Classic Film : If IMDB Shuts the Boards Down, I Won't Return to this Site

If enough people express their anger to this, and that they no longer will look at IMDB if the Boards are taken down, maybe they will change their minds. I loved the Boards and don't see why the powers that be decided it's not providing a positive experience anymore. How can they speak for everyone? I looked forward to reading posts of Classic Films. I can't believe they won't be inundated with a lot of complaints. I would never bother looking at IMDB again if the Boards are taken down.it is not a nice thing to do.

When you read this, the site is changing. The Users are no longer where they think the money is. They think it is the celebrities etc. are where the money is. User reviews will go next, as a dollar is always a dollar. "The world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content." - this means they care about money, not users.

IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. As part of our ongoing effort to continually evaluate and enhance the customer experience on IMDb, we have decided to disable IMDb's message boards on February 20, 2017. This includes the Private Message system. After in-depth discussion and examination, we have concluded that IMDb's message boards are no longer providing a positive, useful experience for the vast majority of our more than 250 million monthly users worldwide. The decision to retire a long-standing feature was made only after careful consideration and was based on data and traffic.

A Smile is priceless and Can Be Addicting

Not coming back to IMDb won't an option. If you need to,look up the credits, this is the place to come.

It is sad that the boards are closing but it is money and politics. Today's political climate has caused them to have to spend more money to maintain the boards. But I think it will cost Amazon in DVD sales, but maybe they are realizing that market is disappearing rapidly. It wouldn't surprise me if this didn't become a paid service soon. Walmart has just launched a heavy assault on Amazon, and they are cutting back before the losses add up.

All the world is a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.

Linda's right. In looking around some of the other sites suggested, none has the volume of information or ease of use that IMDB offers. Of course, it's flawed, but it's far superior to anything else I've seen.



It was a toss-up whether I go in for diamonds or sing in the choir. The choir lost.

The forums have been the very real a$$ end of the IMDB for ages atherton. Somewhere between 10 and 20 000 people post on the forums monthly - if that, with many of them being trolls. Millions and millions of people around the world use the IMDB for movie information daily, and to rate and review films. The forums don't add anything to the film info on this valuable site - and besides, many of the comments only have utterly negative and bitter, unpleasant things to say about actors and films. The amount of wackjobs with bizzare, skewed opinions and agendas is extraordinarily large, and terribly sad.

While Hollywood couldn't live without the info on the IMDB, just about anyone in tinseltown will tell you that they couldn't live without the film info and bios on the IMDB, but they recommend that nobody in the business - especially actors and directors, should go anywhere near the forums. And it is good advice. Think of the Classic Film Board, while the majority of posters here love and evn respect the films and stars of the so called classic era, a great many have nothing but negative things to say about modern cinema and know next to nothign about newer films - and barely watch them. Ask yourself what CFB posters such as snsurone, Anuune, I Love New York or the notorious MrsElleryQueen have to offer of value, and you will realize it is nothing. Film General is just a black hole in cyberspace filled with trolls. The Politics board is a disgrace, and the less said about the Soapbox the better. A lot of dimwitted and disturbed, badly informed people who would be better off and a lot wiser keeping their warped and wounded opinions to themselves are given a voice and allowed to vent here. Is this really a good thing?

The petition against the boards shutting down will garner, at best, between 7 and 9000 votes - maybe 10 000. These users are a drop in the ocean. The petition would have to garner at least a million to 2 million votes for the folk who run the IMDB to sit up and take notice. It is not going to garner those votes. Even if we don't like it, the decision to shut down the forums is a sound one for numerous reasons. It is a common misconception among posters on the forums that there are tens of thousands of lurkers who read these boards, but don't post. What an ego-feeding croc of sh!t that is.

It is sad for the many lonely anonymous people who come to these forums for a form of human connection. After all their years on the forums, they will struggle to come to terns with life without them - there will be a huge gap in their lives that they will have to try and fill. For many of them coping with life without the forums will be an experience akin to junkies trying to kick. While these folk may not be physically addicted to posting on the boards, many of them are certainly psychologically addicted to the forums.

I feel sorry for these people - who are generally pretty old or pretty young (there is no middle on the IMDB forums - because folks in that middle have lives and families and hobbies that occupy their time), and I will certainly miss some aspects of the forums, but I do not blame the IMDB for shutting them dowm. The IMDB resourses used to manage the forums would be better served improving the site and making it a better experience for the millions of folk who come here to find information and reviews of film and info about actors, directors, producers, writers ete etc.

Like I say, I will miss some aspects of the forums, and I feel sorry for those folk who need them to fill the gaping void their empty lives, but I couldn't live without the information and reviews I get on the IMDB. Those few regular learned forum users who possess genuinely useful and interesting knowledge about movies and stars and television series can provide this infor for film and actor pages which millions will see, rather than putting it on the forums for a handful of other users to see.

Sorry to be so blunt and frank, but forum users need to face up to the facts. The IMDB is not a charity organization, and I for one hope that it goes from strength to strength and continues to be the greatest, most valuable asset film lovers, fans and buffs around the world have ever had at their fingertips.

None of the above, however, means I will not miss some aspects of the IMDB forums, and some of the users.

Wow, JC. Its as if you were an entirely different person.

While I disagree with some of what you say - are we really all just a bunch of loners, drifters, and shut-ins? I don't think so - you make some good points.

Some of us happen to like communicating via email. I've always liked written communication.

If that makes me a "loner, drifter, and shut-in", so be it. I'll take this lifestyle over the bar any day.

~~~~~
Proud to be Canadian!

Just like Inspector Richard Queen being a Mad Hatter on Batman, I shall have to bid you adieu. There have been some famous Canadians, and your one of the infamous ones.

Dating is never an option as we are too old to be having any trysts, but the fun we miss will be because of the spans of these Countries and my lack of a passport. I have spent some time in Niagra Falls, Canada and in Toronto, but that was in the pre-911 days when we could travel worry free. The world has changed, and not for the better.

Still Ellery Queen could provide a nice neat solution to this reality. Why it is obvious how to make things better. We should have seen it all along. Go over the clues, and get it on with reality and we shall see what happens.

Remember The Adventure of Miss Aggie's Farewell Performance -Beloved Vera Bethune stars as Miss Aggie in a radio soap opera, but is about to be written out. One day she drinks water from a jug and is poisoned in a murder attempt. She is taken to the hospital and survives, but the killer returns.

Ironic, but the killer here is not a who, but a bunch of no faced ones who have made a unilateral decision to benefit themselves. Oh Canada, how cold is the climax served? Ah yes, let's get ourselves a bottle of Canadian Club and salute the end.



A Smile is priceless and Can Be Addicting

You sure put a smile on my face.

I don't have a passport, either. I wouldn't want to travel to the States these days, anyhow.

Best of luck to you wherever you post in the future!



~~~~~
Proud to be Canadian!

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Wow, JC. Its as if you were an entirely different person.

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Good Golly Ms Molly Rc, and now I really must seem like an entirely different person - check out my thread which starts with the word HELP. I don't know how good your memory is, but just in case you don't believe that I am the real JC. I was the guy who, many years, when offered an "olive branch" by our one time reigning Queen Bee, Addie de Witt, told him to take his olive branch and stick it right back up his bum - I probably didn't say it as politely, though. Addie was aghast, and not only did he not see the funny side, he has hated me ever since, refusing to believe that I am a kind, sensitive and gentle hearted man filled love and understanding. Well, one can't bond with everybody I suppose.

But back to your reply. "Entirely different person". No, just a multi-faceted one.

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are we really all just a bunch of loners, drifters, and shut-ins?

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Despite our different political beliefs - not to mention my humanist bent and your Republican heartlessness (smile emoticon) - I have always thought you were a nice guy (and you have a golden retriever, so there is that) rc. So no, I didn't think you were one of the many "loners, drifters and shut-ins" around here. Plus, you can take a joke.

Goodbye and good luck rc. It's been quite a learning curve (in more ways than one - the psychological insights one picks up on these boards is truly fascinating) on the CFB . Take care (smile emoticon), I hope you and your fellow Americans survive Donald Trump. Hell, I hope the world survives Donald Trump.

Give your golden retriever a hug from me.

RC.

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Despite our different political beliefs - not to mention my humanist bent and your Republican heartlessness (smile emoticon) - I have always thought you were a nice guy (and you have a golden retriever, so there is that) rc. So no, I didn't think you were one of the many "loners, drifters and shut-ins" around here. Plus, you can take a joke.

Goodbye and good luck rc. It's been quite a learning curve (in more ways than one - the psychological insights one picks up on these boards is truly fascinating) on the CFB . Take care (smile emoticon), I hope you and your fellow Americans survive Donald Trump. Hell, I hope the world survives Donald Trump.

Give your golden retriever a hug from me.

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The same to you, my friend. Although, I'll be around till Feb 19th and who knows what the Gods of Amazon have in store for us.

Everyone will be fine. The boards were readily available to everyone and those who, as you say were looking for some form of human connection (and that would be all of us) will no doubt find it in other forums.

Moving forward, it's been a blast! Cody, I look forward to sparks in our next generation of conversations, you've been one who's kept it real for many years and much respect for that!

That's a rather sweet post Mike, thank you - (smile emoticon) I'm not that used to people on the CFB saying nice things about me, so I'm blushing a bit.

Good luck and goodbye Mike, and much love. May you stay forever young (in your heart, at least).

Be well, and take care.

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Somewhere between 10 and 20 000 people post on the forums monthly - if that, with many of them being trolls. Millions and millions of people around the world use the IMDB for movie information daily, and to rate and review films.

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You just gave me a thought..

These millions of people can use IMDb for the information, without giving them their personal data. You have to give them your personal data in order to read the message boards. The first two years I was here I just used the data. I didn't even know there were message boards, and it annoyed me that I had to give it up to read them. My friends haven't joined; they just use the data. So, yes, IMDb does have a point.

Whether it would be better for business, or worse, if these millions of people could read the message boards without joining would be interesting data to see.

I do like these boards, especially when someone famous dies. I know I'm too sentimental but I do like the online sharing of sympathy for entertainers we feel we know. But as you say, we can share them with our own friends and family, and perhaps somewhere else on the internet.

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These millions of people can use IMDb for the information, without giving them their personal data. You have to give them your personal data in order to read the message boards. The first two years I was here I just used the data. I didn't even know there were message boards, and it annoyed me that I had to give it up to read them. My friends haven't joined; they just use the data.

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Howzit Boomer - Actually you are wrong about people having to give their personal info (i.e. register with the IMDB) if they want to read the message boards. If you want to POST on the message boards you have to register with the IMDB, but anyone can READ the mesaage boards without having to register.

I have a desk top computer in the back room/my study of our apartment and I haven't logged off of the IMDB for years - I just stay logged in ((smile emoticon) except when the IMDB admin have closed my account because of those notorious, cowardly, anonymous CFB serial reporters known as "The Prim, The Prissy & The Prurient" reporting me en masse and trying to silence my buoyant, passionate and sometimes satirical voice - then I have to register again with a new/different cell phone number, and once I have done that everything goes back to normal). But even once I have been blocked from posting on the boards I can still rate and review movies on the IMDB.

We have a laptop in the lounge that my partner uses to e-mail her aged relatives and a few friends in Cape Town and her extended family in England and Switzerland and check out the latest cricket scores from international matches being played around the world (we both love cricket). Unlike my desk top computer - which only I use and don't bother with a password, we use a password (or sonja's fingertip) to gain entrance to this computer. I obviously could log on the IMDB through this computer, but I don't. So I am just one of those "millions of people" who come to the IMDB for info when I go onto the site from this computer. But, while I obviously cannot post on the message boards without registering - or accessing my IMDB account, I can click onto the message boards and read the posts on them. As can anyone - until the 20th of February that is.

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I do like these boards, especially when someone famous dies. I know I'm too sentimental but I do like the online sharing of sympathy for entertainers we feel we know.

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I know what you mean Boomer. I can live with it when older actors and actresses die of natural causes (or even when an 80-something Richard Farnsworth courageously killed himself rather than suffer unbearable agony from terminal cancer) after living long and fascinating lives (except for Lee Van Cleef, who died at 67 - despite his lively appearance - in a fairly large supporting role - in John Carpenter's ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (which was a joyous bonus) I would have liked to see him having a little career revival in his last few years - he did appear in mediocre film and TV fare, but it was dire stuff.

But when actors/stars who I love like Robins Williams and Philip Seymour Hoffman die tragic and unnecessary deaths I am hugely saddened. I remember coming onto the IMDB main page at about 3am in the morning and discovering that Hoffman had died. I loved the guy (as only a crazy mad fan can) and was absolutely gutted. I just couldn't stop weeping - and hadn't cried that much since the first time I saw HACHI: A DOG'S TALE, the day my beloved golden retriever Jake died or the first, last or most recent time I watched OLD YELLER. I was just lost in my own strange outpouring of grief (the thought of not ever being able to watch any more new movies coming out with Philip Seymour Hoffman in seemed almost too much to bear) for a while, but it did eventually help a little seeing how much other fans of this great, achingly human actor were affected). I was also ver sad when Alan Rickman died suddenly, and I was deeply saddened - especially when I watched him in EYE IN THE SKY and it truly sunk in that there would be no movies with Rickman coming along again.

Sorry to ramble (and I hope telling you how much I loved Philip Seymour Hoffman wasn't too much information). It's been fun knowing you Boomer. Be well, be safe and take care. Much love, and may the rest of your life be filled with more happiness than sorrow.

The Dude Abides.

Thanks for the correction, (and the kind words)

You are right that you can see quite a lot on boards such as CFB

But I think you only get three or five threads on actor's boards, without logging in. I originally came here after Nicholas Clay had died, and I remember being annoyed I couldn't see more than a couple of threads. And then I tried to add credits to his resume but couldn't because I wasn't registered. It put me off as I didn't want to give my credit card number to them. So it took years before I finally gave in..

I did go to other boards and it was the same. Just three titles to peruse. (The others had a shadow effect over them.) It didn't make sense to me for them to be so stingy. Maybe I was the exception to the rule. I don't know. It seemed to me they were hurting their traffic, as there were a couple of other sites, such as TVonline and Jump the Shark I was surfing at that time, and you could read all their threads without joining. Both those message boards are history so it doesn't surprise me that much that IMDb is closing down as well, but on the other hand, IMDb was the granddaddy of them all.

I wanted to share this story about Philip Seymour Hoffman. I don't watch the late night chat shows very much but I did make sure to see Philip Seymour Hoffman when he was on. He told a lovely story about how he was quite poor, and he and his mother (I believe it was) lived in an apartment in NYC. He had to work in it to help pay the rent. He was in the pool area, cleaning, and Miles Davis came in. He said he had a life changing experience, just he and Miles Davis, alone, discussing life. And you could see his glow as he spoke. That has always stayed with me. My cousin, and a couple of friends, all worked at the Village Vanguard in Greenwich Village. I knew my cousin would have loved to have known that about Miles Davis. It made Philip Seymour Hoffman so human, so vulnerable. A poor young fatherless boy needing advice from an older man on life.

And Hoffman has given what is probably the best performance of a rich boy, ever, in The Talented Mr. Ripley. When I saw that film I knew nothing of Hoffman. I assumed he had to have come from a posh background to be that perfect, so when I heard him on the talk show say he was quite poor it was a shock. So many have tried, but he alone absolutely had the air of one born to wealth. (Oh, I didn't mean that all extremely wealthy people are like that. Many are very down to earth. I'm referring to those upper class superior types, and the casualness they have.. I hope this is a bit clearer.)

Agreed, he was taken way too soon, and we are all the poorer for not seeing the performances we've missed.

And agreed, there is nothing like the love of a good dog. Unconditional love at its purest. May your life be filled with happiness, the love of a good dog, a wonderful woman, and great movies. ;-)

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If you want to POST on the message boards you have to register with the IMDB, but anyone can READ the mesaage boards without having to register.

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Aber natürlich, of course! I registered in 2010, but for a few years I just read some boards (the CFB especially, which I read just like I used to read Sight & Sound, Cahiers du cinéma and other magazines) without even bothering to log in. I don't like this word, but I was a 'lurker' . Obviously, I knew much more about other people than they knew about me. This provided a nice feeling of invisibility and even invulnerability, but was also frustrating when I felt like replying to someone's comment or answer some question, which is why on 1 December 2015 I logged in and became a poster again (in 2010-11 I posted, even on the Politics Boardnever again, I swear it!!but I had a different moniker & avatar). At first no one knew who this 'mysterious' Aloysius von der Trenck was No wonder!

One of the best pieces of analysis on the closure that I've seen, Jefferson. Very insightful and refreshingly frank. Unfortunately I am one of those young (well, youngish), lonely souls. There'll be pangs of sadness felt for some time and a feeling of emptiness but the world changes and one must adapt!




That's all, folks!

If the boards are disbanded I will delete this web page from my favorites. I am one of the first contributors to this site. 18 years in all.



Thats a clown question , BRO.



CLOSE the FRIGGEN BORDER ALREADY!!!

It is regrettable that the boards are being closed down but you should be blaming the trolls who routinely expressed their deranged ideas. It's too bad posters weren't required somehow to use their real names when posting but perhaps that isn't practical I don't know. I will miss the good posters who made contributions here. I enjoyed reading them. The trolls who have apparently nothing else to do in their lives can take whatever satisfaction they may from this result.

I'll still use to rate movies etc and to look up trivia things and all that.

I think we, the people who post here, are only like 0.01% of all users on IMDb. So I don't think they care that much if we will stop returning to this site.

There are also lurkers who come around to read the posts (with or without accounts). The drop in number of people visiting the site might be a lot higher than the admins expect. Time will tell.

~~~~~
Proud to be Canadian!

It's those shadowy lurkers again -

What was that!? Just the wind through the bushes, or?

They're out there. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about.



If to stand pat means to resist evil then, yes, neighbour, we wish to stand pat.

Too bad that some of them didn't post from time to time. Maybe then the admins would have been more keen to keep the boards alive.

~~~~~
Proud to be Canadian!

Depends on what kind of things the lurker posted, ha ha ha!

If to stand pat means to resist evil then, yes, neighbour, we wish to stand pat.