As I keep saying, I own way too many movies on physical media. Most of these are films I haven’t seen before. Some titles are ones I have always been curious about. Some just have interesting reviews.
In general, I check the external reviews on IMDB and, through that, I notice I tend to visit some of the linked sites more than others. In this article, I’m going to list some of my favorites.
When available, I will click on a link for Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings
(http://laurasmiscmusings.blogspot.com/) before any other sites. Her reviews are concise and well-written. She focuses primarily on films before the 1970’s, especially film noir. Her passion about these movies comes through in every piece, and she covers many obscure, older titles which would otherwise slip through the cracks. I have probably bought more Warner Archive discs based on her essays than any other source.
Derek Winnert (https://www.derekwinnert.com/) covers a broader range of genres. Winnert also keeps his write-ups brief. He uses a star rating system, which I appreciate—even if I can’t bring myself to do the same on my site. What I like most is he discusses why the movie receives the number of stars he gives it. Without being excessively verbose, he intelligently dissects films far beyond the general “this sucks/rocks” discourse that seems to be the majority of online film criticism.
Blu-ray.com is a key resource for all kinds of movie information. There, you can find news, release dates and reviews for nearly all titles released on 4K UHD, blu-ray or DVD. Curiously, I find I often disagree with their critics’ assessments of the movies themselves. But where the reviews shine is in their evaluations of audio and video quality. Even more important to me is they thoroughly cover special features of each disc they review. Lastly (and in my opinion, most importantly), they report on discs from around the world and not just the US. A key resource for anybody with a region-free player.
One of the few sites I visit without looking for a particular film is 366 Weird Movies (https://366weirdmovies.com/). As stated explicitly in the name, the focus is on the bizarre. I used to think I had seen most of the strangest output that cinema had to offer, and then this site took me to school. I’m not sure if it broadened my horizons or if it warped my mind. Regardless, this is a resource I’m glad exists.
The last site I’ll discuss here is B&S About Movies (https://bandsaboutmovies.com/). This one skews towards specific niches such as the product of Cannon Films. The tone leans towards snarky, but never cruel. Many of the reviews I have read there so far are good examples of how one can take potshots at a film while still enjoying it.