TV and movies / Android

  IMDb
FREE 

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has rightly become a must-visit v/eb destination for film buffs keen to gen up on their movie knowledge. And this Android app brings the vast film resource to your fingertips.

The IMDb app is divided into Movies, Television and People sections. The top portion of the screen fills with images of the most-viewed IMDb content, which you can browse through by scrolling horizontally. Below that, the material available varies from category to category.

In the Movies section, box-office results, the top 250 movies, the bottom 100 films, popular movies by genre, and other topics. The Television section lists recaps, popular shows and the latest TV news. In the People section you can see a list of Hollywood stars that have a birthday that day and the latest celebrity news.
Clicking on a movie or TV show brings up the same sort of information you expect to see on the IMDb website, such as trailers, ratings, the release date, a plot summary, the cast, and other details like trivia and quotes. Clicking on a person's profile displays their bio and filmography.

The formatting of IMDb is attractive, and it is easy to browse and read. The app also has links to the host website, as well as to Amazon for DVD or Blu ray purchases. By default, this is set to the US, but you can easily change the URLs by going to the settings menu and choosing your preferred country. The only niggle is that to start a search you are forced to return to the menu instead of having a search bar at the top of the screen.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

IMDb says it has details of more than 1.5 million films, cross-referenced with 3.5 million actors, directors, producers, cinematographers and other key players. As well as providing completists with a list of lesser-known parts played by Clint Eastwood or James Coburn, for example, it helps you decide which films are worth watching. You can also find out which of the latest releases are worth seeing thanks to its links to online reviews, while a tie in with Amazon allows you to order the movie for viewing at home. All in all, the IMDb app is an excellent freebie.

   Movies
FREE

We've tried a handful of movie-listing apps, and generally they range from the comically bad to the merely competent. This app from Flixster. simply titled Movies, puts all the other apps to shame. Attractively designed, it has a smart interface that allows the user to discover what flicks are playing, and it includes plenty of other neat features, too.

The browsable categories include Box Office, Theaters, Upcoming, DVD, and My Movies. The straightforward Box Office listings allow you to browse by movie title. You see each movie's score on the popular review website Rotten Tomatoes, the main actors, the rating, the length of the film, and how much money the film has grossed so far. If you click on any particular title, you get even more

 information, such as a video link to the trailer, photos, and an expanded cast list. On the Theater tab you can search for cinemas in your area either by name or by distance from your post code within a 25-mile range.

WHAT'S ON

The Upcoming tab lets you keep track of movies coming out soon. Both this tab and the one for new DVD releases are as easy to browse as the Box Office listings tab is, and include similar information.

You can personalise the app. with lists of your favourite movies, reviews, pictures, and the like. It can also connect to and work with websites such as Facebook, Flixster, and Netflix.

The app is not without its flaws. Occasionally, a screen is slow to load. Still, overall Movies is a tremendous app that does a lot of things right.