As promised, VanRamblings will complete the listing of our favourite cinema-related websites, covering film and film culture.
In today’s post, we’ll present part one of an inclusive (we hope) list of free-for-the-viewing websites covering the film scene. In an upcoming post, part 2 of this series, we’ll focus on Oscar coverage, and the websites and blogs which do a bang up job of covering the weeks and months leading up to the Oscar ceremony which will take place Sunday, February 28th, 2011.
In previous posts we wrote about Jeffrey Wells (Hollywood Elsewhere), as well as Anne Thompson. In today’s post, we’ll turn our attention to …

MovieCityNews: One of the première online sources for movies news, David Poland’s MovieCityNews acts, in part, as an aggregator — linking to most of the important film news stories of the day — and in recent years has expanded its coverage of film and film culture by hiring more full-time staff, and contracting with a few of the most important and erudite contemporary American films writers, to make MovieCityNews an indispensable website for anyone interested in film and film culture. From the first-rate interviews conducted by David with a variety of actors and directors, which are also published on his Hot Blog, to reviews by respected film critic Michael Wilmington (late of the Chicago Tribune), and the site’s Oscar-related coverage on Gurus O’ Gold, MovieCityNews is worth a visit each new day.

Deadline | Hollywood: Primarily concerned with the business of Hollywood, since the site’s founder Nikke Finke sold to Jay Penske — in the process, greatly expanding its coverage, now including daily TV coverage by Nellie Andreeva — Deadline | Hollywood has become the web’s most visited (and successful) online ‘blog’. About to have her tempestuous life fictionalized in the upcoming HBO series Tilda, there’s enough coverage of Hollywood and environs on this site so as to warrant an hourly visit (if, like VanRamblings, you have no life, or what sorry life you have is spent surfing the ‘Net).

Movie | Line: Another recent purchase by Mail.com’s Jay Penske, Movie | Line has risen phoenix-like from its much missed hard copy magazine version to become the latest quite readable website covering Hollywood and all of its various machinations. With a stable of writers including Stuart (S.T.) van Airsdale and chief film critic Stephanie Zacharek (late of Salon.com), there’s enough going on at Movie | Line to make a once or twice a day visit a necessity.

Editorial director, and founder, of The Wrap, Sharon Waxman finds herself in direct competition with Nikki Finke, and since its arrival on the scene The Wrap has made the ever cantankerous Ms. Finke none-too-happy. The latest redesign of the site lacks warmth and immediacy, and much of The Wrap’s coverage seems a bit warmed over, but for all that The Wrap remains a one-stop shop for wide coverage of the Hollywood entertainment scene: film, television and the business of entertainment in the online age.

Roger Ebert: Perhaps the most respected film critic today, with an avid following of regular folks and cinéastes alike, Roger Ebert is the film critic eminence grise of our age. Roger’s blog, Ebert’s Journal, is also a must-read, as is his phenomenal twitter output. Roger is a humane film critic, seemingly without an arrogant bone in his entire body (alas, the same can’t be said for many who cover the film community), writes well and possesses the salutary ability to get to the heart of any issue he writes on, or film he reviews, writing always for us — those who love film and those who are more interested in film as ‘art’ (an art for the people) than as a narcotizing agent for the masses.

Some Came Running: Lots of photos and great analysis from Glenn Kenny — one of my favourite writers, as was Anne Thompson, at the all now but defunct Premiere magazine. Kenny’s work on his (design) simple, but compelling and very readable, blog represents a departure from anything you’ll read on any of the other websites we’ve mentioned thus far — he’s not flashy, doesn’t feel the need to stay on top of the latest story, and there’s little in the way of ‘gossip’ / personality driven content. Just good old fashioned shoot from the hip writing from someone clearly well informed and in love with the movies.

The Big Picture: The preserve of veteran Los Angeles Times entertainment reporter / commentator Patrick Goldstein, who has taken to the web like no other (he writes frequently on his The Big Picture blog) while maintaining his employment with the not quite so august LA Times (the paper has seen better days), Patrick Goldstein remains readable, progressive (read: liberal), relevant, and always a good read. Could one ask for more? Covering the gamut of film-related news with an always thoughtful analysis of some of the more important film culture ‘events’ of the week, Patrick is a must-read.

The Hollywood Reporter: When US magazine editor Janice Yin took over the august trade daily, The Hollywood Reporter, there was an outcry in Hollywood that the once venerable publication would be going the trashy tabloid route, and one of the few reliable sources for Hollywood-related news would go by the wayside. But with the print edition becoming a glossy weekly (here’s the first cover), and the redesign of the online site going high-end toe to toe with the ‘trendier blog sites’ on the Internet, the jury is still out as to whether Min’s hire last May was entirely a botch job. Thus far, Min has turned her staff loose on the Internet, THR breaks stories online, the writing quality of the new hires (including former Variety magazine lead film critic Todd McCarthy) reads as first-rate, and (who’da thunk it?) The Hollywood Reporter would appear to be back, and ready to give the blogosphere a run for its money. Worth checking out, at least occasionally.

The Guardian: Sometimes it becomes a necessary thing to gain a little perspective on the American-centric coverage of Hollywood and the film / entertainment industry, and The Guardian’s coverage of film does just that, providing a wry, up-to-date British take on all things Hollywood, as well as thoughtful, well-written reviews — generally written by Peter Bradshaw and Philip French — often exploring at length the deeper psychological and cultural implications of the incendiary material we see on screen.

There are more cinema-related websites we frequently visit. For instance, we have long been a fan of James Berardinelli, an engineer by trade but a movie buff (and first-rate film critic) who has, for years, published thrice-weekly reviews of almost all the films that hit our local multiplex. And he does all of that work for us, for free (and, of course, because he loves film).
Passion seems a rare commodity these days.
All of the writers, above, who dedicate themselves to exploring modern day film culture, a venture that spans the age, possess passion in welcome abundance. Thank goodness that each of these writers are there for us to read. We are all the richer for their passion and their dedication to craft.

A couple of days back, we wrote about why we love Jeffrey Wells’ ever-
informative Hollywood Elsewhere website / blog, and why we’ve visited his blog several times a day for years (as well as all previous web incarnations of Mr. Wells’ work, from Reel.com through Hollywood Confidential).
This weekend, we’ll focus on another of our favourite cinema-related websites, a link to which we’ve built into our Firefox Bookmark Toolbar, and suggest why you might give this website due consideration for a visit.

Anne Thompson’s Thompson on Hollywood: Former film columnist at Variety, and deputy editor of Variety.com, where she started the “Thompson on Hollywood” blog in March 2007, this New York-based writer has over the years contributed to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Observer and Wired. From January 2005 to March 2007, she served as the Deputy Film Editor at The Hollywood Reporter and before that was the West Coast Editor of Premiere, from 1996 to 2002.
Before joining Premiere, Thompson wrote about behind-the-scenes Hollywood for Entertainment Weekly, and was West Coast Editor for Film Comment Magazine. From 1985 to 1993 she wrote the film industry column “Risky Business” for LA Weekly and the Los Angeles Times Syndicate. A graduate of the Department of Cinema Studies at New York University, she teaches the fall semester of “Sneak Previews” for UCLA Extension.

At present, Ms. Thompson publishes daily at IndieWire, where she’s their stalwart and their defacto lead blogger (Leonard Maltin and Peter Knegt, among others, also write for IndieWire), her clarion voice just as passionate as Jeffrey Wells’ voice, her spirit upbeat and her love (and knowledge) of ‘the movies’ unparalleled.
Anne publishes three or four items a day, she’s always informed and informative, and (thankfully, cuz we need a voice of reason in the movie criticism field) rarely as provocative as the indefatigable Mr. Wells.
Last year (a full year before the estimable Mr. Wells, “imitation being the sincerest form of flattery“), Anne Thompson joined with In Contention’s Kris Tapley in posting a weekly iTunes podcast titled Oscar Talk which, sorry to say, lacks the energy of Jeffrey Wells and Sasha Stone’s Oscar Poker, mainly because we find that Mr. Tapley comes across as ‘angry’, as an inauthentic contrarian, strangely passionless about the movies, and (in our estimation) simply not all that well informed. Ms. Thompson is always great, though: engaging and thoughtful, with a ready, warm sense of humour!
Anne Thompson’s Thompson on Hollywood is a daily must-visit for anyone who loves the movies, and who wishes to read an informed, generous and keen insight into worthy upcoming films, and the U.S. film industry.
Next week, we’ll write about more of our favourite cinema-related websites.

We’ve written about him before, and we’ll write about him again: Jeff Wells, of the cinema-related website, Hollywood Elsewhere, is our favourite online columnist, writer, racounteur, curmudgeon and all around high energy, take no shit, “I’ll speak my mind, and damn the consequences” online wonder, who posts about film — films that are upcoming, and the best of films past — and often American politics, six times a day, and more, writing cogently, with élan and savoir faire.
Mr. Wells’ output is impressive, as is his ability to write reviews at length, as he at all times remains utterly original and true to himself. Sure, he can piss his readers off, but that’s all to the good.

VanRamblings visits Hollywood Elsewhere several times throughout the day, each and every day.
There’s almost always some new, provocative and thought-provoking topic of interest available on his blog / website. For the most part, the ‘commentary’ on his site (those who comment on his posts) is first-class: sometimes the commentary is screamingly funny, and almost always the commentary is thoughtful, well-considered and informative.
Again, for the most part, Mr. Wells (can we call him Jeff?) allows his commenters free reign, and although I’m sure he doesn’t appreciate it, the site is sometimes at its best when Mr. Wells finds himself under amiable attack. We particularly appreciate those who comment on Jeff’s site about his propensity to define people relating to the ‘thread count’ of their clothing, bedding or bathroom towels, or when he used to refer to his upstairs neighbours (he’s since moved) as Hispanic party elephants — there’s a ludicrous, whacked-out craziness (we mean our commentary to be read with the deepest affection for Jeffrey Wells) to his frustration.
Jeff almost never ‘holds back’.
VanRamblings’ appreciation for Jeffrey Wells has grown that much more since the recent début of his and Sasha Stone’s iTunes podcast, Oscar Poker. Both Jeff and Sasha are incredibly well-informed about film, the film market, and the work of prominent actors and directors past and present.
Their rapport on Oscar Poker is utterly relatable, natural and becoming, informed and compelling. Honestly, Oscar Poker’s two commentators come across as if they’re lovers, their affection for one another deep, abiding and respectful. At all times (despite Jeff’s propensity to be curmudgeonly, which Sasha Stone only laughs at — with a knowing affection for Jeff, cuz he’s outrageous but right) both Jeff and Sasha come across as generous and thoughtful commentators and human beings — these are people you’d actually like to get to know, to discuss ‘the movies’ with over a beer.
That those who follow Wells’ website affectionately attack him for his sometimes intolerant rants allows Jeffrey Wells the opportunity to come across as all the more human, for all of us are flawed, and all of us can be intolerant at times — and if you’re reading this, and you know you’re perfect, neither Mr. Wells, nor VanRamblings, would wish to have anything to do with you, and would recommend to you most highly that you repair, as soon as possible, to a psychiatrist for some much-needed talk therapy.