moviefone.com
Moviefone is a website that provides information on television and movie watching. It offers showtimes for cinemas in the area, details on films, reviews, advance tickets, and more. The website has an optimized search tool that makes it easier for users to find what they are looking for.
The website was founded after a popular telephone service featuring the voice of Mr. Moviefone received great acclaim. The company was bought and sold numerous times in the process of its lifetime. In 2014, the telephone service was shut down and the website was majorly overhauled to appeal to the masses.
Website Design
The website design is sleek and modern. The layout is visually appealing and the color scheme is soothing. The logo is discreet but recognizable.
There is a large advertisement at the very top of the page as the header. Advertisements are a necessary evil, but they can be distracting when they are that large. Luckily, the ads on the website mostly pertain to movies and TV shows, so it's not all bad.
Content
Moviefone website is vast with a variety of content. The website contains showtimes for local cinemas, cinema details, film reviews, advance tickets, and television content. The primary menu is organized from left to right - movie times and tickets, movies, new on DVD, videos, and news. Behind the scenes content can be found under looks categories as well.
A slideshow of featured stories is found on the home page. Some of the featured stories you can expect are behind-the-scenes looks and teasers to new movies. Currently, Marvel just dropped a terrific teaser trailer for the Black Widow movie. The article written by the Moviefone Staff includes information about the upcoming movie starring Scarlett Johansson. The article goes on to embed the youtube video for easy viewing. The Moviefone Staff do a good job of citing their references directly and linking other important information.
To avoid disappointment when buying movie tickets, it is recommended that you use Moviefone. This website allows you to search for theaters in your area and find out the latest movie times. There is a large variety of cities to choose from, so regardless of where you live, you should be able to find the information you need.
The movie category on the Moviefone website is well-organized and has 2020 movies listed in release date order. The options to filter include year, month, and genre. Hovering over the movie poster also provides options of watching the trailer, more info, and showtimes. Looking up more info on the movies is useful because Moviefone lists release dates, plot summaries, cast, director, genre, production company, and distributors.
New movie trailers are prioritized according to their release date. The newest trailers are at the top of the list, followed by trailers for movies coming soon, and finally, trailers for movies in theaters. There are many teasers in this section of the website, which can be difficult to navigate.
New on DVD has a section that is useful for people who don't love going to theaters or who can't wait for their favorite new film to release on DVD. There is a very handy tool on this page. A list that is navigated according to release months lets viewers know what DVDs are releasing in what month. However, this feature seemed to be down at the time of me trying to access it. If it is functional, it would be useful.
The video section of Moviefone involves a great deal of interview-style pieces. The project that is seen the most is something called Unscripted. There are celebrity guests like John Cena and Craig Robinson. The cast is varied and focuses on a multitude of different movies and television shows. In the show, the actors and actresses get to answer viewer questions and "go off the script." The news content is primarily made up of videos from Unscripted, photo galleries, and behind the scenes articles.
Desktop & Mobile Accessibility
The desktop version of Moviefone is satisfactory. The website design could be better. The layout is adequate. There are no particular complaints to make. The clean look, in my opinion, is the best aspect of the search engine.
Mobile browsing is okay. It's a scaled-down version of the website, and it's optimized for readers. The text is readable and navigation is simple, but there's no mobile app to review.
Positives
Many positives exist about Moviefone. The website offers a unique search engine to viewers looking for movies and showings. The options of sorting through content are very good. The organization on Moviefone is endless.
The content of the website is vast and varied, with different types of media including news articles, videos, interviews, and behind-the-scenes information. The exclusive Unscripted video series is a standout because of its high quality.
My favorite part of Moviefone was the error page that I happened upon by accident. I clicked on a part of the site that didn't work and received one of the most hilarious error codes of all time. Regina George from the movie Mean Girls stared back at me. The page stated ?Stop trying to make this page happen. It's never going to happen.? It then listed possible reasons why I could not access it. The reasons included - the link no longer exists, you have the wrong URL, this link is expired, or your hair is full of secrets.
Negatives
Some negative aspects of this website are that the design is forgettable and can be visually appealing but does not leave a lasting memory. Additionally, some links do not work and there is no mobile application, which I find strange for such a longstanding company.
Many people in rural communities will have difficulty using this website because it is focused on larger cities. Searching certain zipcodes will not yield any results.
Improvements Needed
Lastly, I think it would be beneficial to create a more engaging blog content to keep viewers hooked on the website.
Some improvements Moviefone could make are an app, increasing traffic on the website and viewers for their content, connecting with viewers in more rural locations, and creating more engaging blog content.
Summary
The website Moviefone was founded as a telephone service. Mr. Moviefone's voice was well received and the company expanded to a website. The website offers useful tools like showtime searches and optimizes organization for sorting.
The website has a modern, sleek design with a blue, white, and grey color scheme. The layout is well designed and provides smooth transitions throughout the website. The categories and subcategories are also well designed.
The varied content on Moviefone includes many genres and movies, as well as a series done by the Moviefone staff and celebrities. These videos feature actresses and actors who go off script to answer questions sent in from viewers.
While Moviefone has a lot of positive aspects, it also suffers from a number of negative features. This website is especially useful for people who live in large metropolitan areas. Overall, the site is moderate compared to others in its category.