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February 2005, Week 4

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Subject:
From:
Jeremy Butler <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 24 Feb 2005 06:58:53 -0600
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text/plain
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A cool new feature was just announced on Google:  movie searches. 

It's sorta like RottenTomatoes.com, but without the advertisements (also 
without the synopsis and other cool RotTom features).  And it works for 
older films, too.  For example, try Googling

movie: sullivan's travels

Plus, you can get movie info and times (in the U.S.) sent to your phone 
as a text message (details below).

I love Google.

-- Slashdot coverage --

Google Announces 'Google Movies'
Posted by timothy on Wednesday February 23, @04:36PM
from the not-that-this-is-a-time-sink-or-anything dept.
NW writes "Over at the official Google Blog, a new Google feature was 
announced - Google Movies. When using the 'movie:' operator in Google, 
it brings up movie reviews. At the first glance it looks like a custom 
search across movie review sites. There are also movie 'home pages' like 
this one which aggregate all reviews AND calculate the total score based 
on the number of stars. It looks like something similar to Google News - 
parsing all the reviews and it remains to be seen whether it will be 
expanded to something like IMDB. There is also no ads, probably for the 
same reason as Google News. The bottom of the page states 'The selection 
and placement of reviews on this page were determined automatically by a 
computer program. No movie critics were harmed or even used in the 
making of this page.'"

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/02/23/2227205

-- Google's official blog --

Wednesday, February 23, 2005
 
Google movies: now playing
Red pill blue pill. Ship hits iceberg. One ring to rule them all. If you 
love movies, you know which films these phrases refer to. Now, thanks to 
our new movie feature, Google web search knows too.

Just in time for the Oscars, we've created a new "movie:" operator that 
enables you to find movie-related information faster and more easily, 
whether you're looking for titles or actors, director or genre, famous 
lines or obscure plot details. Can't remember the name of that film 
where Tom Hanks made friends with a volleyball? Search for [movie: Tom 
Hanks talking to a volleyball] and Google will tell you: it was Cast 
Away. Want rental recommendations? Try searching for [movie: awesome car 
chase] or [movie: good chick flick].

Looking for a multiplex near you? Use "movie:" followed by a U.S. zip 
code or city/state to find theaters and showtimes in your area (a search 
for [movie: Mountain View, CA], for example, will show you what's 
playing near the Googleplex). You can also just search on "movies," 
"showtimes" or the title of a current film, and your top result will be 
movie-related info for your area (if you haven't already saved your 
location using Google Local, just fill in your U.S. zip code or 
city/state and click the "Get Showtimes" button). And for those on the 
go, movie showtimes are also available on Google SMS (send a text 
message to 46645 -- aka. GOOGL on most phones -- to look up showtimes 
for nearby theaters).

Popcorn and a date to snuggle up with are up to you. For now.

Jess Lee
Associate Product Manager

http://www.google.com/googleblog/2005/02/google-movies-now-playing.html

-- getting showtimes on your phone --

Movie Showtimes     
Back to top

Use Google SMS to get showtimes for a movie that's currently playing 
near you. Send a text message query with the movie title followed by the 
zip or city and state. We will provide showtimes by theater location and 
movie details, such as running time, MPA rating (e.g., G, PG, PG-13, R), 
movie genre, and movie critics' rating.
To get movie showtimes, theater listings and movie details:

    * If you're looking for showtimes of a movie that's currently 
playing, enter the movie's title followed by your location (a zip code 
or city and state).
    * For a listing of theaters near you and the showtimes of their top 
movies, enter 'movie: theaters' or 'movie: showtimes' followed by your 
location.
    * For a listing of movies playing near you and their theater 
location, enter 'movie: movies' or 'movie: films' followed by your location.
    * For movie details such as running time, movie genre, MPA rating 
(e.g., G, PG, PG-13, R), and movie critics' rating simply enter the 
movie title.
    * Get Google Local results in addition to your movie showtimes when 
you type 'theaters' or 'films' followed by your location.
    * Learn more about Google's movie showtimes feature by visiting 
http://www.google.com/help/features.html#movies

Sample queries*:
# Get showtimes and theaters for a particular movie: hitch 94103
# hitch san francisco ca
#     Get movie details: hitch
# Find the top movies playing near you and their theater location: 
movie: movies 94103
# movie: films san francisco ca
#     Find the theaters near you and their movie showtimes of the top 
movies: movie: theaters 94103
# movie: showtimes san francisco ca
*Note: The samples are of movies playing in Februrary 2005, please 
substitute our example ('hitch') with a movie that is currently playing

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