There’s no business like Showbiz
Showbiz always has and always will be big business in all its forms. From box office movies to television shows to celebrity news, we want to be in the thick of things and know all there is to know. It stands to reason that so many websites that cover showbiz rate such a high alexa.com score – in fact all of the ten below are rated under 20,000 with four even under 1,000. We love the facts and the gossip. We want to know what others think about movies and shows to see how they relate to our thoughts.
The following ten websites deal with various aspects of the showbiz world. Although they are rated based on website traffic, it is likely people will enjoy all of them because they are quite different from one another. Their platforms are different, their focus is different and the topics are different. Enjoy each one for what it is, and then see which ones become your favorites
Global Alexa Rating: 56
With a rating under 100 you would expect this site to be absolutely incredible – and you’d be correct to assume that because it can easily entertain for hours. The movies section has information on those in theaters, the top 250, the US box office, coming soon, on DVD & Blue-Ray, watch now on AIV, X-Ray movies for Kindle and Wii U, and a trailer gallery. The TV section includes preview clips, upcoming episodes, their picks for the day, recaps from the day before, top TV series, and a news desk. There are plenty of full-length movies and TV episodes you can access as well. Join in the fun and meet others in the community section.
2. Daily Mail TV & Showbiz: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/index.html
Global Alexa Rating: 141
Yet another very comprehensive site although this one goes more into the gossip angle than IMDb does. Look at today’s headlines, the most read articles, showbiz gallery and gossip around the globe. Further down on the main page there are reviews, including film, theater and music. A search feature lets you look for everything on your favorite star. When you’ve had your fill of showbiz news and gossip, you can also easily switch over to other issues such as health, science, money, news and sports.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 803
This website is all about movies – in theaters and on DVD. This is the place to go to find out what is playing, what is opening and coming soon, and how much they are grossing at the box office. A voting system lets you click either “want to see it” or “not interested” and the results of the votes are indicated by each one. One great feature is that you can just mouse over each title to get a synopsis of the movie and move on to the trailer and showtimes if it looks interesting to you. The movies about to open and coming soon give the date they will open. DVD movies are listed by top rentals and also those new to DVD that week – both sections allow the same rating system as the theater movies uses. In all cases, you can click on a movie and get to a screen that gives more information. Here you can give a star rating and post a review if you wish to. There are links when available to purchase, rent or stream.
4. E Online: http://www.eonline.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 942
The perfect site for those that enjoy photographic and video representations of the news and gossip in the world of showbiz. Even the homepage is presented in this fashion with the newest stories immediately viewable. The site is very thorough on having all the news you want to know about with plenty of exclusive stories you will find here first. Besides the main page, there are tabs to take you to news, photos, videos, tv scoop, trends, E! shows and red carpet. The photo section is done very well with photos being compiled into galleries that depict a specific topic in length. The trends section goes into various types of trends including fashion, beauty, living and food. Want to see all the stars in their finest attire? Then check out the red carpet area – photos, videos and news from the Oscars, Grammys, Golden Globes, Cannes Film Festival and more can be found here.
5. Hollywood Reporter: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 2,376
This website has a very nice layout with very interesting articles covering a wide range of topics. They go beyond just reporting the activity in movies, tv, music, tech and business – they present thought provoking discussions. There are plenty of reviews of film, television and even international offerings. The best thing about this site is the diversity that not only covers everything you want to know about showbiz but also world events, tech news, behind the scenes looks and awards beyond those for showbiz ones. A nice feature is the ability to sign up for one or more of their newsletters which include breaking news, headlines, international news, daily ratings, box office, the race, special reports and festivals.
6. Moviefone: http://news.moviefone.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 2,439
With their name you might expect it just to be a place to read up on the movies playing but this website goes far beyond that. It is a well organized site to read about recent events in the lives of those in showbiz and then goes even further than that. An interesting aspect of this website is the way they post interesting topics and leave them open for comments. Another feature is their “Around the Web” area which links you to interesting articles – and a nice feature is that each time you click on one it opens in a new window so you can easily go back to exactly where you left off to go to the next interesting subject without having left the Moviefone website. Of course all the information on movies, actors and showtimes is available as well and if you allow them to know your location everything is tailored for your area.
7. Box Office Mojo: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 3,136
Don’t expect high-end graphics on this website because you won’t find them – instead it is streamlined and simple. The advantage of this is the ability to get to the box office information you want quickly and easily. Pop in your zip code or city/state and find showtimes for all movies showing or just the one you are looking for. There is a nice release schedule right on the home page so you can easily see when your long anticipated movie is coming out. It shows about a month’s worth there and you can click ‘view full schedule’ to check further out. The full schedule even extends into later years which can be fun to see what is currently in production or planned. The site does include news stories as well which are well written and informative.
8. Ain’t It Cool News: http://www.aintitcool.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 9,452
A comical site with writers that clearly have fun at what they do! The site is well organized with latest news, top stories, cool news and reviews. One unique feature is a forum area called “The Zone” which has over 40,000 members and nearly 8,000 topics at this time. Another fun section is the contest area in which you can win DVD’s and other items. A nice feature of this site is the articles are open to reader comments which can be nearly as entertaining as the articles themselves. Simply a fun place to hang out and discuss showbiz and even comics!
9. Variety: http://variety.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 10,368
For those that may think showbiz news is a new development, think again – Variety magazine has been around since 1905 making it over a century old! Variety.com was launched in 1998 and was the first online newspaper to charge for access. In order to have full access to everything on the site there is a subscription fee but there is plenty to do on the site without a subscription. One area that you need a subscription for is to search the archives which does go back to the very beginning of the magazine. A nice feature of this site is the ability to sign up for email alerts and newsletters. Variety uses their own Vscore rating system for ranking both the domestic box office and international box office. Clicking on the full list gives you the option to see daily or weekly ratings. The spreadsheet lists the title, distributor, genre, daily box office, % change, cumulative box office and days at the box office.
10. Digital Spy: http://www.digitalspy.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 18,178
The plus side of this site is that it has some unique features that are interesting – the downside is that you have to dig a little to find some of them. The front page does have jumping off points to get to the specifics so it isn’t too difficult so it still ranks a spot on this top ten list for showbiz information. One feature that is interesting is their “Ten Things About…” that takes four celebrities and discusses ten things you might not know about them. You can find this feature at the bottom of the celebrity page. Another nice aspect of this site is that television news is split into two categories – reality tv and regular. The regular area has tv news, episode recaps, interviews, a tv blog, canceled and renewed scorecard, tv video clips and information on the upcoming season. Another part of the site that will be interesting to some people is the gaming section which includes news, features, reviews, previews and a release diary as well as other topics. An especially fun section is the weird news section.
Since each of these websites has something unique about them an avid showbiz fan may just find themselves checking each one out regularly. Some will be the go-to place for finding specific information while others are a nice place to hang out and become part of the community found there. Judging by the high rankings plenty of people enjoy themselves regularly on these sites so you are likely to enjoy them as well.
