# Best online discussions of movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [October 10, 2021, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-online-discussions-of-movies/952270 "2021-10-10T21:33:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2021, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-online-discussions-of-movies/952270/1 "2021-10-10T21:33:01Z")
I was imagining that there might be a place on line where intelligent people discuss movies in some depth and with some discernment, but I’ve been unable to find such sites. Do they exist? IMDB used to have a “comments” section that came close to what I’m describing (a little light on the discernment part) but they shut that down a few years back, and I can’t find one. I suppose I could search Cafe Society but the films I want to read up on aren’t often covered here. Does such a thing exist? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2021, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-online-discussions-of-movies/952270/2 "2021-10-10T22:33:47Z")
I have no great suggestions, but try just starting one here on a specific movie. There’s a good chance others have seen it and are happy to discuss it. Its a shame you missed the movie megapoll over on GB. The discussion got pretty lively there, but most of us on GB, post here also. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2021, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-online-discussions-of-movies/952270/3 "2021-10-10T23:58:17Z")
There’s a podcast I listen to, called “Unspooled” that discusses a movie of the week – it started by going through the entire AFI 100 list, but has moved on to other categorizations. There’s an associated Facebook group that has lively discussions of the movie being discussed that week plus any other film-related topic its members choose to post. ---
**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-online-discussions-of-movies/952270/4 "2021-10-11T03:16:12Z")
There was one Yahoo group that had that, but I don’t know if it’s still around. For now, try some subreddits. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-online-discussions-of-movies/952270/5 "2021-10-12T03:54:41Z")
Lattice of Coincidence–I just tripped over [https://moviechat.org/](https://moviechat.org/) tonight. Dunno how good it is. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-online-discussions-of-movies/952270/6 "2021-10-12T07:00:22Z")
I’ve really missed the IMDb forum. But it looks like @phs3 has found its designated successor. [Moviechat.org](http://Moviechat.org) must have inherited, or scraped, all the comments from the old IMDb forum. I just looked up an obscure film on Moviechat and was surprised to see a question about it that I’d posted on the IMDb forum seven years ago. Unfortunately, a glance at more recent film titles shows that there’s significantly less activity on Moviechat. And the sophistication of the comments is hit-and-miss. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-online-discussions-of-movies/952270/7 "2021-10-12T11:45:31Z")
I enjoy the discussion we sometimes get to in the “Movies You’ve Seen Recently” thread here on the Dope, but it is mostly reviews of movies we’ve seen. It is where I get some recommendations, though. [I post thoughts on most movies I see there.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently/699906) ---
**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-online-discussions-of-movies/952270/8 "2021-10-12T12:30:15Z")
Ideally I’d want a site where professional movie critics discuss and argue in depth 1000s of films I’ve seen, explaining their reasons in great detail. I eat that stuff up. A bunch of ninnies expressing their shallowest thoughts, not so much. But some of these sites seem promising, thanks very much. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-online-discussions-of-movies/952270/9 "2021-10-12T12:39:45Z")
I agree about no recent activity. The “film talk” forum hasn’t had any posts in a couple of weeks, despite a couple of major releases. I really miss the IMDB boards, which would have had many threads for major movies, at least one or two for minor movies and even ones for TV shows. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-online-discussions-of-movies/952270/10 "2021-10-12T13:48:45Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I agree about no recent activity. The “film talk” forum hasn’t had any posts in a couple of weeks, despite a couple of major releases. I really miss the IMDB boards, which would have had many threads for major movies, at least one or two for minor movies and even ones for TV shows They were pretty popular. Why did they get pulled down? No moderation? ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-online-discussions-of-movies/952270/11 "2021-10-12T14:11:03Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Why did they get pulled down? No moderation? That was my guess at the time. While it wasn’t a cesspool, there was enough sniping that the value was questionable at times. This has been a trend with Amazon–note that they removed the ability to comment on others’ reviews a while ago, too. I assume it’s all part of hassle avoidance, and not wanting to moderate, which then opens up the liability issue. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-online-discussions-of-movies/952270/12 "2021-10-12T14:13:41Z")
> [@Chad\_Sudan](#): > > [Moviechat.org](http://Moviechat.org) must have inherited, or scraped, all the comments from the old IMDb forum. That’s quite interesting–seems hard to believe Amazon would have just let them do that. Wonder how complete it is–were they shadowing the IMDB fora? Did they get a dump at the time they were shut down? Guess we’ll never know. Site sure is short on details–the “about” and “contact” pages are basically useless. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-online-discussions-of-movies/952270/13 "2021-10-12T14:20:45Z")
> [@phs3](#): > > Wonder how complete it is–were they shadowing the IMDB fora? Did they get a dump at the time they were shut down? Found a bit of information here (along with details on IMDb’s losing battle with nuisance posters): > **[How MovieChat dethroned IMDb as the go-to place to talk TV and films](https://www.wired.co.uk/article/moderators-movie-chat-imdb)** > > When IMDb announced it was closing its message boards in 2017, Jim Smith raced to save them by starting MovieChat. But he and his team of moderators are constantly battling to keep the forums clean ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-online-discussions-of-movies/952270/14 "2021-10-12T14:35:09Z")
> [@ralfy](#): > > For now, try some subreddits. r/TrueFilm is moderately active, and seems to be geared towards the type of discussion OP is looking for. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-online-discussions-of-movies/952270/15 "2021-10-12T14:45:19Z")
Hey, cool, thanks! Interesting that it took so long to trip over it (even without the timing). I hadn’t gotten to the point of thinking “I should look for any more information on this”–glad you did so. So yeah, it’s basically what I guessed. Shame, but there’s yer Interwebs in the new millenium for ya!