Table Of Content
moviezine.se
Movie zine is the answer to the question of what would happen if Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb had a Swedish lovechild. It is a part movie review site, part movie rating site, part movie and actor database, part entertainment news site, and part social network for movie lovers.
This movie review website has seen a lot of growth since its launch in 2003. As of 2014, it had 500,000 unique monthly visitors. The site believes itself to be more than just a great movie review website; it's an online magazine. And as of 2012, the Movie Zine began publishing a free paper magazine to go along with the website. New issues were released every three months back then.
So, as you can see, Movie Zine is not easily categorized. It is many things all at once. Offering user ratings and reviews alongside professional, official ones, this is a movie review site for the casual moviegoer and the pickiest film student alike. Whether you want to read reviews, rate movies yourself, or follow your favorite films, filmmakers, and actors, this Swedish site has the potential to be your new go-to resource for film criticism, community, and news.
So much to cover, though. I don't want to waste your time. Let's get straight to it, then. Let's see whether Movie Zine can be the best movie review site for you!
Design
I really like the design of Movie Zine?s website. It is sleek, intuitive, well-organized, and user-friendly. This site has a lot of the features that I want from a great movie review website. It functions well as an archive of reviews and actor database, entertainment news site, and more. The layout is easy to use and looks very good. I have seen plenty of movie review websites that are cluttered, chaotic, and just plain messy, but Movie Zine's interface is essentially perfect.
I really like the design of Movie Zine. On the outset of discussing their site design and user experience in more depth, I can't stress enough how sharp and, on a very basic level, how aesthetically pleasing this site is. It may not seem like a site's superficial appearance affects user experience as directly as say, layout or functionality, but it does make a huge difference. The site's white background, smart use of negative space, and black and teal theme give it both a sense of distinct branding and a professional appearance.
Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's talk about the more practical elements of MovieZine's site design that make it one of the best movie review sites on the web. The best place to begin, perhaps, would be the site menu bar located, of course, at the very top of every page. Not only does this make for an extremely convenient and handy way to quickly browse the whole of the site, but this too offers a dynamic experiential element.
As you scroll down the page, the entire site menu bar smoothly pivots slightly to the right, replacing the banner that sits above it when you are at the top of the page. The Movie Zine logo, too, seamlessly moves from this banner to the menu bar. Again, this may seem like a minute detail, but in my opinion, it's often the little things that make a world of difference. Instantly jump around this vast site by clicking on news, reviews, calendar, "the biotope," trailers, streaming tips, shop and more.
The homepage of Movie Zine is made up of squares and boxes, each containing neatly organized content. The way in which these squares and boxes are arranged gives a wonderful sense of pacing and intrigue to the site. Many movie review sites, in my opinion, lack this sense of pacing and intrigue. Movie Zine does a great job of offering up a lot of content without it feeling cluttered or as if anything is competing too much for your attention.
The movie info pages themselves are also well done. Above these pages, you will find a banner that doubles as a link to the film's trailer. This is a clever idea, but, if I can be just a little bit picky for a moment, I do think this is a missed opportunity. When I first noted the ?play? button in the middle of the banner, I assumed that the banner would simply start playing the trailer; or, at the very least, that it would provide a popup media player. Instead, though, you are brought to a separate page specifically for the trailer. Again, this isn't a huge deal, but, with so little to complain about on this movie review site, I had to find something, right?
The rest of the movie info pages present that trademark Movie Zine layout I was talking about?great pacing, clear labels, and easy to navigate. Browse the cast list, image gallery, movie news, official Movie Zine review, user reviews, ratings, and even the IMDb score for the film. This site is excellently designed and integrated. Okay, I'll stop gushing now, I promise.
Content and Features
Movie Zine is a great review site with lots of features to help you get the information you need about movies. You can rate movies, follow movies, follow actors, ?like? actors, review movies, and talk about them with other users. If you're used to using one of the popular movie rating and review sites, like Rotten Tomatoes or IMDb, it's time to check out Movie Zine. It's got all the features of the best sites combined with some extras that make it even better.
What I mean by this is that Movie Zine is like IMDb, an enormous movie and actor database. But it also has a 'user rating' which is similar to Rotten Tomatoes. This is useful in that it provides two essential perspectives on every movie. What the 'professional' movie critics have to say versus what casual moviegoers and enthusiasts think of it. I like how this democratizes and decentralizes movie criticism - another reason Movie Zine is quickly becoming one of the best movie review sites in my mind.
As I have already mentioned, Movie Zine also offers some light social media features, such as "liking" and following actors, movies, etc. The Movie Zine community, however, is not quite as active or widespread as other similar movie review sites out there. However, it isn't a ghost town either. There are perks to a smaller community, of course. On Movie Zine, discussions are not overblown or overcrowded. Everybody has a voice to be heard.
Furthermore, Movie Zine is a great resource for entertainment news, figuring out what streaming services feature certain movies (thanks to the "streaming tips" section of the site), and partaking in conversations with likeminded movie lovers thanks to the site's forum. There is even a shop where you can buy movie related clothing and memorabilia.
Although I really enjoy the Movie Zine reviews, I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed with their content. Ideally, a great movie review site would have more in-depth analysis of each film.
Many movie reviews on this site are quite short, like six or seven paragraphs. Although this may be a strength to some (I understand that not everybody is as longwinded as I am), I prefer my movie reviews to skew more literary, more interrogative, more substantive. I also think that this movie review site could benefit by expanding their staff of writers (and, yes, I am available). There are only a handful of voices critiquing all of the movies.
Mobile and Desktop Experience
Overall, the mobile site is a great way to stay up to date on all the latest movie reviews.
Movie Zine does not offer a mobile app, which is rather rare for even the best movie review site. That being said, the mobile site experience is perfectly optimized and retrofitted for smaller screens. Movie Zine is every bit as enjoyable to use on your mobile device as it is on your desktop or laptop computer. There will be a few ads here and there, but this is to be expected with any free online service. Overall, the mobile site is a great way to stay up to date on all the latest movie reviews.
Popular search queries
