Library Guides: SOA 377: Cinema and Society: Film Criticism

About this Page

In this course you are studying "themes of the human condition, in various groupings of society, through the study of cinema." As a result, your approach to research may be interdisciplinary. I've included databases on this pages that will help you find film criticism from various disiciplines including sociology, literature, gender studies, and psychology.

Journal Databases

Databases containing scholarly journal articles

SocINDEX
Use the term "Motion Pictures" when looking for film reviews in SocIndex.
Communication Source
Use "motion pictures" when searching for film criticism in Communication Source. This database may be useful when searching for a topic. For example, you might search for Motion Pictures AND Immigrat*. (Remember the asterisk serves as a truncation)
Performing Arts Periodicals Database
IIPA covers a broad spectrum of the arts and entertainment industry - including dance, drama, theater, stagecraft, musical theater, circus performance, opera, pantomime, puppetry, magic, performance art, film, television and more.
JSTOR
I think JSTOR is going to be most helpful after you choose a film. For example, you could search for "Brokeback Mountain" while limiting to the categories of Film, Language & Literature, and Social Sciences.
Project MUSE
Try searching for your "motion picture" and your topic. If you're looking for a relatively current film, you may need to use the data limiter located on the left hand side of the search page.
MLA International Bibliography
MLA Bibliography indexes many journals in the fields of language and literature.