50 Thumbs Up: 25 Bloggers and Online Film Critics

Okay, we've all had a moment, a shining moment, when we made an incredibly smart, funny, drill-straight-down-to-the-heart-of-it commentary about some movie we just watched. Our friends laughed, or stared in open-mouthed wonder, or both, at our quick-witted movie prowess.

“Dude, you should TOTALLY write movie reviews!” someone (probably just a voice in our head) said. Most of us never listen to that voice (wisely). But there are always a few out there who listen and obey the calling. And though they may never become famous for it, Flixster, champion of the underdog, now salutes a few of those intrepid movie lovers who have what it takes (internet access, a DVD player, and the occasional nine bucks) to keep reviewing. We’ve broken things down into a few categories, but other than that, the blogs and sites here are in no particular order. Enjoy!

If You Don't Want Fries with That (For Purists)

Like your reviews without too many extras? The review, the whole review, and nothing but the review? These are mostly straight-up review sites, without any blogging to, uh, blog them down:
  • Film Blather
    Reviews with letter grades by Eugene Novikoff
  • Window to the Movies
    No extras, just good solid reviews by LVJeffrey.
  • Qwipster's reviews
    Film reviews by Vince Leo, specializing in current releases as well as classics, from the mainstream to the obscure. The no-frills site has a couple of accessories including Vince’s own top ten films of the year list, and a Forum.

The Full Monty

If you like your reviews in-depth, with a side of personal opinions and complete plot summaries, here ya go:
  • Film Stalker
    Reviews, news, and articles by Richard Brunton.
  • The Annihilation Mix
    JD, the Cinema Junkie isn’t shy about writing long personalized reviews, most of which come with spoiler alerts.
  • Draven99’s Musings
    In depth reviews and musings on Film, Music, TV and other pop culture. Draven sees a LOT of movies.

Short and Sweet

When you just don’t have the time:
  • Shoot the Projectionist
    To be fair, Ed Hardy Jr. writes full-length analysis and really intelligent essays on film (not what you’d normally call “reviews”), but he also has the excellent feature, 24 WORDS PER FILM. In these segments, he puts his entire opinion on a given film into exactly 24 words--kinda like a haiku review.
  • Anthony T
    Anthony Thurber updates his site weekly with a few new reviews. A little plot, a little opinion, one to five stars.
  • Nehring The Edge
    Scott Nehring usually starts his reviews with a one line, or one word recommendations (e.g., The Reaving: “the reeking”), and is up-front about when his Christianity is making him biased.

@!!&*! This #@!*ing Movie!

Not afraid of someone else’s opinion? Like seeing Hollywood getting the occasional bitchslap? Don’t mind an F-bomb (or two, or three?). These are the guys for you:
  • Hardcore Film Maniac
    Tony DeFrancisco is exactly what you expect and want from a New Jersey film reviewer. Entertaining, blunt, and not afraid to piss anyone off.
  • The Filthy Critic
    Matt Weatherford’s online persona, is indeed filthy. He’s also highly entertaining. The Filthy Critic not only delights in skewering Hollywood cliches and plot devices, but pulls no punches while doing it.

Another Point of View

There are a lot of guy-bloggers blogging about movies and film out there. If you’d like a woman’s point of view, try these (note: these sites are not necessarily devoted to “chick flicks”, just written by women):
  • The Flick Filosopher
    MaryAnn Johansen writes excellent, down-to-earth reviews of current releases, DVD, and also has a blog where she muses about whatever. Our favorite feature of MaryAnn’s site: best and worst movie quotes of the year.
  • Ferdy on Films
    Not the place to go if you are looking for regular reviews of new release films, but great for quirky commentary and reviews of movies you’ve probably never heard of.
  • Lylee’s Blog
    Lylee writes thorough yet incisive movie reviews, as well as commentary on film the film industry, and life in LA.
  • Butterflies Are Love
    Self-described overly excitable, overly emotional and over-ambitious teenage Brit Emma writes the occasional review in between her top lists and commentary on the Maths and Economics courses she’s taking.

We've Got a Bad Feeling About This

For some reason, there seem to be a lot of people out there that REALLY love Horror films. Seriously, this is only a small sampling. See any of the sites below for links to more of the same.
  • Final Girl
    Stacie Ponder has an unhealthy obsession with slasher films of the 70’s and 80’s. Good thing she has great hair, and knows how to write. Seriously fun, with lists, a forum, and video clips!
  • Film Fiend
    If truly sick is your style, you’ve found your home. B-C- and D Horror films, obscure and hyper-violent cult movies, and best (??) of all: Scary Clown Movies!
  • More Brains
    The Heavy Metal Librarian’s blog is not only horror-specific, it’s Zombie Specific! A must for lovers of the undead.
  • Shiny Movie Guide
    Steve, at the Shiny Movie Guide, dispenses his reviews in small, tidy chunks, followed by a one to ten scale rating the film on each of the following: acting, directing, scares, gore, story, and overall.

No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You To Die...

 
  • Greatest Movie Deaths of All Time
    We wish we had come up with this idea ourselves. All the best movie death scenes, complete with video clips. Okay, so it isn’t really a movie review site per se, but it’s way fun: Categories include: Top 5 Deaths by Instantly Freezing and Breaking Apart, Top 5 Decapitations, and Top 5 Deaths by Gunfire.

Movies, Eh?

Yes, our neighbors to the north love a good flick too, it seems. Don’t worry though, Canadians write in English and review American films.
  • Daily Film Dose
    “A New Film Every Day” is this site’s tagline, and they aren’t kidding. Not always the most current releases, but always something new. Includes video clips.
  • Eternal Sunshine of the Logical Mind
    After we got over being annoyed by having to type in that entire title, we decided that this blog is pretty cool. Ramblings, video clips, photos and reviews.

Don't Get Out Much?

Some people just have way too much time on their hands. Lucky for us, that means they spend a lot of time making extremely cool and thorough blogs and film sites.
  • Goatdog’s Movies
    Many categories including Stinker of the Month, reviews of past Best Picture Nominees, Best Rental, Top Ten Lists and more. Best of all, everything is rated on a scale of zero to five Goats!
  • Nick’s Flick Picks
    Written by an assistant professor of English and Gender Studies at Northwestern, at least you can bank on good spelling and grammar at this site. Features in-depth reviews, complete with Academy Awards, Golden Globe, and Other Awards for each film, Nicks Personal Favorite 100 films. True to collegiate form, Nick uses letter grades.
  • Movie Every Day
    Scooter Thompson started out with a plan to see a new movie every day for a year. He failed, but we’re glad he gave it a shot, because he now has this informative site with almost 600 reviews, some rants and raves, birthday and movie poster tributes, a DVD release calendar, and his own trademarked WIP, or "What I’d Pay" scale.