Great Movies FAQ

Why a FAQ? Why not, everyone else was doing it.
And there are probably plenty of people who could
use a few nice links and pointers on improving their
posting. Questions addressed herein include:

1. What's the rule on spoilers?
2. How do I use italics, boldface, and table data?
3. I rent videos, how do I find out if a movie has already been discussed?
4. Do I have to write a real review of a film, or can I just talk about it?
5. Some people here seem rather angry, are these flame wars normal?
6. Is anyone here a professional reviewer? In film?
7. What about links to reviewers?
8. How do I send someone a personal response to their review?
9. I like foreign films, is that ok to talk about?
10. What about threads about actors?
11. What about TV?

1. What's the rule on spoilers?

Many people like to read about a film before going
to see it. Most don't want the ending to be "spoiled."
It's proper netiquette to warn someone if you are
discussing key plot developments that may give away
the plot or surprise endings. You should type SPOILERS
and hit return about eight times; this gives plenty of
space for people to avoid accidentally seeing the
unwanted info. Here's an excellent example.

http://boards.fool.com/Message.asp?mid=17259530

2. How do I use italics, boldface, and table data?

You need to insert HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language)
tags before the text you want to emphasize. The tags
are made using the angle bracket keys on your keyboard.
Inside the angle brackets, you need to type the command
that coincides with what you want the text to look like.
I'll use "X" inside these brackets (if I didn't
it wouldn't show up) and then tell you what to
substitute for X.

<X> starts x-ing text
</X> ends x-ing text

If X = I then you get italicized text.
If X = B then you get boldface text
If X = TT then you get a weird, technical looking text
If X = PRE then you can pre-format (table data, etc)

                         text                         				                     and 
                                 use                  
       		                   creative spacing.

It's always a good idea hit the "preview message"
button before you submit (you can find it next to the
submit message button); this way, you can avoid errors.

Test run:

Here is the normal text, now <X>empasized text</X> followed
by normal text. Of course, you need to substitute the
tags provided above.

3. I rent videos, how do I find out if a movie has already been discussed?

Near the top of the screen, there's a space for searches
which will search the Great Movies board for up to six
months for any key words. So, if you type "Vanilla Sky"
the return will yield every post that mentions this film
in the title or text. This way, you can avoid asking
if a movie has already been discussed or posting something
that someone else has already posted.

After six months, it's probably ok to start a new thread.
Of course, it's always ok to start a new thread anyway,
but personal preferences and sensibilities differ.

4. Do I have to write a real review of a film, or can
I just talk about it?

It's up to you. There are many excellent reviewers here.
SaintCroix, redsavina, Ascalon, bigcaat, RJMason, UhuraY2K
and others write thoughtful pieces on film. Others,
like AngryCandy, warisill, HCourtney, and others write
grouchier, less serious stuff.

It's always up to you what you want to do. Give it a shot,
maybe you'll be the next Roger Ebert.

5. Some people here seem rather angry, are these flame wars normal?

Yes. There are many grouchy people here. But, you shouldn't
take any of it seriously. Arguing about movies is part of
the fun. People have different opinions, and it wouldn't
be fun if everyone felt the same way, now would it?

If someone bothers you, or you just can't stand them, then
hit the frowny face next to their screen name. This will
place them in your penalty box and you won't have to see
their posts. If you like someone's writing, go ahead and
hit the smiley face. This will add them to your favorites
list and you can keep tabs on them, or stalk them if you
so desire.

6. Is anyone here a professional reviewer? In film?

A few people here write for local newsletters and such,
redsavina writes great reviews for a local paper in
Minnesota, and bigcaat teaches a film class. RJMason
has been in a film and you can find him on www.imdb.com!
AngryCandy has dabbled in film (I've always suspected
that he is secretly Roger Ebert), and Ascalon is in
television. EditorialWe is in the business, and there
are probably others, these are just the people who are
open about it.

warisill is Leo's personal assistant. He gets paid per hot
babe he hooks him up with. The job would be easier if Leo
used deodorant, he's so environmentally conscious y'know.

7. What about links to reviewers?

There are many many many web sites dedicated to film. The
best place to start is Internet Movie Database, where you
can run searches on just about any film ever made:

www.imdb.com

Your next stop should be here:

http://www.mrqe.com/

Here's a link to see if the movie is ok for the kiddies:

http://www.screenit.com/

Here's a nice link for celebrity gossip:

http://dmoz.org/Arts/Movies/News_and_Media/Gossip/

Here's a web site ostensibly dedicated to nude scenes:

www.mrskin.com

If brevity is the source of wit, sharpen your skills here:

http://www.fwfr.com/main.asp

If you don't want to see a film, but are interested in
how it ends, then the movie spoiler can be found here:

http://www.themoviespoiler.com/

If you feel like becoming a professional (though unpaid) reviewer, check out this site:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hollywoodreporter/reviews/index.jsp

A plethora of reviewers follows:

James Berardinelli: http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/
Roger Ebert: http://www.suntimes.com/index/ebert.html
Ebert and Roeper, At the Movies: http://tvplex.go.com/buenavista/ebertandroeper/today.html
Edwin Jaheil: http://www.prairienet.org/ejahiel/reviews.htm
David MacDonald: www.angelfire.com/movies/davidsmovies/
Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com/
Boston. com: http://ae.boston.com//movies/
USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/movies/lefindex.htm
Mr. Cranky: http://www.mrcranky.com/

Of course, there are many more, but this is just a starting
point. Please send me any review sites you think worthy of
a FAQ 2.0 and I can update this.

8. How do I send someone a personal response to their review?

There are options when responding to a post. If you want to
tell AngryCandy that you also love Ebert, then hit the box
marked "E-Mail this Reply to the Author" below the text box.
You should unclick the "Post this reply to the boards" if
you don't want anyone else to see it. This will send
your response directly to AngryCandy. This is also helpful
when you want to tell someone they stink without polluting
the boards.

9. I like foreign films, is that ok to talk about?

Of course. Talk about whatever you want, of course
there is no guarantee that someone will respond.
There's a pretty wide breadth here, though.

10. What about threads about actors?

Threads about actors are common. Threads about themes,
video recs, double features, and best/worst films have
all been explored. If you wanna talk about it, do so.
One feature that is welcomed here, more so than on other
boards, is the Create Poll option. We like to poll
and be polled.

11. What about TV?

The Fool has an excellent board already dedicated to TV.
You should go there:

http://boards.fool.com/Messages.asp?bid=112927&mid=17282945

12. What about Kids in theatres?

Everything that could ever be said about this can be found here:

http://boards.fool.com/Message.asp?mid=15796297&sort=recommendations

13. Why is this Dodge guy hitting on me?

Because you lack a Y-chromosome.

14. Was Dekard a replicant?

No. http://boards.fool.com/Message.asp?mid=15390474

<<People have different opinions, and it wouldn't
be fun if everyone felt the same way, now would it? >>


It would be much more fun if everyone was capable of understanding that I am right.

"Do you ever get tired of being right?"

"No, only with the rest of you being wrong."

-Paul Darrow, Blake's 7.



"You're not all powerful."

"But I should be!"



-AnakinCandy

5. Some people here seem rather angry, are these flame wars normal?

Yes. There are many grouchy people here. But, you shouldn't take any of it seriously. Arguing about movies is part of the fun. People have different opinions, and it wouldn't be fun if everyone felt the same way, now would it?

If someone bothers you, or you just can't stand them, then hit the frowny face next to their screen name. This will place them in your penalty box and you won't have to see
their posts. If you like someone's writing, go ahead and hit the smiley face. This will add them to your favorites list and you can keep tabs on them, or stalk them if you


What? No mention of the time-honored "Bite me?"

Uhura :o)

One feature that is welcomed here, more so than on other
boards, is the Create Poll option. We like to poll
and be polled.

Yes. And if you run 12 polls in a row, somebody is going to run a poll about you.

Not that that's a bad thing...


Taylor