Movies 2
Jinni
Overview
Currently in private beta Jinni aims to be a recommendation and search engine for movies with a twist. It aims is to make recommendations that "fit your unique taste." It has what it calls its Movie Genome (similar to Pandora's Music Genome Project) to provide recommendations. Jinni's movie genome has over two thousand "genes" that break down movies into plot, setting, soundtrack etc. It has created its genome with a mix of human involvement and algorithms with the input of movie professionals so it should be accurate. It learns about your tastes in movies by "comparing your taste types and the genes of all the titles in our catalog". Therefore it needs to have an extensive library of movies. Where it excels is in its filtering that is to generate little known movies and not just obvious choices, and browse new suggestions. July 2009.
Jinni
Conclusions
This could be a huge hit once it leaves private beta. If it allows you to build a database of movies you have seen and introduces social networking features it could challenge the likes of Flixter.
Flixster
Overview
Flixster is a movie fan site in a number of ways. You can review movies, create lists and meet other movie fans. But also it is a news site letting you know what new movies are coming up with recent news and basic information. And there's more: it has plenty information on actors, lots of photos, quizzes (addictive but timewasting) and crucially showtimes. I use the iPhone app to find out local showtimes in the UK. All the features are organised through a series of easy to use tabs including your own profile page. With so many features some get more attention than others. For instance the feature to add your own reviews is poorly thought out yet the feature to meet other people is pushed to the front. A problem side effect of this is the spamming from people clearly not just wanting to connect with you about movies. Another problem with so many features is the messy way photos and text are just thrown together. It looks amateurish. Nonetheless there is a lot of information: ratings, reviews and related movies. Your homepage can be made to look like a MySpace page with a skin (unimpressive). The available widgets are frankly embarressing. In the end I am not so sure on the relability of the matching with similar movie lovers. July 2009.
Flixster
Conclusions
A fully featured social networking site with movie reviews added if slightly lost in the information of friends to connect to. At times addictive, at other times annoying with too much spam. If social networking is your thing then this is for you. If just movie reviews is all you want then other sites like Rotten Tomatoes that has a community (beta).