Last week’s release by Social site GetGlue of their app on iPad got me thinking. There’s a host of resources and apps out there with some great content and information for film lovers and TV fiends alike. Here’s my ten essential resources for people who have a hunger to know more about film than the average Joe.
GetGlue
take the check-in idea used by Geo-Location services such as FourSquare and apply it to entertainment. You earn stickers for checking into your favourite songs, movies and shows and can request a physical copy of your stickers to be posted out to you. GetGlue have iPhone, iPad and Android apps, so you can check in on the go wherever you are watching/listening to something. One of the most useful features for me is, being able to subscribe to other users feeds. This is a great way to (re) discover new and old movies and shows that you may not have heard of. You can also read people’s reviews of these movies to see if it’s worth your time.
FFlick
A site that I’ve started using more and more for people’s views, Fflick aggregates Twitter posts about movies and gives each movie a rating from these posts. It’s a really quick way of finding out the general online sentiment about a movie without having to thrall through your feed, or do an extensive search. It’s a pity that Fflick don’t have an app as yet. I’d expect that this will be changing quite soon though.
Total Film
My second favourite magazine in the world, and a site that I visit daily for film news, but also their excellent features. They’ve just released their iPhone app and it’s very impressive. Costing just €2.39, the app gives you access to all of their reviews, features and news. It also has a nice extra. A cinema finder. It seems that this will be of more use to UK users, but it’s a nice add on. Essentially, it finds the cinemas that are nearest to you. I can’t wait for the iPad version!
Empire
My favourite film magazine, this would be another regular stop daily. Empire released their own iPhone app a while back, but rather than being an app version of their site, they’ve given us an extensive database of movies reviews and info. It’s a really impressive app. I can guarantee that if you can think of a movie, the app has a review. This would be an app that I use frequently when I’m looking for a movie to rent/download/see in the cinema and again it doesn’t cost the earth at a reasonable €3.99. Again, an iPad version would be very welcome!
IMDB
Everybody’s favourite movie database is even better on iPhone/iPad. What is largely agreed to be the most extensive movie database on the planet is my go-to resource for anything film related. Using it on the iPad in particular is a treat. On opening the app, you’re met with an up-to-date screen of the most viewed movies and stars on IMDB. And of course you can run your search for any movie you like. It’s smart and clean and a fantastic resource.
The Ticket
Looking at something more specific to Ireland, Irish Times have really embraced app technology. They’ve released two apps for iPhone this year in the Irish Times News and The Ticket apps. Although The Ticket app is only updated once a week, it has plenty of content to keep you going and can save you the weekly fee of buying the newspaper just to get that section (which i have been prone to in the past). Again this app would be even better on a tablet like the iPad as in it’s current form, it’s all a bit squashed for my liking, but kudos to the Times for embracing this technology.
RunPee
We’ve all been in that situation. You’re in the middle of a movie and feel the call of nature. If it’s in the cinema, you’ve paid for your ticket and don’t really want to miss anything…but God, you gotta go. With the Run Pee app (which is a watered down – excuse the pun – version of the website), you can see all the bits in the latest movies that are safe to miss. A very useful app altogether, and…it’s free!
Wikipedia
This is an obvious choice, i know, but it’s still the quickest way to find info on any film star or movie on your mobile. I find myself regularly going to it to find out actors filmographies and another thing that it is amazing for is listing TV series and their seasons/premiere dates etc. It can be hard to find extensive lists like these elsewhere.
The Must List
This is an app that I came across via an ad on US site, Slate I think. Entertainment Weekly have released it as an iPad app that lists their must see/hear/buy top 10 each week. It’s a really cool app, and very useful for seeing what’s cool and current in the world of entertainment. You can download this on iPhone too and…it’s also free :-)
Rotten Tomatoes
Finally, I’ve included this as a site that I think badly needs to embrace app technology. I’m sure that it’s something that they’re looking into, but they have an amazing community and base of content on Rotten Tomatoes and it’s a site that many people use as a barometer for how good a movie is and whether they’ll bother going to see it. Fingers crossed we’ll be seeing some apps soon!
So, we want to hear your suggestions of apps and resources that I’ve left out here. Where do you get your news, reviews, features and info from? What are your thoughts on my suggestions here? Leave your comments below :-)
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