It would seem sensible and timely to offer a brief overview of online resources that cater to the interests of foreign and independent cinema enthusiasts. Let us begin by taking a closer look at these:
Twitch – an excellent, lively blog offering the latest news and reviews of international and independent films, with a general focus on controversial productions and the bizarre.
Plume Noire – an online independent film & music commentary magazine based in Los Angeles and Paris. Great find for international cinema connoisseurs and casual film buffs alike.
IMDB – The Internet Movie Database – perhaps the most popular film site with US moviegoers – allows users to rate movies they’ve seen and share opinions via reviews and message boards.
KoreanFilm.org – this non-profit site run by freelance writer and consultant Darcy Paquet provides tremendous insight into the cinema of South Korea. Dynamically updated, it remains academic in spirit and is a great resource for anyone interested in the subject.
Midnight Eye – the definitive resource for anyone interested in modern Japanese film.
KinoPoisk – Essentially the Russian version of IMDB. Great tool if you speak the language.
AlloCine – An excellent site focusing on French and European cinema. In French.
Eiga.com – Japan’s premier movie portal. In Japanese.
Naturally, there are many more sites out there dealing with similar subject matter, but these are just a few that come to mind. We’ll be sure to add more to this post in the future, so please feel free to suggest your favorites down below!
For Russian film, another pretty nice resource is KinoKultura. Though their style is a bit too academic for my taste, the site’s got plenty of movie reviews and a news section. Would make a worthy addition to this page, I think!