QuickAdvice: Find Something Good To Watch With Roger Ebert's Great Movies
Roger Ebert's Great Movies ($0.99) by The Ebert Co., Ltd. is a compilation of the best reviews from legendary film critic, Roger Ebert. This app does not have all of his work, but it is what's considered to be the best work from Ebert.
Everyone loves movies. It's hard to find a person that doesn't enjoy a good film every now and then (for some, it's more like every day). But the hard part can be finding a good movie. For that, what are you going to do? Go find something based on Netflix's [sometimes quite off] recommendations? That's an option, or you can go with some of the best movies ever made, complete with in-depth review from Ebert. That's exactly what you get in Roger Ebert's Great Movies.
On the initial launch, you'll be taken to the list of movies that Ebert has reviewed. You can view this list three ways: By Title, Release Date, or Review Date. As you view the movies, you get a thumbnail of the film, name, year it was released, and when it was reviewed by Ebert. You can easily jump to a specific letter or year with the scrollbar on the side.
Searching for something specific? There's a search bar at the top that will search in real-time for you as you type. You can search for a specific title, actor or actress (cast), director, or review.
The other viewing option besides Movies is My Lists. Here you can access the titles that you have marked off as Seen or Want To See (I'll get to these shortly). You can also search in your lists as well.
Selecting a title will allow you to view the full review by Ebert. Information like Directed By and Starring is provided in the review as well, which is great. The full reviews can be pretty lengthy, but they are a joy to read (if you have read his movie reviews before you should know what I'm talking about).
At the end of a review, you can Share the movie or buy it from Amazon. Sharing will give you a menu with options like Twitter, email, or Facebook. Links to the review on his site are provided, as well as buying it from Amazon (if you missed the other option), and sending it to Instapaper. An in-app browser is supported so you never have to leave the app for his site or Amazon.
More options at the end of each review allow you to add a movie to a list. Options are "Seen It" or "Want To See It." The app can even link up with your Netflix account so you can add titles immediately to your Netflix queue.
The final viewing option in the app is "More." This will simply give you information on Roger Ebert himself, the app, links to his site, legal information, and Netflix/Instapaper account configuration.
The best thing about this app is that there is no Internet connection required to access anything. All of the reviews are available even without a connection. Of course, you will need a data connection if you want to add a title to your Netflix or send it to Instapaper.
I have nothing negative to say about this app. It really is a collection of great movie reviews from the greatest film critic there is (unless you know someone better), and this is a going to be a great help for me if I need to find something to watch on Netflix.
If you're a movie fan, you definitely don't want to miss this app.
