Research Guides: Film Resources: Finding Film Reviews

Print and Electronic Review Sources

"Film reviews" and "film criticism" are sometimes used interchangeably; in this context, "reviews" are articles published in newspapers and an array of non-specialist publications (for example, in trade journals or magazines instead of peer-reviewed, scholarly journals) that typically include a synopsis of the film and commentary from the reviewer. Reviews are especially useful primary sources when studying how a film was received by audiences upon its release.

New York Times Film Reviews (1913-1980) REF PN1995 .N4

There is an online archive of reviews from 1960 to the present at the NYT website (link below).

Variety Film Reviews (1907-1980) REF PN1995 .V34 1983

Recent reviews are also available at Variety's website (link below).

Film Review Index (1882-1985) REF PN1995 .F53 1986

Magill's Survey of Cinema and Cinema Annual

Magill's Survey of Cinema - Silent Films REF PN1995.75 .M33 1982
Magill's Survey of Cinema - English Language Films, First Series REF PN1993.45 .M3
Magill's Survey of Cinema - English Language Films, Second Series REF PN1993.45 .M32
Magill's Survey of Cinema - Foreign Language Films REF PN1995.9.F67 M34
Magill's Cinema Annual (1982 - present) REF PN1993.3 .M34

Lexis-Nexis Academic

Narrow your search to book, movie, music, play, and video reviews from major news sources.

Internet Movie Database