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Electronic Field Trips and Other Travel Around the Web
Movies, Newspapers, and Other Websites
Lesson Guide
"And the Winner Is...": Evaluating Movies

Skillbuilding:

Objectives:

Given information about a movie, including factual descriptions, plot summaries, critical reviews, newspaper advertisements and producer websites, the learner will be able to:

  1. write a brief plot summary;
  2. identify the stated ideas and the implications in a critical review;
  3. distinguish between fact and opinion;
  4. evaluate information from several sources;
  5. draw a conclusion.
Note to practitioners: this activity is most appropriate for those learners who are at the level of GED preparation in reading, because the suggested websites often have a great deal of text.  This lesson directly relates to the Literature and the Arts section of the GED: twenty-five percent of the reading passages in that test are taken from commentary in current publications.  Those selections might be from reviews of television shows, movies, music, books, or theatre.  In dealing with such materials, the learner is asked to use critical thinking skills of inferential comprehension, analysis, and evaluation.  This is often a very challenging demand on the learner.  However, once these lessons were field-tested, it was discovered that learners of many reading levels were so interested in the subject matter that they were able to benefit from this lesson.

 In looking at the suggested websites for this activity, be aware that many of the sites sponsored by production companies will contain audio and video clips.  One needs “plug-ins” in order to gain access to these materials; sometimes the firewall of a local computer network system will prevent the use of these plug-ins.  This can be a frustration.  In addition, if the plug-ins work, a lot of time can be taken up in loading the information onto your server.  In any case, the sites on these lists contain useful information, and can easily be viewed without the recommended plug-ins.

Description of Activity:

Learners will choose a movie to research.  It is easier to research a movie that is relatively recent, but websites often contain information dating back many years.  Learners may be assisted in their choice by newspaper pages of movie advertisements or by the current top box office movies.  In searching for information, learners will look for basic factual information (date of production, running time, rating), plot summaries, critical reviews, and promotional materials developed by the film's producers.  Learners write a brief plot summary, read and interpret at least two critical reviews of the movie, analyze newspaper advertisements (where available), evaluate producer-created promotional materials (where available) and determine suitability of the movie for viewing.  Learners may communicate their decisions in a variety of ways: in writing, in an oral presentation to others, or in the form of creating new advertisements for the movie.

Resources:
“And, the Winner Is...Evaluating Movies":

  1. Assignment and Resources
  2. Worksheet 1
  3. Worksheet 2
Suggested Websites:
    1)  If learners are having trouble choosing a film, they might look in a current newspaper for a movie ad, and then see how the written reviews compare to the ad.  They might also:
    a) search for a movie by type, using the Movie Snapshot:
    <http://www.moviesnapshot.com/>
    b) or, they might choose a top movie at the moment. (this could lead to lessons on movie math):  Box Office <http://www.boxoff.com/>
  1. Internet resource experts continuously recommend the Internet Movie Database as being the most comprehensive for information about movies.  It is a great example of a specialized database.    Internet Movie Database  <http://us.imdb.com/search.html>
  2. Here are two specialized databases for critical reviews.  The researcher keys in the name of a movie, and gets a list of  reviews from all sorts of sources.  The list has live links to those reviews; this will save learners time and frustration as they choose two reviews to analyze.

    3. Cinemachine: The Movie Review Search Engine <http://www.cinemachine.com/>
    Movie Review Query Engine: <http://www.cinema.pgh.pa.us/movies/reviews>
  3. Additional sites:

    4. All-Movie Guide: <http://allmovie.com> Good for plot summaries.

    Film Scouts: <http://www.filmscouts.com/>
    This site has interesting graphics in the layout of the rooms of a movie theatre, but there is advertising of liquor imbedded in the site.  That in itself can lead to an interesting discussion about boundaries between information and advertising, unexpected links within  a site, and the general topic of evaluating information.

    Mr. Cranky Rates the Movies: <http://www.mrcranky.com>
    This site is a welcome and refreshing alternative to the positive reviews and hype of other sites.  Mr. Cranky rates movies from "almost tolerable" (a single bomb) to "awful" (several sticks of dynamite).  Each review is accompanied by a link to a bulletin board featuring reader responses.  So, be aware that this gets into the arena of trash talk on the Internet.

    American Film Institute:  <http://www.afionline.org/home.html>

    Webfind-Movie Search:  <http://www.reellife.com>
     

  4. URLs for movie studios, source of wonderful examples of biased  promotional material to analyze:

    5.  Fine Line Features:<http://www.flf.com>
     MCA/Universal Cyberwalk:<http://www.mca.com/index.html>
     MGM/UA:<http://www.mgmua.com/>
     Miramax Cafe:<http://www.miramax.com/>
     New Line Cinima:<http://www.newline.com/>
     October Films:<http://octoberfilms.com/>
     Paramount:<http://www.paramount.com/motionpicture/homemp.html>
     Sony Pictures:<http://www.spe.sony.com/Pictures/>
     Twentieth Century Fox:<http://www.fox.com>
     Walt Disney:<http://www.disney.com/>
     Warner Brothers Online:<http://www.warnerbros.com/>

    Or look for other movie studio webpages at <http://www.movieweb.com/movie/links.html>
     

  5. Movie magazines and fan pages can be searched via any Web search engine, and there are links to these sites from many of the sources already cited above.

    6.  
  6. If this activity is being used in the late winter, learners may want to consult this site for the latest information about the Academy Awards.

    7. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: <http://www.oscars.org>

    For even more fun, learners may want to visit the website of

    The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation: <http://www.razzies.com>.
     This foundation gives special awards the day before the Oscars.  Five nominees in eleven  categories vie to get the award for being the worst...of the year.  If winners want to claim  the award, it is a  "...gold-painted, golfball-sized plastic raspberry atop a super-eight reel  of  film".

    As of this writing, it is possible to "vote" unofficially for both awards, courtesy of

    The Internet Movie Institute:<http://www.nettyawards.com/>
    Some interesting math can be done with the odds and statistics, which are updated daily in the weeks before the two award ceremonies!
     

 
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