Bordwell
- Serge Daney
- Sergei Eisenstein
- Annette Insdorf
- Adrian Martin
- Jonathan Rosenbaum
- Kristin Thompson
Popular Critics
These critics review film in popular media forms (television, journals, and newspapers).
- Roger Ebert
- Pauline Kael
- Janet Maslin
- Elvis Mitchell
- Richard Roeper
- A.O. Scott
- Joel Siegel
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Below are several online databases and journals in print that may yield useful journal articles for your research on film criticism. Some of the resources focus on film criticism, while others provide historical and socio-cultural context for films and authors.
Film Research Databases
When searching through databases, a database may or may not contain full-text copies of the articles you need. In the results screen, if there is no full-text link readily available, click on the  icon to determine whether the journal is available in the Geisel Library or in full-text via another electronic database. If the article is not available, click on the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) link to request a PDF copy of the article from another library. Articles requested via ILL will be delivered to your college email inbox within about a week. To learn how to use WebBridge, please watch our video tutorial (3.5 mins; includes audio).
When looking for a film review it is useful to know: 1.) the film's complete title; 2.) the director's full name; and 3.) the year the film was released.
Academic Search Premier
Gain access to full-text as well as indexing and abstracting for a wide range of journal titles covering business, social sciences, humanities, general science, and education. Includes publications such as Cineaste, Cinema Journal, Film Comment, Film History, Film Quarterly, and Films in Review. To locate film reviews: Enter the film title and select "PS Reviews & Products" from the drop-down menu.
MLA International Bibliography
Produced by the Modern Language Association of America, this electronic index consists of bibliographic records pertaining to literature, language, linguistics, theory and criticism, and the dramatic arts. (1963–present) User Guide
Arts & Humanities Citation Index
This index provides citations to more than 1,300 arts and humanities journals, including articles, bibliographies, editorials, letters, and reviews.
JSTOR
JSTOR contains the full text of back issues of major journals in the humanities and social sciences. Use this to locate articles in selected scholarly literature journals. You can set limiters, such as selecting the 'Film Studies' check box for journals covering film criticism. Coverage is generally from the beginning of publication to within 5 years of the current issue. User Guide
Project MUSE
"Project MUSE provides online, worldwide, institutional subscription access to the full text of more than 200 scholarly journals in arts and humanities, social sciences, and mathematics." Includes relevant journals in film research such as Discourse, Film and History, The Moving Image, and Wide Angle.
LexisNexis Academic
This is a good database to search for film reviews in popular newspapers and magazines from across the world. The following steps will help you create searches to better locate relevant articles.
- Step One: Select the News tab located next to the default General tab.
- Step Two: On the 'Selected Sources' drop-down list, choose "Book, Movie, Music, Play, and Video Reviews."
- Step Three: Select the time range you want to search from the drop-down list next to 'Specify Date.'
- Step Four: Enter your search using Boolean operators (and, or) in the drop-down boxes of the 'Enter Search Terms' fields.
New York Times [Full Text 1851–2003]
Search this database for film reviews published in the New York Times. The New York Times offers "full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue." This database covers the years 1851–2003. For reviews published since 2003, search the New York Times in the LexisNexis Academic database.
Alternative Press Index
This index contains reviews and criticism of film from outside the mainstream media for the years 1991 to the present. It provides citations (some with abstracts) from over 250 alternative, radical, and international periodicals, covering cultural, economic, political and social change. Search this index for citations on topics such as: socialism, national liberation, labor, indigenous peoples, gays/lesbians, feminism, ecology, democracy, and anarchism. The Alternative Press Index Archive, extends the coverage of the index, from 1969–1990.
Literature Resource Center
Search and locate biographical information on authors, as well as bibliographies, plot summaries, and criticism of their works. This resource provides the full text of articles from more than 100 literary journals. It also provides an interesting feature entitled "Selected Websites" that provides links to sites of importance on authors and topics.
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Examples of subject headings to search in the Catalog:
Try searching some of the phrases below as Subject Headings in the Geisel Library catalog. This method often locates a higher percentage of books that are directly relevant to a particular topic. If you are researching a particular author or work, try searching the author's name as a Subject to locate biographies and literary criticism.
- Cinema
- Motion pictures—Reviews
- Motion Pictures Aesthetics
- Film Criticism
- Historical films—History and criticism
- Silent films—Japan—History and criticism
- Motion picture plays—History and criticism
- Micheaux, Oscar, 1884–1951—Criticism and interpretation
Examples of keyword searches to use in the Catalog:
- criticism and film and history and america
- moderni* and film and criticism
- music* and film and critic* and not videorecording
Use the * (asterisk) as a truncation symbol to retrieve variant forms of a word root; for example, moderni* will retrieve books with the words "modernity" or "modernism" in the catalog record. Use the Boolean AND to combine together multiple concepts, and use the Boolean OR to expand your search with synonyms and related terms. Use AND NOT to eliminate any instances of a term or phrase. AND NOT is particularly useful if you notice in search results multiple instances of terms appearing in titles or entries that are not relevant to your topic.
WorldCat
If you are unable to locate enough materials in the Geisel Library catalog, search the collections of libraries worldwide using WorldCat. This enables you to identify relevant books owned by other colleges and have them delivered to Geisel Library for your use, via our Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service. Try searching on the same keywords and subject headings that you used in the library catalog. If you locate a relevant book, click on the title and look for the 'Request ILL' link. Once you submit the request, the book is typically delivered to Geisel Library within 7–8 days.
Select Titles in the Library's General Collection
The following books are a representative sample of the books available at the Geisel Library for research on film criticism. Use the library catalog and WorldCat to search for more books on subjects or filmmakers. Many works that will be relevant to film studies are classified within the PN range of call numbers and are located on the Upper Level of the Geisel Library.
Criticism
Green, Philip. Cracks in the Pedestal: Ideology and Gender in Hollywood.
PN1995.9.W6 G74
Perkins, V.F. Film as Film: Understanding and Judging Movies.
PN1995 .P4
Rosenbaum, Jonathan. Essential Cinema: On the Necessity of Film Canons.
PN1994 .R5684
Singer, Irving. Reality Transformed: Film as Meaning and Technique.
PN1995 .S513
Reviews
American Movie Critics: An Anthology from the Silents Until Now.
PN1995 .A448
The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made.
PN1995 .C343
Cardullo, Bert. In Search of Cinema: Writings on International Film Art.
PN1995 .C3533
Vaidyanathan, T.G. Hours in the Dark: Essays on Cinema.
PN1995 .V24
Other
Bogdanovich, Peter. Pieces of Time: Peter Bogdanovich on the Movies.
PN1994.B563
Eisenstein, Sergei. Film Form [and] The Film Sense: Two Complete and Unabridged Works.
PN1995.E48
Heinzkill, Richard. Film Criticism: An Index to Critics' Anthologies.
PN1995 .H4
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The following websites are a sampling of interesting Internet resources that may be useful in your studies. You may also want to conduct keyword searching on your topics in a search engine such as Google or Google Scholar, but be sure to look for indications that the site's information is authoritative, objective, and reliable.
Journals on the Internet—Unrestricted Access
Bright Lights Film Journal
This online journal is a "popular-academic hybrid of movie analysis, history, and commentary, looking at classic and commercial, independent, exploitation, and international film from a wide range of vantage points from the aesthetic to the political. A prime area of focus is on the connection between capitalist society and the images that reflect, support, or subvert it — movies as propaganda."
The Film Journal
The Film Journal is an "independently produced, online film publication, which seeks to contribute to the community of serious-minded film websites by being a forum for eclectic film criticism, study and discussion. The Film Journal seeks to highlight local film events, as well as feature international film writing."
Framework: Journal of Cinema and Media
Framework is a "peer reviewed, international journal published bi-annually and dedicated to radical and informative analyses of the complexities, histories and intersects of today's film and media." There is limited online access to articles in this journal.
Images: A Journal of Film and Popular Culture
This site has articles about movie directors and genres, comic book artists and publishers, television series, and other forms of popular culture that primarily use visual means of communication. Focuses on "older" films.
indieWIRE
Provides coverage of the international independent film community and includes information on film festivals, interviews with filmmakers, and film industry news.
Kinoeye: New Perspectives on European Film
History, theory, and aesthetics of film from an international perspective is the focus on this site.
Screening the Past
This is an international, refereed, electronic journal of visual media and history.
Senses of Cinema
An online journal from Australia catering to a wide audience; it offers a searchable archives of past issues, as well as helpful links to other Internet film resources.
Film History and Criticism
Film Literature Index
This website allows you to search through over 700,000 citations to film, television and video articles, reviews and book reviews. Search for citations by keyword or browse by subject heading, person name, production title, or corporate name.
Internet Movie Database (IMDB)
This website "catalog[s] every pertinent detail about a movie, from who was in it, to who made it, to trivia about it, to filming locations, and even where you can find reviews and fan sites on the web."
Research Guide in Film Studies, Yale University Library
Although this guide focuses on resources at Yale University, it includes several web sites, film organizations, and other tools available to all. See 'Selected Resources by Topic' for an overview.
Film Studies Resources, UC Berkeley Library
A comprehensive site, well worth browsing.
Voice of the Shuttle – Media Studies: Film and Video
Provides a lengthy list of links to cinema resources, including film history, film theory, contemporary film, and more.
All Movie Guide
Features extensive factual and descriptive data and original editorial content for 215,000 movie titles.
Criterion
For many of its films issued on DVD, Criterion creates supplementary materials that include critical examinations of films. These examinations consist of film critics discussing the importance of films, movements, genres, and directors. Though limited to Criterion films, you will find essays that are included in the film's packaging.
Sight and Sound
The British Film Institute (BFI) publishes this magazine that explores issues of film from a more global perspective. Articles include reviews of films and in-depth analyses of film history.
ScreenSite
This site provides information about film education, research and film/TV production.
Masters of Cinema
This website focuses on but is not limited to the work of major world directors. Especially useful is the links to four sites covering Robert Bresson, Carl Theodor Dreyer, Yasujiro Ozu, and Andrei Tarkovsky.
Moving Image Collection (MIC)
MIC lets you discover, locate, and even (in some cases) view moving images from around the world.
FilmSound.org
The website dedicated to the art and analysis of film sound and music.
Film4
Interviews, reviews, film shorts. Comprehensive resource for current film releases on screen, TV, and DVD.
kamera.co.uk
UK-based website covering art house, independent, and world cinema. Features, interviews, reviews, forums, directories, and a bookshop available on their website.
The Greatest Films
This website includes "interpretive and detailed plot synopses, review commentary, an unparalleled wealth of film reference material, and historical background for hundreds of classic Hollywood/American and other English-language films in the last century."
Reel Classics: The Classical Movie Site
Described as the "Internet's most comprehensive site dedicated exclusively to Classic Movies."
Film Associations
National Film Preservation Board
The board serves as an "advisory body to the Librarian of Congress, counseling the Librarian on 1) the annual selection of films to the National Film Registry and 2) national film preservation planning policy."
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is a "national institute providing leadership in screen education and the recognition and celebration of excellence in the art of film, television and digital media." It publishes lists of top movies in certain categories that coincide with its television series.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The 'Academy' is a "professional honorary organization composed of over 6,000 motion picture crafts persons dedicated to advancing the arts and sciences of motion pictures." Best known for presenting the Oscars.
American Screenwriters Association (ASA)
Organization dedicated to the promotion of and encouragement of screen writing as an art form.
British Film Institute (BFI)
The BFI "promotes understanding and appreciation of Britain's rich film and television heritage and culture." It publishes the journal Sight and Sound and the BFI Film & TV Database.
Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA)
Largest film critics' organization in the United States and Canada. The BFCA represents "almost 200 television, radio and online critics." This website includes the Critics' Choice Awards, reviews of new releases, and more.
Screen Actors Guild (SAG)
The Screen Actors Guild "exists to enhance actors' working conditions, compensation and benefits and to be a powerful, unified voice on behalf of artists' rights."
Film Review Websites
Chicago Reader on Film
An alternative press weekly newspaper that publishes well-composed film reviews. Among its film critics is Jonathan Rosenbaum.
Movie Review Query Engine
One of the best search engines for locating full-text reviews online, including reviews in journals and newspapers, user groups, and other miscellanea. Depth of chronological coverage varies.
Critics.com
Metacritic.com
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See the library's How To Cite Your Sources guide for resources on how to properly cite research materials. Always confirm the style required by your instructor.
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