Monday, May 29, 2006

I want my Imdb

What's with the Brits? First, it was a Brit who invented the internet. Then it was a Brit who invented one of my favorite places to visit there, Imdb.com, The Internet Movie Database.
(Hear, hear, old chaps!)
I remember the days when Imdb had not been bought by amazon.com and it was just the neatest site. Nobody tried to sell you anything, and it was most useful as the most amazing crossreference of movie data available. For movie freaks like me Imdb is sheer heaven.
Suppose you want to know what was the name of a movie you just caught up with on AMC starring Claude Rains, well you just type Claude Rains and you have his entire film carreer on the screen crossreferenced with that of anybody who ever worked with him, entire cast and crew. In a word: joy.
Imdb still does this and more, but I disagree with the NYT that the amazon sales pitch is "subtle". It is not. Imdb does not feel anymore like a serious, useful site for movie freaks. I still love it dearly, but I resent the Imdb pro, and the Hollywood celebrity gossip (yet I can't turn away), and the amazon ads, and other frivolous crap, though I still adore the Studio Briefing news.
It's lots of fun also to rate your favorite movies and see how many movies you've seen, read other movie freaks reviews, (in many cases, longwinded and pretentious, if you ask me), or write your own (I always wonder, who has the time?).
Imdb is still a fantastic site and I hope they keep it that way. Are you listening, British guy who invented it?

You see, that's why the Grande Enchilada will never sell out.
(ha).

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