Earlham Libraries Home: Library Tutorials: Film Reviews

Film Review Basics

When trying to locate film reviews, it is important to know the film's release date. If you do not know the release date of your film, consult IMDB.

Web Site Reviews

Film reviews on the Web are good examples of the pluses and minuses of Web content. You may find a terrific review written by a knowledgeable reviewer or you may find a review by a nut, and sometimes it is hard to tell the difference. To test the accuracy of a review on the Web you will want to find published reviews that can be compared with the insights of the Web review.

Here are suggested Web sites that link to film reviews:

Internet Movie Database (IMDB)
Encyclopedic coverage of films credits, with links to film reviews, official film web sites, etc.

Journals and Newspapers with Reviews

Below you will find links to many of the Library's databases that include film reviews. With many databases entering the title of the film in quotes one search line and adding the word "review" in a second line will work. Beneath each link below you will find more specific instructions for each source.

Film and Television Literature Index with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Journal articles and books about film and television.
Film & Television Literature Index™ with Full Text is an online tool for film and television research with cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for more than 380 publications (and selected coverage of 300), as well as full text for more than 120 journals, and 100 books.
Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Enter title of film in first search box. Limit your results to reviews by selecting “Entertainment Review” from the Document Type box which can be found under Search Options.
Comprehensive index to scholarly journals and general periodicals in all subject and interdisciplinary areas, including full text. Coverage prior to 1990 is sparse.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Enter film title and under Narrow By select the Item Type "Review". Articles from the most recent 5 years not available.
Full text of hundreds of scholarly journals in all disciplines dating back to the 1700s.
MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Modern Language Association's index to international journal and books on literature, linguistics, languages, folklore, and film studies. Enter title of film in first search box. Limit your results to reviews by selecting “Entertainment Review” from the Document Type box which can be found under Search Options.
Modern Language Association's index to international journal and books on literature, linguistics, languages, folklore, and film studies, 1926 to present.
New York Times (Historical Newspaper Archive) This link opens in a new window
Enter the title of the reviewed work into the first search box and search as “All Fields + text”. Check "Review" in the Document Type box