Summer Celluloid Sell-a-bration

By David Shamah, The Jerusalem Post, July 2, 2004

Summer vacation, and the living is… expensive!

One good thing about having the kids is knowing exactly what and how much everything is going to cost. You know what they want for breakfast, and you know how much it costs. Bus fare is the same every day, at least between the bi-monthly fare increases. Tuition and/or school fees come out of your bank account, and of course, they kids need "candy money." Except for the occasional school trip, you can more or less keep track of expenses.

But the summer? Throw the budget out the window! Every day is a new adventure, fiscally speaking. Where will they go today? The pool? The beach? The shopping center? The movies? Yes, yes, yes – and yes. Let's face it – leisure activities are the stuff summer is made of, and leisure can be expensive.

Not that it has to be – there are plenty of free or nearly free outdoor activities kids can engage in. But somehow they always end up wanting to do something expensive – like going to the movies, which kids love – but which costs way too much money for the half an afternoon it gobbles up. And then, of course, there's the popcorn, the post-show pizza, the bus ride to and from…

There's a reason they release the big movie blockbusters in the - it's because summer draws the biggest crowds. And it's not just the kids who want to see the latest flicks – hardworking adults might feel an occasional urge to splurge. On the one hand, it's very tempting to drop a few hundred shekels on a movie night out. And you want to keep up with the latest features. But let's face it – most of us cannot afford to go to the movies on a regular basis, much less let our preteens and teens indulge as much as they would like to.

But the Internet gives you a great way to stay on top of the latest movie news, have a fun movie experience, and save lots of money! There are plenty of free and cheap Web sites to watch and download anything form a cartoon short to a full length feature. And you can even keep up with all the latest and greatest shows. How so? Well, everyone knows that the best part of any movie is screened even before the feature itself. What you really want to see is – the preview!

The average movie these days lasts for about an hour and three quarters, but you can easily spend a week of mornings and afternoons watching everything on display at Ifilm (http: // www. ifilm.com), the first stop on your Internet movie watching jaunt. This is a movie and video site so complete you may never enter a real movie theater again!

First of all, Ifilm carries streaming trailers and teasers for every movie in current release and upcoming openings. If you can see it in a theater, you can see the preview on Ifilm. Most trailers run 3 to 5 minutes, and often there is more than one trailer per movie. In addition, Ifilm carries publicity interviews with actors, publicity shots, etc. In order to play a show, you need an Ifilm player, which is automatically installed when you click on one of the trailer links. Broadband users will naturally have no problem connecting to the site, but there are two versions of each trailer, with a lower-res display appropriate for 56k modem users.

But movies are just one part of the site. There are "trailers" for video games, as well as complete music videos, just like the ones on MTV. There are full short movies (up to 20 minutes in length) that have played at various film festivals; clips from Academy Awards broadcasts; movie guides, reviews, and links; and all sorts of interesting special features, including pay per view TV episodes, "viral videos" sent in by fans (sort of like "World's Funniest Home Videos"), and TV commercials from the United States and around the world, including all commercials run during the last several Super Bowls, and the top commercials of all time (like the famous 1984 ad introducing Macintosh computers).

All the content at Ifilms is free, although you can become a paying member, which will give you access to very high-res video and eliminate the numerous ads at the site. If you want to make sure you know what you're going to be seeing before you plunk down your money at the box office, or if you want to make sure that the movies (or music videos, for that matter) your kids want to see pass your standards, you will find Ifilm invaluable. And, it's probably one of the most enjoyable sites on the Net (it took me long time to write this, because I couldn't pull myself away from Ifilm).

The Internet Movie Database (http: // www. imdb.com), a far less flashy site than Ifilm, has trailers too, but its strength is in independent and international film. This site has a complete catalog of Israeli movies and TV series (

http: //www. imdb.com/Sections/Countries/Israel/), of which, according to the site, there have been a total of 1,493, including international co-productions. There are also cross-references between productions, actors, and "notable TV appearances" for each cast member of any Israeli movie or TV production. Free registration at the site entitles members to post reviews and opinions, and many of the Israeli movies are listed but not commented upon, so without doubt the IMDB people would appreciate some input from local Web surfers familiar with some of this stuff.

I'm sure someone out there knows whether there have been more original Israeli works than those listed here, but there's no question that this site will give you a crash course on Israeli film, historical and current, in English. Not just Israel, either – there is information on movies made in nearly every country in the world, including "Palestine" (although there are pre-1948 Jewish productions, like 1947's "Adamah" (released in the U.S. in 1949 as "Tomorrow's a Wonderful Day), including a silent film from 1897!

Run out of content to watch, you say? Impossible, I say – but here's another one. You can watch full length streaming documentaries at http: // www. escreeningroom.com. E-screeningroom is a site in formation, as there are about a dozen free, full length videos (between 30 and 90 minutes). But they do add documentaries and are always looking for content; you can put yourself on their mailing list for notification on additions. (requires free Realplayer; the site has a direct link to the free download). Atom Films (http: // www. atomfilms.com) is another interesting free independent/short film site, and there are hundreds of productions in all genres, with ratings by other viewers so you know what's worth spending your time on and what isn't. The site also has several of its own Internet show series, and there are downloadable shorts and animations as well.

Then there are the streaming pay per view sites, which have all sorts of movies, although not necessarily this year's. You can find pay and free movies at Netbroadcaster (http: // www. netbroadcaster.com), Cinemanow (http: // www. cinemanow.com), and Movieflix (http: // www. movieflix.com).

Now you've got what to watch, but you say if you're watching at home already, you want to sit in the nice big chair in the den and not at your PC desk? No problem! Just slide the computer over to the TV room and follow the instructions at http: // www. videohelp.com/play (you may need a TV card or improved video card). It may be a long, hot, and expensive summer outside – but using these links you'll have a nice, cool – and cheap – summer at the movies with your computer!

Send questions/comments to ds@newzgeek.com