Best Film Magazines

[blindside8zao]

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.

[g30]

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

[analoguezombie]

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.

[ola t]

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.

[Fletch F. Fletch]

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.

[blindside8zao]

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

[Godot]

We discussed this in the Books on Film thread.

I still vote for CineAction.

[kinjitsu]

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]

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

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

[exte]

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...

[Oedipax]

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.

[jt]

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]

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]

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.

[LionelHutz]

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

[tryavna]

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

That, and French women....

[LionelHutz]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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?

[malcolm1980]

What about on-line film review sites?

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

[domino harvey]

I read Senses of Cinema

[Barmy]

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]

My favorite is Cineaste