Whether you work in the industry or are just an armchair auteur, anyone with a serious interest in film should visit the American Film Institute's online digs. You'll find a mind-boggling number of resources here, including details about AFI's California campus, research facilities, and exhibition schedules. A highlight is the section on film preservation, which explains film and videotape deterioration in accessible terms, and shows what AFI is doing to restore classic works. Of course, there are also a variety of downloadable film clips in just about every section. Definitely a must-see. - Dorrit Tulane Walsh
If you love low-budget movies about white slavers, lesbian vampires, cradle-robbing hillbillies, callous call girls, and psychotic Peeping Toms, then rush right over to Ronnie Cramer's. He's the director of four cult films, including the infamous Even Hitler Had a Girlfriend, and here you can peruse plot synopses and various audio and video clips from all four. But that's not all: You can also browse through the plots of hundreds of other classic B-movies, past and present, and send for your own VHS copies. A virtual temple of cheesiness, it's not for the squeamish or rabidly politically correct. - Dorrit Tulane Walsh
The Laurel and Hardy of critics are now online, in a slick-yet-homely site that focuses more on them than the movies. The site features pictures, detailed bios, and updates on their activities. Reviews don't fare as well, however; audio reviews condensed from "Siskel & Ebert" cover just four weeks, and for any movie reviewed before that, you only get their thumbs-up or thumbs-down votes. Granted, this ratings list covers 10 years, but without explanation the ups or downs aren't very enlightening. The lists of best and worst movies could be interesting, but again they're not explained. There's nothing earthshaking here--I vote thumbs in the middle. - Dorrit Tulane Walsh
Movies.com gives visitors a glimpse into current releases and coming attractions from Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures. On-site promotional materials highlight the half-dozen or so movies that the two studios are currently offering. The site treats some of the films like pampered celebrities, and touts them with the help of film clips, interview excerpts, and behind-the-scenes peeks; other titles it promotes with little more than a movie poster image and summary description. Inconsistency aside, the site is professional, easy to use, and offers such extras as press releases, movie-making terminology, and gross revenues receipts. - Katherine Stevenson
If you want to visit Picture Palace, then plan on allowing some time to get yourself oriented. The navigation is straightforward enough, but only by moving through several pages will you become familiar with the scope of the site's content and how it can be of use. Picture Palace is primarily a virtual video store. There are "lists, lists, & more lists ..." on hand to either direct your search or spark your interest. Weekly profiles call closer attention to some of what's in store, and all of the site's pages are replete with internal and external hyperlinks. Picture Palace prides itself on having access to hard-to-find titles, and it even invites e-mailed requests for off-site searches. - Katherine Stevenson
Forrest J. Ackerman is a bitter man. The so-called Son of Science Fiction devotes as many of his "Wide Webbed World" pages to denouncing those who've wronged him (and there are throngs of them) as he does to celebrating all things sci-fi. The site is impressively atrocious looking, much like the gory ghouls featured in his Gallery. If you're a sci-fi fanatic, you might be interested in reading Forry's ever-gushing self-praise, but all I could do was shake my head and wonder what he could possibly have been thinking. Of course, if sci-fi isn't your thing, read the tribute to Esperanto ("Tongue of Cunning Linguists") and marvel at how many names Forry can drop in a single page. - Katherine Clary Alward
I'll never understand why fan pages are so often the most hideous sites on the Web. If you love a person so much, then for God's sake, design them an attractive site! LYNCHnet is another affront to aesthetic values, complete with clashing color, traffic-stopping backgrounds, and clutter as far as the eye can see. But LYNCHnet is also a devotee's dream, sporting information on every film, TV show, book, commercial, and article ever to bear the name David Lynch. A well-populated discussion board and mailing list gives the multitudes of Lynch-heads a place to vent. What's missing is some original commentary from the site's creator--I want to know why he's so enamored of Lynch. - Katherine Clary Alward