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How to Find Film Reviews
Finding reviews for films can be easy or hard, depending on when the film was produced and how widely it was released. A widely released film will have many newspaper reviews, and you can find those in the newspaper databases below. For contemporary reviews before then, you have to use old-fashioned print sources. Fortunately we have a few of those.
That is why the sections below are divided between films produced before and after 1985.
Films Produced After 1985
For films produced after about 1985, these newspaper databases are great sources for reviews.
- US Newsstream This link opens in a new windowProminent U.S. papers like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. It's also a good place to look for Star Tribune articles, with archives from 1986. Use the advanced search tab to limit to particular titles or dates.
- IMDBEveryone knows that IMDB is the place to find the cast of a film, but did you know that you can also find reviews? Once you've found your film, scroll all the way down to get to the "Reviews" section.
- Rotten TomatoesDon't just look at the "percent fresh" score and move on, scroll down to actually read the critics reviews. You can usually click through to read the full reviews right from this site.
Films Produced Before 1985
For films produced before 1985, you may need to do things the old-fashioned way — by using print indexes, microfilm, and books of collected reviews.
Intimidated?
If you're not sure how to use these resources, don't hesitate to ask a librarian! We can help you find what you're looking for.
Readers' Guide to Periodical LiteratureCall Number: REF INDEX A13 .R48Publication Date: many volumes beginning in 1905The Readers’ Guide is just what the title says, a guide. There is no full text. Look up your film by title or author, and play close attention to the abbreviations that follow the title — these abbreviations contain the publication name of the periodical and date of the review. A librarian will be glad to help you navigate these volumes and find the original articles.The New York Times Index
Call Number: REF INDEX AI21 .N44Publication Date: 1851-1999If you're looking for a review of a film that opened in New York in the first 100 years of film, you'll probably find it here. Pay close attention to the date that follows the entry! You will use this date to locate the microfilm roll that contains the edition of the New York Times with your review. It's like hunting for treasure with a map, and you will be rewarded.
New York Times Archives
You can search the New York Times for reviews back to the beginning of film, but they are behind a paywall. DON'T PAY FOR THE ARTICLES!
We have all of theTimes in microfilm, and reviews published since 1985 are in our databases.