Whether you’re a movie buff, or just someone who enjoys a good film now and then, here are utterly essential 30 tools and resources which will help you make the most of your movie experience.

1. How to download famous movie scripts for free

it’s always interesting to see how something so abstract on paper gets translated onto the big screen.  IMSDb is one of the biggest collections of movie scripts available anywhere on the web where you can read the scripts for all your favorite movies.

2. How to download free movies – legally

No matter if you’re into drama, classics, cartoons, action movies or Westerns – you can find legal downloads of classic movies for free on EMOL.  Granted these movies are pretty old, but you get a lot of good classics as well starring actors like Frank Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor.

3. How to get short movie reviews from twitter

Flixpulse looked to be an excellent tool which interpreted Tweets about movies, assigned each one as a positive or negative tweet, and aggregated them.  Though promising, it looks like the project has stopped development.  An alternative would be to use blippr, which is a twitter clone which focuses mainly on reviews.

4. How to summarize reviews from professional movie critics

When it comes to movie review sites, few sites come close to Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.  Both services aggregate professional movie critic opinions and summarize them to a single movie score.  Well known for exceedingly high standards, if a movie does well on both sites, it would be hard to go wrong with it.

5. How to quickly check ratings through your iPhone

There are plenty of iPhone apps for movies, but ‘Movies’ by Flixster is my personal favorite.  Just look up any film and you’ll get a ‘rotten tomatoes’ rating neatly summarized for you, together with quick links to the trailer, poster, and movie showtimes.  It’s free, and incredibly easy to use.

6. How to search Rotten Tomatoes directly from your browser search box

Rotten Tomatoes is a popular reviews site which aggregates professional movie critic reviews.  Now you can search for movies directly from your browser search box rather than visiting the site first by installing this Firefox plugin. 

7. How to catalogue your movies on your desktop for free

EMDB is a small utility to keep track of your DVD collection. With an automatic import from the database of IMDB, thumbnail cover preview, a loan tracker, and search function.  Extremely lightweight in resource hogging, but packs a great punch. 

8. How to analyze your rental habits on NetFlix

If you’re a user of DVD rental service NetFlix, FeedFliks is a free service which allows you to visualize your Netflix rental habits showing you your DVD returns per week, relative cost per movie, and average time you keep your DVDs.  It also helps you compare what other NetFlixers are doing as well.

9. How to find movies you want to watch, playing on TV

The idea behind LocateTV is simple – to let you find TV shows available where you live in the world.  Type in the name of a TV show, movie or actor, and LocateTV will find it for you: On TV, Online and on DVD so you know how and when to catch it.  Currently only works in the US, UK and Ireland.

10. How to discover movies you would probably enjoy

Liveplasma is a free service which maps out related movies based on your input.  Just put in a film you enjoy, and it will show you films which are like it, and help you find and discover films you may enjoy.

11. How to connect with other movie fans

Movietally is simply a collection of movies. Catalogue, share, and discover the movies you like and hook up with movie fans around the world.

12. Where to find the ultimate movie guide

Just like 99% of the Internet population, You’ve probably used or heard of IMDb before – the site which contains info about all things movies….but since this is a definitive list – an ultimate guide, it would be a sin to leave out what is practically the Internet’s default movie guide.

13. The quickest way to search IMDB through your iPhone

The IMDB for Springlets app is a free iPhone app which allow you to quickly search IMDB.  Simply tap the icon on your home screen, and a search box will pop up where you can search right away.  No need to wait for the IMDB site to load up.

14. Where to download movies which have fallen into public domain

Films which copyright period lapses, fall into public domain and are free for download.  Public Domain Torrents is a website which hosts almost a thousand bittorrent files which you can download for free.  As you might imagine, most of these files are very old, but you’ll be able to get your hands on some classics like Night of the Living Dead, and Charlie Chaplin flicks.

15. How to view movie trailers online

 TrailerSpy is a great way to watch movie trailers online.  Also, it has expanded its content to even include, game trailers, TV trailers, book trailers, and even music trailers

16. How to participate in an open source film

Stray Cinema is an open source film. Here you are able to download and re-edit raw footage from a film shot in Barcelona. This will provide people from all over the world with an opportunity to create their own version of the film.

17. How to help fund an indie film

Movie Mogul Fund is a community-generated film fund which invites its members to select and back new filmmaking talent and claim their slice of the pie should that film become profitable. 

18. How to share reviews of movies with your friends on facebook

Flixter movies is by far my favorite Facebook app for movies.  You can rate movies and share what you saw or want to see with friends, compare your movie taste and take over 100,000 movie trivia quizzes.  Also important to note, is that the app is the most popular movie app out there, which means it has the highest possibility of your friends are using it and you can interact with them there.

19. How to make Wikipedia links appear in IMDb pages

If you’re using Firefox want to add another layer of quick reference links when you’re looking up movies, this greasemonkey script adds Wikipedia links to IMDB movie pages.

20. How to download the most ambitious Star Wars fan films ever

An action packed 47 minutes with absolutely wonderful CGI and special effects, Star Wars Revelations is a milestone in fan films.  Since its release in 2005, it was produced on a shoestring fan budget.  Absolutely free, you can stream it, or download it from the site. 

21. How to save time and effort getting info from IMDb

IMDb Preview is a Firefox extension which allows you to save time when looking up info from IMDb. Just stand on an IMDb link (from ANY site) and a handy popup will show you all the information you need so you never need to pop open the IMDb website.

22. How to Turn a Video File (DivX, AVI etc) into a DVD

I’m fortunate enough to own a DVD player which can play video files like DivX and AVI directly on my TV, but what if you just want to create a proper DVD or VCD so it would be able to run on regular players?  Avi2DVD is the perfect tool for that task.  What it does is convert your video file into a ISO file which you can then burn into your disk with any basic DVD Burner.

23. How to join a movie lover community

Whether it’s connecting with other movie buffs, tracking your movie collection or discussing a film, iheartmovies is a great platform to complement your movie experience.

24. How to participate in a cool movie ranking experiment

When people rate movies individually with some sort of point value – using stars, a 1 to 10 scale, percentages, or even tomatoes – They tend to have different standards and benchmarks when assigning their point system.  This is why all-encompassing "Best Movies Of All Time" lists, seem to fall short all too often.  FlickChart runs a pairing system that shows you two movies, and you decide which of the two you prefer.  The more you play, the more it learns more about your tastes.  FlickChart is in private beta – but you can sign up directly here (Thanks LifeHacker).

25. How to quickly grab subtitles for your movies

Subdownloader is an elegant solution which can update all your movies within any given directory with subtitles at one go.  It claims to be so fast it can plough through 27 GB movies in 7 seconds and get entire series seasons subtitles in less than 1 minute.

26. How to learn what DVDs your friends own, and show off your own collection

More than a vanity trip, Swagroll helps you and your friends understand what each other owns.  This of course means easier DVD swapping between friends.  Swagroll also lets you handle music and books.

27. How to quickly look up movie showtimes on Google

If you just type in ‘showtimes’ in Google, you’ll be taken to a page which shows you movie showtimes from all your local cinemas.  Google auto-detects where you’re coming from based on your IP Address and will filter our only cinemas near you.  Not only does it show you movie schedules for the next 4 days, it also summarizes movie reviews for you.    

28. How to generate an RSS feed of what’s playing in your favorite local theatre

Take the Google tip above one step further, and isnoop has generated an RSS feed which helps you get live updates of whatever is playing so you can throw your local theatre’s screen times in your favorite RSS reader.

29. How to download movie trailers in FULL HD

Trailerfreaks is a straightforward site which allows you to watch and download movie trailers in 480p, 720p and 1080p resolutions. 

30. How to find out endings of films

Have you ever fallen asleep and missed the ending of a show?  The movie spoiler is an excellent site which reveals the entire story from head to tail.  Not only is it good for endings, it also helps you understand crucial bits in confusing films. It is also a great reason for walking out of films which are really bad – at least you know what happened in the end.

What movie resources do you use?  Tell us in the comments!

Image Credit: ReutC

You don’t really have to spend a lot of money to fill up your iPod, or download songs illegally if you really don’t want to.  Here is an ultimate guide on how to download free music legally.

1. How to download free songs from last.fm

last.fm is perhaps best known for its intelligent internet streaming radio service, but it also offers up a nice selection of free MP3 downloads – many of them from prominent artists like Moby and Nine Inch Nails.

2. How to download two Nine Inch Nails albums for free

Nine Inch Nails has always taken the stance of siding with free music and giving back to fans.  He also puts his money where his mouth is, and has released TWO albums for free download.  The Slip, and his collaboration with Jane’s Addiction aptly called NIN|JA. 

3. How to download free live music

The Live Music Archive or etree.org claims to be a community committed to providing high quality live recordings – and it does not fail in that department. Featuring a long list of commercial and indie artists performing live including Hot Buttered Rum and Smashing Pumpkins, this is a great place to complement your existing music collection.

4. How to download free songs from Amazon.com

It’s a little known fact that Amazon has a ton of free songs and albums available in their store.  As I write this, there are more than 840 songs available for free as album-samplers featuring all kinds of acts from Paul Simon to indie groups.

5. How to download all the songs from South by South West (SXSW)

SXSW is a music festival held annually in Austin, Texas, which has been taking the world by storm.  If you didn’t make it to the festival, you’ll be glad to know that all the music from 2005 till 2009 is available for free download

6. How to download good free indie music

Having a distaste for repetitive and clichéd tracks played on your local station? The Free Music Archive is a movement inspired by open source ideas and features music handpicked by nine ‘curators’ – here you’ll find free and perfectly legal music created by mostly indie artists.

7. How to download free awesome remixes

ccMixter is a place where things really get mixed up – in a good way! Here you’ll find tracks that have been remixed by users, some with outstanding results. If you’re getting tired of what you’re hearing now, a visit to this site might refresh your senses.

8. How to download free Japanese music

Muzzie is a site which offers free Japanese music downloads.  If you don’t understand Japanese, you may not understand the reviews but the all important letters MP3 is in English are you’ll know where to click.

9. How to download free music handpicked by audiophiles

Epitonic is a curated music website featuring fresh indie music that has been handpicked by audiophiles. Members can also listen to college radio stations, read reviews and view artists profile in this well managed site. Yet another good way to discover tomorrow’s star talent!

10. How to download good free video game music

OverClocked ReMix is a huge library of video game music. Although there are music from games such as the good ol’ Metroid Prime, Pokémon, and Final Fantasy, its true draw lies in the remixes done by fans – here you’ll find thousands of dedicated work done for the love of gaming.

11. How to download free legal music using torrents

LegalTorrents is an “online digital media community” that hosts thousands of music files, downloadable using a torrent p2p software. Of course, being a media community, there are also pictures, videos, audiobooks and other free goodies available for grabs.

12. How to get involved in an indie music community with free music

ArtistServer.com is a huge collection of over 10,000 songs, complete with artist information and social review capabilities. Head on here if you’re in need of fresh music to complement your music collection.

13. How to download free songs on iTunes

Every week iTunes releases a “Single of the Week” featuring an interesting up-and-coming artist, a “Discovery Download” to broaden your listening tastes and an iTunes Latino “Single of the Week” showing off some of the newest Spanish language songs. All these can be played on your computer in iTunes, on your iPod or burned to CD for listening anywhere.  This page is for US store downloads, this one for international store downloads, and this link gives you free audiobooks.  You can also try this thread on MacRumors for a full list of all the free songs on iTunes.

14. How to help independent artists get signed

Garageband is a social review network for independent bands vying for exposure. You can vote for your favorite indie bands and help take them to stardom.  Since its inception, this website has already helped jumpstart the career of several bands, the most notable being the band “10 Years’”, hitting No. 1 on the Billboard charts after getting favorable reviews at Garageband, as they have over 1000 radio partners. Who knows, you mighthelp the next Guns ‘n Roses or Nickelback get signed!

15. How to download free classical music

On Wikipedia you will find a gigantic list of classical music downloads which are in the public domain, or shared by the commons law. Get songs from all your favourite composers from Bach to Beethoven here.  The drawback though is that the files are in .Ogg format, which may not be the most popular or widely supported file standard. If you cannot play it on your desktop, Wikipedia has some tips to help you along.

16.How to discover new talent and get their songs for free

PureVolume is a premier social music site with streaming as well as downloadable songs from emerging artists.

17. How to get free music from one of the oldest sources of free music on the web

Being the granddaddy of free legal music downloads, mp3.com has offered countless artists the chance to strut their stuff before the world. It still offers up one of the largest collections of free legal music to date.

18. How to vote for independent music digg style

thesixtyone is an interesting take on ranking indie music, by running them through a digg style voting system where the cream of the crop rise to the top and get a lot of exposure.  As a listener you can play a active role in making unknown people stars on the indie scene.

19. How to get recommendations for free downloadable music

On Amie Street, the community determines the price of music. Every song starts cheap (or even free!) and increases in price up to 98 cents as more and more people purchase it.  This ensures that you get music at a sensible price. If you find cheap songs or albums, that means they’re new to the site and/or undiscovered; conversely, when you pay top price for an album, you know that a lot of people think it’s really good. 

As you browse Amie Street and purchase music, the site learns more and more about your tastes, and the recommendations for you quickly become customized.

20. How to find old 78 RPM and cylinder recordings and download them for free

Archive.org, the Internet’s super-archive has with them a very interesting collection of really old records, now preserved digitally.  Here you can download from this collection of thousands of 78rpm records and cylinder recordings released in the early 20th century.

21. How to download free international music

Available in seven languages, Jamendo offers the largest catalog of music under Creative Commons licenses. For artists, it’s an easy and efficient way to publish, share and promote their music, and also to make money, through ad revenue sharing and commercial partnerships.

22. How to download free Australian music

23. How to share and recommend songs, as well as download them for free

iLike allows you to share playlists and recommendations with friends riding on networks such as Facebook and Bebo, as well as download some of the songs on the site for free.

24. How to discover more new indie bands

Tuneshout allows you to discover independent artists you can’t find anywhere else, meet other listeners who share the same musical tastes as you, and participate in the popularity of TuneShout artists by writing review an

25. How to download free reggae songs

While most free music sites specialize in rock, the Dubroom carves out a very unique niche for itself specializing in reggae music, offering loads of free downloadable MP3s as well.

26. How to interact with emerging artists and share music

PureVolume is a website for the discovery and promotion of new music and emerging artists.  Listeners and fans can also create profiles to interact with artists and each other, as well as track and share music they like.

Since the site’s launch in 2003, PureVolume has been widely recognized as a premier social music site and has received praise in the New York Times, L.A. Times, Newsweek, Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, and beyond.

27. More ways to download free indie MP3s

Mp3 4U is a website which scours the net to find the best free MP3s on the web and puts them up here.

28. How to download free Amiga music

Yes, that’s right – AMIGA music.  UnExoticA is a collection of music ripped from Amiga Games and Demos. It aims to provide complete rips with full credits for all Amiga game and demo soundtracks.

29. How to download free punk rock MP3s

With more than 50 bands under their wings, Fatwreck offers up selected tracks for downloads so you can sample all the punk rock you need.

30. How to download free classical sorted by composers

Classic Cat is a directory with links to over 5000 free to download classical performances on the internet, sorted by composer and work.  Download everything from piano to classical guitar songs.

31. How to download free heavy rock music

Hellcat records is an independent label specializing in heavy, punk and ska rock records.

32. How to download free European electronic music

Electrobel is a living community bringing together artists and fans, organising music events, coordinating mutual help and promoting the independent music culture across Europe specializing in every thinkable electronic music genre.

33. How to download the MP3 of the day from AOL

Spinner.com is a an AOL project which has a section dedicated to release one carefully screened MP3 every day.

34. How to download free piano songs

The goal for Piano Society is to bring classical music to a broader audience, as today it is unfortunately neglected by the general public, and they try to wipe away the elitist attitude towards it.  Piano Society offers artists, amateurs and professionals alike.

35. How to download free German songs

If you’re looking for more of a European flavor, you can try Ton Spion, a site which caters to German indie bands.  Don’t worry about not being able to navigate the site as the words “FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD” is thankfully in English :)

36. How to download free dance tracks

Looking for free dance music?  Check out Dance Industries for constantly updated dance tracks to get you going.

37. How to download free songs which have fallen into the public domain

PublicDomain4U is a a website which seeks to showcase all the best tracks which have since fallen into public domain. 

38. How to download a free Coldplay album

Coldplay has released an album for fans, for free – no strings attached.  Hurry and download it for free as it’s up for a limited time only!

39. How to download free children’s songs

Whether you’re babysitting, or trying to please you own child, music goes a long way in making them happy and assisting in a healthy development.  FreeKidsMusic is a repository of free children’s music where you can download some terrific tracks for kids.

40. How to download free Christmas songs

When the holidays come rolling around, you don’t have to shell out big bucks to play those Christmas tunes.  Just head on over to FeelsLikeChristmas and get yourself some free familiar songs.

Post written by James Yeang and Chan Huey Hoong

Do you download free music online, or have any more sites to add to the list?  Tell us more in the comments!

After I wrote my post about ‘useful things you could print out’, many of you were kind enough to help out and point me to some excellent additional resources!  Anyway, I’ve compiled all the submissions and comments into a definitive ultimate guide.  Enjoy!

1. iPaperCraft iPod - Print your own iPod cover – Thanks Ryan
2. iPaperCraft Wallet – Design and print out a wallet – Thanks Ryan
3. Maze generator – Fully customizable printable mazes – Thanks Kerri Brewster
4. Pinhole Camera – Print out a Dirkon pinhole camera - Thanks Kerri Brewster
5. Gift Boxes – Absolutely beautiful giftboxes – Thanks Kerri Brewster
6. Custom Calendars – Add your own text and pictures – Thanks Kerri Brewster
7. Photo Booklet – Makes a wonderful soveniour – Thanks Kerri Brewster
8. Paper CD Case – Print out your own CD sleeves – Thanks HeartBurnKid
9. iWrap – Pre-generated iPod covers
10. DIY Planner: Hipster PDA Edition – Printable Index cards to help get things done throughout the day
11. Triazzles – Print out Puzzles (triazzles) for kids – Thanks Enrique
12. Cornell note taking paper - Widely regarded as a very effective note taking system - Thanks Frankie A.
13. Free Antennas – Create your own out a wi-fi antenna – Thanks emolesto
14. Paper Rulers – All types of rules, and units of measurements available – Thanks Rick
15. Protractor – Covers 3 differnt types of protractors
16. Decimal box – Having a 10 cm cube helps you get to know how big millimeters and centimeters are
17. Compact Amazon Wishlist - Perfect for carrying around – Thanks Ficke
18. Mailing Label PDF Generator – Easily turn a spreadsheet of names and addresses into a PDF that you can print on sticky labels
19. Annual Calendar – One page calendar (1 year, 1 page), now multi-lingual – Thanks Zachary
20. Monthly Calendar – 1 month , 1 page calendar, now multi-lingual – Thanks Zachary
21. Graph paper – Various types customizable in multiple and sizes – Thanks Zachary
22. Sudoku Generator – Print out any number of generated Sodoku puzzles
23. Tic-Tac-Toe sheet - Lots of pre drawn game grids for this popular game
24. Connect-the-dots sheet – A game grid for this popular game
25. Seed packet – For carrying seeds (of course)
26. Photos with a stand – Print out a template with your photo on a foldable stand
27. Dining Placemats & Napkin Rings - For all dining occasions
28. Christmas Wreath Box - Decorative box for the season
29. Christmas gift tags - Gift tags for the season
30. Music Staff paper generator – Customized music staff sheets – Thanks Saifrc
31. Block Posters – Print out wall pictures of any size – Thanks Vinylkemist 
32. ReadyMech’s Flat pack toys – Beautiful well crafted toys that can be printed out – Thanks Vinylkemist 
33. PaperToys – Paper mock ups of buildings, vehicles and other toys – Thanks Peter200LX

The items below were taken from my original Top 5 list with full writeups about them

1. PocketMod - Print out your very own customizable pocket organizer
2. Big.first.name - Quickly print out big beautiful nametags
3. PDFPad - Print out graph paper, Smith Charts, and so much more
4. Businesscardland - Design printable professional looking business cards
5. Lenshood.co.uk – Print out a lens hood

[tags] printables, print, printouts, [/tags]

This list will be updated regularly. If you want to add to it – please leave a comment!

When we were reviewing 10 of the best online resources for free books, we had a LOT of readers chime in with their own favorites as well.  Thank you for all your helpful contributions!

In fact, we had so many suggestions, we have enough to compile a huge list from them, so here they are in no particular order:

1. ManyBooks – Free eBooks for your PDA, iPod, or eBook reader – Thanks Tony Bryan & abben
2. BookCrossing – Where real books are released into the wild to be found by others – Thanks Engtech
3. LibraryElf – The perfect companion to a public library system – Thanks Engtech
4. Scribd – Open library to publish and discover documents online – Thanks CincauHangus
5. Word Public Library – 400,000 PDF ebooks for download – Thanks Ellen
6. Free Tech Books – Free computer science and engineering books (+ lecture notes) – Thanks Ellen
7. Bookins – Swap real books with other readers – Thanks Jimbob
8. WellToldTales – Free short story podcasts (like audiobooks, but shorter) – Thanks Kevin C.
9. Wowio – Public domain, free legitimate copyrighted materials & one of the only with a selection of Comic Books – Thanks Jane and Art Dardia
10. BizBooktalk – Free book giveaway contests on Fridays – Thanks Brandon
11. MoochMuch – Organize your book lending with your friends – Thanks Bobby
12. CHMPDF – A collection of general interest and technical ebooks – Thanks Manish Garg & Brian Di Croce
13. Realtime Publishers – free IT eBooks by many of the world’s best authors – Thanks Kevin
14. FrugalReader – Trade Books for free – Thanks Brent
15. TitleTrader – Swap books, movies, and music – Thanks Brent
16. ZunaFish – Trade your old media and books items for new titles you’d rather have – Thanks Brent
17. SwapSimple – Swap your used books here – Thanks Brent 
18. SwapThing – Community of users who swap items including books – Thanks Brent
19. BookCart – Internet paperback exchange – Thanks Brent
20. SF-Books – Exchange Sci-Fi Books here – Thanks Brent
21. PaperbackSwap – Swap books for free – Thanks jane dough, IBelieveInFairies, & Lauren
22. PinkMonkey - 450 Study Guides / Booknotes / Online Chapter Summary Notes and Analysis – Thanks Spellchecker
23. eBookWorld – Technical resources – Thanks 5n7p3r
24. Flaxx – IT and computer books – Thanks tejinder
25. Baen Library – Free science fiction and fantasy novels – Thanks lanthus & Glen Davis
26. LibraryThing – Social networking and free books – Thanks Michael
27. Online Books Page – Facilitates access to books that are freely readable over the Internet – Thanks Aman
28. Podiobooks – free audiobooks that you can subscribe to with iTunes or any other podcatcher – Thanks KJToo
29. BookRags – Research material in the form of eBooks – Thanks Henry Delany
30. Technical Books Online – Old tech books from the “vacuum tube age” of electronics- Thanks obiewiz
31. ebookSearchr – Google powered Thanks Rico & Rokker
32. Internet Archive – The Intenet indexed – that includes a vast text library – Thanks jojo
33. BookYards – Books, videos, education materials- Thanks Victor
34. Memoware – Free books for your PDA – Thanks Doug
35. DocStoc – online document sharing website. the “YouTube of documents” – Thanks Sean

The items below were taken from my original Top 10 list with full reviews (here and here)

1. Gutenberg Project Top 100 – Popular books from the oldest producer of free ebooks on the Internet
2. BookMooch - Community for exchanging used books
3. ebookSpyder – Specializes in technical books ranging anywhere from C# to AJAX
4. Google Book Search – Read the classics online
5. Dwalin – plain text novels
6. Free Computer Books – Technical resources about computers
7. Librivox – Audio works and podcasts of books
8. CliffsNotes – Get the notes to cram for the exam
9. WIkibooks – Free textbooks
10. DailyLit – Receive small parts of books via email

This list will be updated regularly. If you want to add to it – please leave a comment!

[tags] free books, ebooks [/tags]