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EW Presents...

Internet Commentary

What to Surf

Movie sites--We grade web pages and societies for Stanley Kubrick, Wes Craven and more

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Stanley Kubrick: The Authorized Stanley Kubrick Web Site
This handsome promo tribute to the groundbreaking director of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dr. Strangelove opens with the hauteur of the auteur: ''One man writes a novel,'' it quotes Kubrick. ''One man writes a symphony. It is essential for one man to make a film.'' To its credit, Warner Bros. (a division of the corporation that also owns EW) gives Stan's fans an avalanche of facts, FAQs, technical arcana, and biographical trivia (at 16, Kubrick took a photo that ran in Lookmagazine). The site even promises a ''virtual theatre event'' in which visitors will be able to watch a film online while chatting with its ''creators.'' Now if only someone could explain Eyes Wide Shut... A-

Nitrate Online
A cinemag founded by Seattle journalist Carrie Gorringe, NO contains thoughtful film critiques, longer features (a tribute to Roger Corman, another look at the rereleased A Clockwork Orange), interviews (Errol Morris, Roman Polanski), and news-wire dispatches. The design may be minimal, but Gorringe and her intelligent crew patently adore movies, which is why other people who adore movies will enjoy their work. B+

Wes Craven's World (www.wescraven.com/test3.htm)
Call it Nightmare on the Information Superhighway. Craven's creepily futuristic-looking informational site contains a lengthy and a detailed Q&A that reveals fascinating tidbits about the director (raised as a strict Baptist, Craven saw only Disney films as a child). Complete with Craven's complaints about leaf blowers' noise during location shoots and musings on the horror genre's possible decline in the wake of Columbine, this up-close-and-personal page is likely to make fans Scream with delight. B+

Online Film Critics Society
Everyone's a critic on the Web — literally. Witness this text-stuffed, image-starved two-year-old site by Dallas-based Matt Williams, which links readers to scores of movie and video reviews — plus a surprisingly substantive archive of interviews with big-name actors (Jodie Foster, Susan Sarandon) and directors (Woody Allen, Neil Jordan). The Reality Bites section lets folks like World Socialist Web Site's David Walsh rail against the Oscars. Given the site's vox populi nature, though, don't expect literary greatness. B

Pop-Culture Corn (www.pccmag.com)
Sort of an alternate-universe EW, Corn amps up the attitude on all fronts, from the ultra-vivid color scheme to the often profane screeds (on the Oscars: ''A night that celebrates great art with a heaping dose of crap''). Unfortunately, the site undercuts its vitriol by stooping to lame satires of, say, Ain't It Cool News' Harry Knowles. In snack-size portions, though, it's a salty treat. B