PC Movie Databases and Organizers- A Little Help...

There seems to be more than a few movie fans around here, so I’ll pose a question here that my father asked me just last night.

My father is a movie buff. He loves ‘em. At last count, he had something like four hundred Laserdiscs, DVD’s, and tapes. And the collection grows by the week. He’s definitely into it.

Before he upgraded to a PC he used to catalogue and organize his movie collection on a MAC based organizer. He basically punched in all the info and it organized it for him into categories like Noir, Comedy, etc. etc… It looked like a pain to input all that information, but at the time, he seemed to enjoy it. But no more.

Now that he’s completely upgraded to a PC, he not only wants to transfer his old list to the PC, but he also wants to simplify the procedure for inputting movies. He wants a database that will access the Internet, get the main info, and put it into an organizer for him. He’s sick of punching in all that data. He wants to look up a movie on the internet and have that information transfer into his organizer.

Is there anything out there that would do this for him? For the life of me, I’ve searched and searched- I can’t find anything that offers the downloadable function he’s looking for.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

CnoteChris, have you looked at IMDB’s My Movies? I haven’t used it, but it might be a way for your father to keep track of his collection.

What was the name of the program he was using on the Mac? Was it a database program like FileMaker or Claris/Appleworks’? Or was it some little shareware program? I guess what I’m asking is was it a program specifically designed to sort movies (or whatever)? Because depending on what he used, he might be able to convert the info from his old organizer into a format that can be easily transferred to something his new PC can read.

I can definitely sympathize with your father’s dilemma. For many years, I have maintained my own database - an overall database of the movies I have seen, and a query within that database of the ones I actually have in my collection. This database began as just a spreadsheet in Excel, but now it’s a full-blown Access file.

I enter in all the info that I need, but only such info as title, year, rating, runtime, director, stars, etc. Takes only a couple of minutes to input, but I’d love for it to be done automatically. So maybe IMDB is the way for you to go. I think it’s too late for me; I don’t know if I have the patience to create a file of over 1,000 movies on there, but maybe it’ll be sufficient for your father.

JeffB-

You know, he did mention that IMDB had an option like that, but he kind of dismissed it.

He basically said, “IMDB has a personable database that you don’t have to input everything. But I’d hate to resort to that. I’d like something that I can use outside of the Internet. You know what I’m getting at Christopher?”

(Then he went on about me being the internet guy who can always find these kind of things on the computer for him. But considering the state of corporations these days and how they screw over the consumer at every opportunity, a simple product like that- that the consumer actually could use- probably doesn’t even exist anymore. How the republicans are going to screw over the consumers even more with their corporate support and… You don’t want his whole speach do you?)

Anyrate, Don’t get me wrong, he likes IMDB and uses it as a reference religiously, but he wants a stand-alone organizer he can run outside or offline from the net.
** I just previewed and noticed some more replies, I’ll type it up and be right back **

Audrey -

-OT-
Hey babe. What the hell happened to you with the leigh’s (sp?)? Your Aunt go wonky on you at the airport?
-BOT-

What kind of MAC organizer did/does he use?

I have no clue- It’s an ancient program that he bought from a movie-holic years ago. It had a substantial database already in it that he could then add to and build on in a seperate organizer.

If you’re getting at whether or not it can be transfered to a PC program, I doubt it. It looks like the guy who sold the program had made it himself.

dantheman-

That’s exactly the predicament he’s in. All his inventory is in an older MAC program that’s simply outdated now. He wants to switch, or upgrade, but doesn’t want to go through all the typing again.

I should have added this to the O.P… The two programs I’ve already found are Primasoft’s “Movie Organizer” and another similar program.

Both are O.K., but they require the data to be typed in, as opposed to imported from the IMDB site.

Maybe I should also add that if this exact program doesn’t exist, he would go for something that comes close. Say a way to cut and paste from IMDB.

Thanks

Hiya CnoteChris!

[OT]The leis in my People Pages pic? Heh, no, that was taken at my college graduation about 13 months ago. Evil Aunt was not allowed close enough to put anything around my neck during her visit. [/OT]

I don’t suppose the program your father used has an export feature? (I’m betting no if it’s just some cute little shareware app.) If not, I don’t think your pop has any choice but to retype the info in manually.

See, for an organizer that can import info from the IMDB site, I would think your best bet would be something the IMDB itself produced, kinda sorta like how some sites have their own Sherlock search plug-ins for Mac users. Since the IMDB don’t offer anything like that, you’re likely out of luck.

Auds-

Yep. It seems that his only option is the IMDB thing. Oh well.

With the rise in home theatres and people collecting DVD’s and etc., a program like that will probably show up sometime soon.

OT-
Congrats on the graduation. Now what are you going to do with your life and when are you going get started on it? Hmmm?

(I’m older than you. I get to say those fun things.)
BOT-

For quite a while I’ve been using an excellent Music database program called KIC Music (used to be called Keep It Compact)

They have expanded for other things… one is a movie collection database program.

While I’ve never tried that particular one, I can vouch that the CD program is a quality piece of software… been a registered users for a while now…

Let me know how you find it…

wooba-

Too cool. That looks exactly like what he’s after.

Can’t thank ya enough.

I’ll post in a couple of days and let you know what he thinks.

As promised wooba, I’m checking back in.

I sent it to my father last night and heard from him a few minutes ago. He loves it. It’s exactly what he was looking for.

So, until he asks for another obscure program, or crashes the computer so horribly I have no way of fixing it, I’m still on his good side.

I think I’ll hit him up for some money.

Thanks again.