Washington and Lee University
Several of the "article databases" to which we subscribe contain large numbers of references to reviews, essays, and other articles about particular movies.
Search Tips: If you are looking for information on a movie with a very distinctive title, that title probably is the only search term you need. Example: "big lebowski"
However, if the title is not unique and/or it also might be the title of a book, you probably will need to refine your search by including some cinematic terms.
Example: crash AND (movie* OR film* OR motion OR cinema)
The asterisk is the above examples generates a search in most databases for various forms of a word (singular, plural, etc.).
If you want to search for a multi-word phrase, as in the Big Lebowski example above, enclose the search terms within quotation marks.
Articles in a wide range of publications -- mostly magazines and newspapers. Coverage is strongest of "modern" films, but historical coverage is also available.
Articles in 9,500+ academic journals, magazines, newspapers, and miscellaneous resources.
Probably most valuable here for reviews from major newspapers. Note that the "Search the News" box includes several "Source Type" options -- "Major World Publications," Newspapers," and "Broadcast Transcripts."
More "serious" articles in academic journals. Most useful for articles and other materials on older films, but with some contemporary coverage, too.
Full-text articles from over 800 important scholarly journals, but very little published within the past 3-5 years.
Full-text articles from over 400 important scholarly journals, including some film and performing arts titles.
Articles within about 500 academic journals, including some of the most important film-study journals, such as Sight and Sound and Film Comment. Pre-1980's articles can be found in Art Retrospective.
Scholarly database of "literary criticism" in articles, books, essays, etc., including some coverage of cinema.
Useful for articles, essays, books, etc. on films important in U.S. history.
Useful for articles, essays, books, etc. on films important in world history.
Most of the article-searching databases in the various subject areas covered in our Web site can be used to find discussions of movies. For example, the Iter database (in the Medieval and Renaissance Studies area) is a good place for articles on Monty Python and the Holy Grail.