Roger Ebert's Great Movies Review

While I don't always agree with his opinions, I greatly admire Roger Ebert's writing style. He writes about films in a manner that, while a little pretentious, is welcoming and interesting, even when it's about a film I have no prior interest in. His knowledge is certainly impressive stuff too which makes an app all about his pick of great movies an excellent idea.

The app offers the cream of the crop covering 300 films in all and it never fails to deliver. While not all the films will be instantly recognisible (and there's a lack of very new films which is certainly telling of the current state of cinema), each is a fascinating critique.

In terms of layout, users can browse through the film selection either alphabetically, by release date or by review date, with search functionality also available. Each critique brings with it only one image because it focuses more on the text and analysis. Users can then either place the film in a list of films they've seen or films that they'd like to see, providing an ideal list for film buffs to consult. Netflix users are also able to add films to their queue and it's possible to instantly buy such films from Amazon.com which is a handy (and potentially expensive) tool. Integration is pretty impressive once you throw in the ability to read later via Instapaper or view on RogerEbert.com.

For a film buff, Roger Ebert's Great Movies is pretty unmissable. Users won't agree with every entry but they won't fail to be impressed by the quality of the writing or the anecdotes they pick up as they go along. Plus, there's always the potential for finding a great film that would never have been discovered by simply browsing through IMDB.com. It's a great app to consult either just for fun, or for an idea for a film that night.