About Movie Say
Movie Say ranks films according to how much discussion they receive on the Internet (their so-called Internet "buzz"). To do so, Movie Say monitors blogs, news services and general websites, as well as some more specific sources, for related information. The Buzz Index was created and is maintained by Vili Maunula, largely because of his personal interest towards the world of cinema.
The data at Movie Say is updated continuously. However, it is worth noting that the figures displayed across the site are averages from a longer period of time, which in the case of current theatrical releases is roughly half a week.
Why Movie Say?
There are probably as many ways of ranking movies as there are movies themselves. Movie Say's ranking of most talked about movies is not meant to replace any of the other ranking-types, but rather to complement them.
The service started from a simple desire to know what films matter in the society at large right now. While there are numerous well-constructed lists ranking films based on aspects like their quality, their impact on society, their influence on cinema itself, or their box-office record, no ranking seemed to be based on the actual buzz these films generate.
Consequently, the underlying idea behind Movie Say is to find out which films are at the moment the ones most discussed on the Internet. A ranking like this should therefore serve to give one an idea of the most culturally relevant movies at any given point in time. That said, the buzz ranking itself does not necessarily reflect the artistic or intellectual quality of these movies.
Movies in Theaters and Upcoming Movies
The Movies in Theaters and Upcoming Movies lists are based on data feeds served by the marvellous Rotten Tomatoes.
Rankings are based on the number of blog entries and media articles mentioning or discussing a film, as well as the number of related websites updated. Additionally, the amount of talk the film generates on the IMDb forums is counted in. The result is a buzz level measured in (rather imaginary) Decibels.
Classic Movies and Modern Classics
The original list of classic movies was created by combining several "all-time greatest movies" lists, as well as a list of the biggest box-office hits. The sources used were:
Writers Guild of America: 101 Greatest Screenplays
IMDb Top 250 (only top 100 movies selected, August 2006)
TV Guide's 50 Greatest Movies on TV and Video
Empire Magazine's 100 Greatest Movies of All Tie (2003 polling)
FilmFour's 100 Greatest Films of All Time
Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Movies
They Shoot Pictures, Don't They - The Top 100 Films (March 2006 update)
100 Top Crossing Movies of All Time (up to 2005, adjusted to inflation)
These greatest films lists were selected partly because of their relative importance, and partly in order to provide a wide and varying selection of movie titles. Undoubtedly, there still remain classic films that ought to be listed on and monitored by this website, but are not. Any suggestions for additional films to be included are welcome, and can be sent to Movie Say through the contact form.
The ranking itself is based on calculating the number of related blog entries and news articles posted, as well as websites updated, every month. The buzz ranking of classic movies and modern classics is not comparable to that of the films currently in release, as the methods of calculation are different.
Most Anticipated Movies
Movie Say also monitors the buzz generated by films that will not be released in a while. The list of films used is based on posts on different movie forums. However, the list is obviously incomplete in many ways, and consequently any suggestions are welcome and can be sent via the contact form.
Movie Say Tips
To keep the you, the reader, entertained, Movie Say also serves movie-related tips on each of its Buzz Index pages. You can read all of the tips by browsing through the site.
Problems, issues, etc.
The contents of the website are somewhat US centred, in as much as in the case of theatrical releases Movie Say monitors the movies currently shown in the United States. Similarly, the Classic Movies and Modern Classic Movies lists are admittedly slightly Hollywood-centered, as the original "greatest movies" lists used were mostly American. Despite of this, however, the service should stil prove to be of interest also for those not actually living in the US.
While all possible care has been put into providing as accurate rankings as humanly possible, there admittedly remain certain problems with the way the rankings are calculated. For one, it is difficult for the system to deal with some very extreme cases of movie titles, the best example of which is perhaps Fritz Lang's "M". Secondly, movies that are part of larger film series (e.g. the Indiana Jones and Star Wars films) may receive a somewhat smaller buzz ranking than they would in reality deserve. This is due to the fact that while Movie Say only takes into account the discussion of specific films, movies like Star Wars are very often talked about together as a whole.
All these issues will be addressed in future updates of the website.
Use of Movie Say Content
All content included on this website, excluding movie poster artwork, advertisement related graphics and texts, and content explicitly marked as being derived from elsewhere, is the property of Vili Maunula and protected by international copyright laws.
You are welcome to cite parts of Movie Say data as long as you attribute the source by linking back to Movie Say (hypertext media) or by providing the Movie Say URL (printed media). Duplication of large portions of the website, however, is prohibited.
In case you have further questions about the use of Movie Say content, use the feedback form to contact Movie Say.
Contacting Movie Say
If you would like to ask or comment on anything, you can do so either by using the feedback form, or alternatively through the Movie Say blog.
Note that anything posted on the blog can be seen by anyone reading the blog, and consequently messages that are meant as private should be delivered using the feedback form provided.