Some tips on how to join the online video revolution
Online movies, clips and videos are red hot. It wasn't too long ago friends used to send jokes and photos to each other.
Nowadays it's more common to get humorous videos. There's certainly no shortage to choose from. Although this is not a replacement for the high-definition, full-motion video, it can be interesting and entertaining.
So how do you get in on the action? To get started, make sure that you have a movie player set up. Free ones include Windows Media Player, Rhapsody and RealPlayer and Apple QuickTime.
Here's where to get going:
» Free Movie Enterntainment Magazine (emol.org/movies) is filled with classic movies that are now part of the public domain. They have a ton of items including adventure, comedy, cartoons, crime, sports, newsreels, westerns and even tsunami clips from Thailand. Recent films highlighted include "Captain Kidd," "Hercules" and "Our Town."
» If you're doing research on movie reviews or are interested in trailers or upcoming premieres, Internet Movie Database (imdb.com), which immodestly calls itself the "most award-winning movie site on the planet," has plenty of content. Not only do they have plenty of free clips, but they also offer a variety of articles for movie fans from credible publications.
» If you're an old-time movie buff, Turner Classic Movies (tcm.com) is also a great place to do research on old movies or TV shows. They have clips, trailers, photos, trivia sections and articles. I chanced upon a good feature on one of my favorite classics, "The Mouse that Roared," a 1959 flick with Peter Sellers.
» Then there are the search engines. In addition to Google and Yahoo, you can do this on Altavista. If you want specific types of video, there are certain to be sites that will cater to your needs. Apple Movie Trailers (apple.com/trailers) focuses on new movie trailers; Google Tube Video of the day (gvod.blogspot.com) will pick a goofy or extremely weird clip; Netbroadcaster.com has shorts and independent films; Videobomb.com which allows its viewers to rate its content has arguably the hottest videos on the net; and FreeDocumentaries.org has an excellent selection of, yes, free documentaries.
» If you're a true movie fanatic, don't pass up Moviemistakes.com which documents the many errors that get by the editors after the final cut. A recent clip showed all the mistakes in the James Bond movies over the years.
» If you're into comedy there are a whole slew of sites that will cater to your interests. Atom films (atomfilms.com) has a top- five offering of comedy and animation, including any number of Star Wars parodies.
NationalLampoon.com has also got some pretty hilarious short films and animated stuff, though if you have children, it's not all kid-friendly.
Kiman Wong is general manager of digital phone at Oceanic Time Warner Cable. He can be reached at
kiman.wong@twcable.com