I am desperate for a CD-ROM that is half as good as a book. Microsoft's Cinemania '94 is half as good as three books. Scheduled to be updated every year, Cinemania '94 combines the work of three prolific movie reviewers: Leonard Maltin, Roger Ebert, and Pauline Kael. Better make that four books, because this CD-ROM also includes background material from the Film Encyclopedia. All this text is intelligently cross-linked, just as you hoped it would be.
You can look up more than 19,000 movies by title, actor, genre, director, and so forth. You can scrutinize the filmography of a director or actor. You can compare up to three independent reviews of each movie. Occasionally you can get a PR photo still or, rarely, a little QuickTime video excerpt. The disc will also tell you whether a movie is available on video, providing a thorough catalog of general and specialized video-by-mail sources. Two thumbs up.
Cinemania '94: US$59.95. Microsoft Corporation: (800) 426 9400, +1 (206) 882 8080.
STREET CRED
How Buildings LearnCinemania '94
