Research Guides
AFRAM 272 History of the South Since the Civil War: Film Reviews
Brukab Sisay - Autumn 2020
Start here to find film reviews
You can use the resources found on this page to identify and locate film/movie reviews. Do remember that many of the digital resources are UW-restricted: only current faculty, students, and staff can access them from off-campus. The 
icon identifies those resources. Make sure that you login to your UW NetID when not on campus.
- American Film Institute (AFI) Catalog
National filmography for American films, AFI includes trade journal film reviews from the silent era up to 1971.
Tip: Use the Advanced Search feature. You can search by keyword, film title, director, etc.
- FIAF International Filmarchive Database
Includes reviews of films and television shows. Indexes articles in approximately 1500 scholarly and general interest periodicals in the humanities, social sciences and sciences. Includes full text of some articles. Good for finding film reviews.
Tip: From the search screen, click, Edit Limits. On the Edit Limits screen, find Article Type and click the box next to it, then click, the Customize Limits button. On the search screen enter movie title and choose Review under Article Type, then search for the movie title. Access to this resource ends October 31, 2020.
- Film & Television Literature Index Full-text
Articles on film and television theory, preservation and restoration, screenwriting & more.
- Film Index International
Index of films, biographical information, film prizes and awards, and article citations, 1900 to present.
- Cinema Studies Research Guide
This guide highlights recommended resources for research in Cinema Studies.
More Film Review Sources
- Electronic/Digital
- Academic OneFile
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Includes the International Index to Film Periodicals (1973+), International Index to Television Periodicals (1972+), Treasures from the Film Archives, and several other resources. Particularly good for international films.
Tip: Search for film/movie title limit by Document Type, choose Audiovisual Review. - Academic Search Complete
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Multidisciplinary database that includes reviews published in popular magazines.
Type, choose Entertainment Review. - Chicago Defencer
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This historical African American newspaper provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. Coverage, 1909 - 1975. - LA Times
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Historical LA Times, coverage 1881 - 2010.
Tip: Use the Advanced Search option, limit Document Type to Review. - Metacritic.comLinks to full text reviews of current movie releases, videos, DVDs, music, and video games.
- MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
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The most comprehensive source for scholarship in literature, language, linguistics, and folklore.
- MRQE - Movie Review Query EngineA movie review index with links to over 120,000 full-text reviews covering more than 17,000 films from international, national, and local newspapers, arts and entertainment journals, and other sources. In addition to the index, includes prepared lists of reviews in the following categories: recent releases in the U.S.; upcoming releases in the U.S.; top 10 at the U.S. box office; U.S. video releases for the current month; U.S. video releases from the previous month; AFI's 100 greatest American movies; most popular title (last week, previous day, past 12 hours, past 3 hours); most reviewed titles; Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999); Gene Siskel (1946-1999); the 1990s in review; 1999 in review; 1998 in review.
- New York Amsterdam News
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This historical African American newspaper provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. Coverage, 1922 - 1993. - New York Times
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Historical New York Times, full text, 1851-2014.
Tip: Use the Advanced Search option, limit Document Type to Review. - Reader's Guide Retrospective
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American magazine articles published between 1890 and 1982. Reviews may be listed under motion pictures or moving picture plays.