X

Facebook apps for the film buff

If you're a movie lover, there are some Facebook apps that will help you satisfy your desire to focus your time on films.

Don Reisinger
CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
Don Reisinger
4 min read

If you're a film buff, you might be happy to know that Facebook apps are available that will help you stay up-to-date on the industry, while giving you the option to tell all your friends what movies you love. Some of the apps are better than others, but one thing is certain: if you're a real movie fan, you need to add at least some of them to your profile.

Social film going

Blu-ray Collection Blu-ray Collection provides an extremely useful way to track and share your Blu-ray collection.

Once you find what you're looking for through the app's search field, you can add it to your listing. Those movies can then be viewed by other app users. The app lists over 1,000 films. And since you can rate your listings, you can see how much you liked a movie, compared to your friends.

Blu-ray Collection
Blu-ray Collection keeps all your movies in one place. Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET

Flixster Movies Flixster Movies connects you with other movie fans to talk about your favorite films. The app also lets you update your Facebook status with the movies you want to see in theaters.

Flixster Movies is like having the full Flixster experience in Facebook. You can review films, take quizzes to test your knowledge, connect with other app users, and research films you're interested in. It's a full-featured product that works quite well.

Flixster
Flixster Movies provides a full social movie experience. Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET

If you go to the Video Store buy something for me It might have a long name, but If you go to the Video Store buy something for me is a neat app that lets you share your movie interests with all your friends.

After you add the app to your profile, you're immediately presented with several films. You can choose the film you like and request them to rent it at the movie store. It might sound rather simplistic, but the app can be an effective movie-recommendation engine, since friends' opinions matter so much. A larger listing of films would have been nice, but the app is still worth checking out.

Facebook
A long name, but it's worth checking out. Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET

LivingSocial: Movies LivingSocial: Movies is my favorite movie app on Facebook. It's useful, unique, and effective at tracking film interests.

LivingSocial: Movies starts by requiring you to add movies to your listing, saying what you have watched, what you're currently watching, or what you will soon watch. You can also rate each film out of five stars. From there, LivingSocial: Movies provides you with recommendations of films you might like based on the movies you rated highly. The app even lets you create a top 10 list to let all your Facebook friends know which movies you love. LivingSocial: Movies is a must-have.

LivingSocial: Movies
LivingSocial: Movies has a great recommendation engine. Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET

MatchFlick MatchFlick's chief function is to provide you with a quiz that, so far, has over 7,000 questions. The more questions you answer correctly, the higher your global rank on Facebook.

Overall, the quiz is quite difficult. Unless you've seen several movies and you can remember obscure scenes, you'll probably have trouble answering questions. If the quiz isn't for you, MatchFlick also provides information on the latest DVD releases, what's playing in theaters, and reviews. It's a full-featured app, but its design and menu system make it difficult to sift through all the extras it offers.

MatchFlick
MatchFlick quizzes you on your movie knowledge. Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET

Movie Expert MovieExpert is a neat game that lets you watch clips from different movies to find their "goofs."

After you add the app to your profile, you'll need to watch a full movie clip. When you find the problem with the scene, you can click on it on the area where the mistake is. You'll start out with 3,000 MoviePoints. If you guess wrong, you'll lose 100 points. When you accurately identify the problems, you'll receive 100 MoviePoints back. It's an addicting game, but it's extremely difficult.

Movie Expert
Movie Expert asks you to find the problems with each film scene. Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET

My Movie Reviews My Movie Reviews is one of the least-useful apps in this roundup, but if you're a frequent moviegoer, you might like it.

My Movie Reviews is a bit of a misnomer. You can't review any movie you like. Instead, the app limits your reviews to the films that are currently in theaters. When you see those movies, you can use the app to write a review, choose a star rating, and post that to your Facebook wall. Creating the review is simple, but not having the ability to write a review on any movie detracts from the experience. My Movie Reviews is a great premise, but limiting reviews to only those films in theaters is a major problem.

My Movie Reviews
My Movie Reviews needs more movies to review. Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET

My top 3

1. LivingSocial: Movies: With so many great features, LivingSocial: Movies is simply the best app in this roundup.

2. Flixster Movies: It's a close second. Flixster Movies is a fantastic app for film buffs.

3. Blu-ray Collection: There's no better way to track Blu-ray films.