Media Arts and Film
For additional assistance, contact Michael Brewer
Reviews (major sources for each category are shaded)
America' s Newspapers (formerly NewsBank Full-Text Newspapers)
All fulltext. 68 Newspapers from 34 states. Coverage varies. Some begin in the mid-1980s, others in the early 1990s.
Expanded Academic Index
Interdisciplinary information for social sciences, humanities, and non-technical sciences. Indexes 1400 journals, magazines of interest plus The New York Times. Coverage: some begins from 1984. Citations only, no full-text.
Film Index International
Detailed information about motion pictures (production information) & cinema workers. Includes references to articles full: Film Index International gives full international coverage of films and film personalities from over 170 countries, up to the present day. All eras of film-making are covered - from the early silent movies to recent box-office hits. Based on the British Film Institute's Summary of Information on Film and Television (SIFT) database, Film Index International is both inclusive and authoritative.
Index to Motion Pictures Reviewed By Variety, 1907-1980. PN1995 .A39 1982 Main Ref.
An excellent source for finding reviews. For more recent films, check Variety Film Reviews at PN1995 .V34 Main Ref. (Covers 1938-present).
International Index to Film Periodicals [FIAF]
FIAF Index to Film Periodicals is a bibliographical index offering coverage of domestic and international academic and popular film journals from 1972 to the present. Also included is the Treasures from Film Archives Database (with holdings information on over 35,000 silent films in archives around the world), the Documentation Collections database (with information on domestic and international film archives) and a database of FIAF member publications (for publications as early as 1934, and comprehensive since 1966).
Historic Los Angeles Times
The keyword searchable fulltext (including most images, adds, classifieds, etc.) of the LA Times from 1881 to 1984 (for 1984-present, search the library catalog (using Journal Title) and follow the links.
Historic New York Times
The keyword searchable fulltext (including most images, adds, classifieds, etc.) of the New York Times from 1851 to 2000 (for 2000-present, go to Academic Universe).
How to Locate Reviews of Plays and Films: a bibliography of criticism from the beginnings to the present. Z5781 .S19 Main
A good source for locating work on older films.
The Internet Movie Database
The Internet's biggest and best Media Arts resource also often provides links to on-line reviews and criticism for individual film titles.
Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe
To find reviews from major newspapers and some magazines, select "News" and then select "Arts and Sports." Make sure "Source" is limited to "Book, movie, music & play reviews". If you want to get reviews from newspapers other than that selected section, select "General News" for major newspapers around the United States, "US News" for regional newspapers, or "World News" for international newspapers.
NewsBank Electronic Index
Provides access to articles on current issues and events from 595 newspapers in over 300 US cities and indexes popular periodicals and full text of 50 newspapers. (1986-present). (Full text coverage July 1, 1995-present). Strong for reviews of films, television, painting, etc. Two separate databases: One indexes US newspaper articles from many sources. One has selective full text from 50 US newspapers.
The New York Times Film Reviews (1913 to 1998) PN1995 .N5 Info Commons Ref.
The full text of every film review published in the New York Times. This is a primary print reference tool for film reviews. Reviews found through this resource should all be available fulltext through the Historic New York Times database.
Poole's Plus (19th Century Masterfile)
Online index of magazines and periodical literature published in the U.S. and Britain in the nineteenth century. Covers all subjects of interest. Coverage: 1802-1906. Print equivalent of Poole's Index to Periodical Literature.
Readers' Guide Retrospective
Contains comprehensive indexing of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States. The complete database covers the years 1890 through 1982. The current coverage includes the years 1963 through 1982. Print version is at AI3 .R48 Info Commons.
The Times Digital Archive
The keyword searchable fulltext of the London Times (1785-1985).
Variety Film Reviews (1938-present) PN1995 .V34 Main Ref.
Reprinting with index of just the reviews from Variety magazine. For reviews of current theatrical film releases consult Variety Magazine at PN2000 .V3 Main Current Journal
Variety
The library owns Variety (in print, on microfilm or online) from 1905 to the present. Many films were advertised in Variety. To locate advertisments, one can either just browse the issues at the time of the release of the film, or look in those issues in which the film was reviewed in Variety (to do this, consult . Variety Film Reviews PN1995 .V34 Main Ref, or Index to Motion Pictures Reviewed By Variety, 1907-1980. PN1995 .A39 1982 Main Ref). Variety also often provides a good deal of statistical information about films & film viewership.
Note: Also search the general print and on-line indexes to periodical articles for reviews, i.e. Academic Search Premier, Reader's Guide, etc.