Best Film Magazines

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blindside8zao
Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2005 4:31 pm
Location: Greensboro, NC

#1 Post by blindside8zao » Wed Sep 28, 2005 9:44 pm

I was wondering if there were any good periodicals or magazines about film. I am aware of sight and sound but would it even be possible for an American to obtain a subscription of this?

I am interested in one that talks about mostly foreign, older, and more respectable films.

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g30
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 10:47 am
Location: Canada

#2 Post by g30 » Wed Sep 28, 2005 10:08 pm

I'm a longtime reader of Film Comment. It is often quite enjoyable.

analoguezombie

#3 Post by analoguezombie » Thu Sep 29, 2005 2:41 am

I also highly reccomend Film Comment. It's probably the best American film magazine. It focuses on all aspects of cinema, including world, independent, and Hollywood productions, as well as industry related information. The current issue features an article on the 110th anniversary of Shochiku studios, which coincides with their retrospective in NYC this fall.

Cineaste is ok as well.

You can get a US subscription to Sight & Sound. It's pretty expensive though. Some bookstores/newsstands in larger cities carry it, and you can always request it if yours doesn't. Plus, almost all University libraries subscribe to it. SO its not too hard to find.

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ola t
They call us neo-cinephiles
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 4:51 am
Location: Malmo, Sweden

#4 Post by ola t » Thu Sep 29, 2005 4:30 am

My favourite is the Canadian magazine Cinema Scope. It only comes out four times a year, though. Most issues are centered on reports from the big festivals. Hollywood is more or less ignored.

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Fletch F. Fletch
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:54 pm
Location: Provo, Utah

#5 Post by Fletch F. Fletch » Thu Sep 29, 2005 9:22 am

analoguezombie wrote:I also highly reccomend Film Comment. It's probably the best American film magazine. It focuses on all aspects of cinema, including world, independent, and Hollywood productions, as well as industry related information. The current issue features an article on the 110th anniversary of Shochiku studios, which coincides with their retrospective in NYC this fall.

Cineaste is ok as well.

You can get a US subscription to Sight & Sound. It's pretty expensive though. Some bookstores/newsstands in larger cities carry it, and you can always request it if yours doesn't. Plus, almost all University libraries subscribe to it. SO its not too hard to find.
Yes, I would chime in a recommendation for all 3 magazines mentioned above with Film Comment and Sight and Sound being my faves. There used to be a really fantastic UK film mag called Neon which, sadly, is no more. Their layout, format, tone, etc. was really quite good, cheeky humour that I see being used a lot in more recent British film mags.

I'd also recommend Video Watchdog (http://www.videowatchdog.com/home/home.html) which is an excellent periodical that exhaustively covers the cult films, horror, sci-fi, etc. with an excellent quality of writing.

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blindside8zao
Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2005 4:31 pm
Location: Greensboro, NC

#6 Post by blindside8zao » Thu Sep 29, 2005 12:01 pm

thanks. Film comment sounds like just what I'm looking for. 25 dollars a year is decent too.

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Godot
Cri me a Tearion
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2004 12:13 am
Location: Phoenix

#7 Post by Godot » Fri Sep 30, 2005 4:23 am

We discussed this in the Books on Film thread.

I still vote for CineAction.

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kinjitsu
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2005 1:39 pm
Location: Uffa!

#8 Post by kinjitsu » Fri Sep 30, 2005 1:36 pm

It seems impossible to find just one film magazine to satisfy your needs, though publications like Sight & Sound and Film Comment are good starting points, and they generally try to cover all the bases. With the exception of Cahiers, the list of zines below are easy to find at the better newsstands and I usually browse through most of them when I'm at my local Borders or B & N.

American Cinematographer
Cahiers du cinéma In French only - some arhived articles online in English
Film Culture
Filmmaker Magazine
Film Quarterly
Screenwriter

accatone
Joined: Thu May 04, 2006 8:04 am

#9 Post by accatone » Wed Feb 21, 2007 5:11 am

e-CAHIERS DU CINÉMA will go online in March! ("e" for "english"!)

Preview availabale here. Year subscription is $45… Good news!

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exte
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 4:27 pm
Location: NJ

#10 Post by exte » Wed Feb 21, 2007 5:33 am

Cinefex has always been very tempting to me, but I never subscribed. I do have their book on Blade Runner, though, and have been very curious about some of their back issues, particularly regarding the Jim Cameron films...

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Oedipax
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:48 am
Location: Atlanta

#11 Post by Oedipax » Wed Feb 21, 2007 8:18 am

accatone wrote:e-CAHIERS DU CINÉMA will go online in march!!! ("e" for "english"!)
Thanks for posting about this - looks like something I'll definitely want to subscribe to (I do Film Comment as well, great magazine). I really like the integration of video into the page (as it were) in the e-Cahiers stuff.
Last edited by Oedipax on Wed Feb 21, 2007 8:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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jt
Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2006 9:47 am
Location: zurich

#12 Post by jt » Wed Feb 21, 2007 8:48 am

This is indeed great news. My French has never been good enough to fully enjoy Cahiers.

The web-based presentation is very good indeed, the first time I have considered paying for on online journal.

The translation is also a step above other attempts of the past, while still keeping the typically emotive 'Gallic' flavour...
The expression 'Festival Film' is false, it is unjust, it is disgusting.
Tell us what you really think...

patrick
Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2007 12:15 pm
Location: Philadelphia

#13 Post by patrick » Wed Jun 20, 2007 7:56 pm

I've been wavering about subscribing to e-Cahiers since it went online, buying a magazine online just seems weird to me, but I guess it's worth it to finally be able to read a whole issue of Cahiers (damn my choice to take German and Latin in school, they've never done a lick of good for me). I just feel like I'll miss being able to take it where I want and read it.

I second the Video Watchdog recommendation, they definitely have the highest-quality writing on cult/horror/sci-fi cinema out there.

scalesojustice
Joined: Tue Jul 25, 2006 11:25 am
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#14 Post by scalesojustice » Thu Jun 21, 2007 2:01 pm

Much thanks for that recommendation of Film Comment.

I've been dragging my feet on a Sight and Sound sub. for a year now considering it's well over $80. After reading all of this month's Film Comment material online, I'm happy to support them and get in a good film read.

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LionelHutz
Joined: Sat Jun 09, 2007 7:32 am
Location: Italy

#15 Post by LionelHutz » Thu Jun 21, 2007 8:47 pm

Another vote for Les cahiers du cinéma!
Best motivation to start learning french.

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tryavna
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:38 pm
Location: North Carolina

#16 Post by tryavna » Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:54 am

LionelHutz wrote:Another vote for Les cahiers du cinéma!
Best motivation to start learning french.
That, and French women....

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LionelHutz
Joined: Sat Jun 09, 2007 7:32 am
Location: Italy

#17 Post by LionelHutz » Fri Jun 22, 2007 1:23 pm

tryavna wrote:
LionelHutz wrote:Another vote for Les cahiers du cinéma!
Best motivation to start learning french.
That, and French women....
I might say you don't need to speak french to enjoy french women,but I'm too much of a gentleman to say that =P~

SheriffAmbrose
Joined: Sat Feb 03, 2007 12:08 pm

#18 Post by SheriffAmbrose » Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:53 pm

scalesojustice wrote:Much thanks for that recommendation of Film Comment.

I've been dragging my feet on a Sight and Sound sub. for a year now considering it's well over $80. After reading all of this month's Film Comment material online, I'm happy to support them and get in a good film read.
I subscribe to Sight and Sound and I am not convinced it is worth it. They cover too many things that I am just not really that interested in and it costs a fortune. It is one hundred dollars plus to renew the subscription! I definitely prefer Film Comment and comparatively it is much cheaper.

Kenji
Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2007 5:23 pm

#19 Post by Kenji » Sun Jun 24, 2007 9:01 am

Sight and Sound has always covered world cinema and has many intelligent writers but it still covers too much Anglo-American trash for my liking- and whereas Cahiers du Cinéma recognised Mizoguchi as the world's greatest director not long back, S+S has not done a single article on him in the time i've been a regular reader/subscriber (late 80's).

patrick
Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2007 12:15 pm
Location: Philadelphia

#20 Post by patrick » Sun Jun 24, 2007 10:37 am

Film Comment is generally good (I loved the current issue's Guy Maddin piece on Kenneth Anger and it's Lee Marvin article) but it just feels really short sometimes.

Handsome Dan
Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2006 6:22 pm
Location: DeKalb, IL

#21 Post by Handsome Dan » Wed Jun 27, 2007 5:59 pm

Video Watchdog is, for my money, the most thoughtful and informative film publication that I know of (in English). Film Comment definitely has its moments, but I rarely check it out. Psychotronic was the best of the fanzines, but it seems to have gone under. I get the vast majority of my information and analysis from the web. Aside from VW, I don't know of any print source that can compete with Greencine Daily, Movie City News, David Bordwell's site, this forum, etc.

On a slightly different matter, does anyone know of any film-related publications or sites in Russian or German? Why should Francophones have all the fun?

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malcolm1980
Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2007 4:37 am
Location: Manila, Philippines
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#22 Post by malcolm1980 » Wed Jun 27, 2007 11:46 pm

What about on-line film review sites?

I think the best among the mainstream ones is SlantMagazine: http://www.slantmagazine.com

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domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

#23 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jun 28, 2007 1:11 am

I read Senses of Cinema

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Barmy
Joined: Mon May 16, 2005 3:59 pm

#24 Post by Barmy » Thu Jun 28, 2007 2:05 pm

Shock Cinema for those into trash. And a good source of info on bootlegs. Without it I would never have known that Robbe-Grillet's "Blue Villa" was available.

gelich
Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2007 8:33 am

#25 Post by gelich » Mon Jul 23, 2007 7:10 pm

My favorite is Cineaste

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