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This reference CD-Rom is based on the VideoHound Golden Movie Retriever books, which are basically thicker and cutesier versions of what Leonard Maltin does. This still probably wouldn't be too many folks' first choice over Cinemania, yet for families it has a slightly more kid-friendly interface, and for adult buffs who can stand the doggie icons, it offers at least one invaluable service that Microsoft's product doesn't. VideoHound retrieves a full cast list for each film, and you can click on any name and get a full list of that actor's credits - a function that, in Cinemania, is applicable only to major players. As far as powerful PC search links go, VideoHound is a bona fide pit bull. Wisely, the company seems to have strived to provide features complementary to, not so much competitive with, Cinemania's. It includes no film clips to speak of- except for one amusingly quaint section that offers brief scenes from dog movies (Lassie, meet Asta). But it does include 650 audio clips of actors and directors discussing their work (example: Robert De Niro on gaining 60 pounds for "Raging Bull"). VHS box art is included for each title. It can also claim 60,000 video reviews to Cinemania's 20,000 by virtue of coverage of a lot of non-theatrical titles - in case you require a ranking, say, of celebrity buns-of-steel tapes. It cross-references titles by a number of useful categories (such as MPAA rating and laserdisc availability). But the kludgy interface requires you to punch up separate screens to view a given films plot synopsis, credits, and reviews - Cinemania gets almost everything on one screen - and the biography section is taken from the current Who's Who in Hollywood, so you can read about Johnny Depp but not Humphrey Bogart, Ron Howard but not Alfred Hitchcock. |
