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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