The following databases are available at Middletown Thrall Library.

Members of Thrall can also access most of these at home:

Arts and Humanities Through the Eras

Dance, Fashion, Literature, Music, Theater, Visual Arts. Available to members of Thrall.

Biography Databases

Research famous/historical persons/celebrities, recording artists, entertainers, and others. Available to members of Thrall.

Eyewitness Companion: Film

Described by the publisher as "a visual road map to the best cinema has to offer."

VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever

Described by the publisher as "The Complete Guide to Movies on VHS, DVD, and Hi-Def Formats."

You can use the biography databases to read up on your favorite movie stars and film directors.

Please click here to browse other databases available at Thrall.

Middletown Thrall Library offers a variety of popular movies, musicals, comedy, music performances, documentaries, educational programs and more on DVD and VHS.

Conveniently located near the entrance of the library, our DVD and VHS collections can be browsed.

Please click here to browse famous films in the library catalog.

Information on the lives and careers of entertainers (movie stars, celebrities, comedians, and others) can often be found in the Biography section of the library.

Our biography/autobiography collections are arranged alphabetically according to a person's last name. Biography books exist in regular print, large print, audio CD, and eAudio books.

In addition to biographies, here are some entertainment topics you can browse in the library catalog:

Celebrities

















For more information...

If you need help finding anything, please speak with our reference librarians contact the Reference Department.

The following titles are just some of the many reference works available at Thrall's Reference Department.

Below every title is a "call number," which tells you where each book is located on our reference shelves:

75 Years of the Oscars

791.4307 OSB

Broadway: An Encyclopedia

792.0973 BLO

Cinema Year by Year

791.43 CIN

The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons

791.4334 LEN

Encyclopedia of Film

791.4303 SCH

The Encyclopedia of Novels into Film

791.436 TIB

Encyclopedia of Television

791.45 ENC

International Encyclopedia of Dance

792.6203 INT

Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide

791.4303 LEO

Music Encyclopedias

780s

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance

792.03 OXF

Sports Encyclopedias

796

St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture

973.9 ENC

The Standard Guide to Collecting Autographs

929.8807 BAK

Biographies & Autobiographies

The Biography Channel

Biography Databases

Research famous/historical persons/celebrities, recording artists, entertainers, and others. Available to members of Thrall.

Infoplease: Arts and Entertainment Biographies

Includes: Actors, Architects, Artists, Bands, Comedians, Composers, Conductors, Dancers and Choreographers, Fashion Designers and Models, Filmmakers, Instrumentalists, Journalists, Musicians, Opera, Performers, Photographers, Poets, Producers, Radio and Television Personalities, Screenwriters, Singers, Writers.

Celebrities in the News

Access Hollywood

Celebrity news, photos, and videos.

The British Monarchy

E! Online: Celebrity News

Celebrity news and photographs.

Hollywood.com: Celebrities

Videos, photos, style, and news.

IMDB (Internet Movie Database): Celebrity News

MSN Entertainment: Celebrity News and Gossip

Comedy Central

Stand-up comedians, satire, humor. Also the home of shows such as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report.

Comedy Films

Examines different styles of comedy (slapstick, deadpan, verbal, screwball, black/dark, parody/spoof, satire, lampoon, farce) and lists key classic and contemporary comedy movie titles. From Filmsite.org.

The Onion

A satirical newspaper filled with hilarious, fake, news stories, and headlines.

Political Humor

Politcal cartoons, jokes, and news. From About.com.

Top Comedy Movies of All Time

From the Internet Movie Database (IMDB). See also IMDB's current Popular Comedy Feature Films list (http://www.imdb.com/genre/comedy).

Big Cartoon Database

"An in-depth directory of your favorite cartoon classics & animated films. A searchable dataBase of cartoon information, animated guides, cartoon character and crew Lists; everything from Disney cartoons to adult cartoons."

Comic-Con International Convention

Comic Books, Manga, and Graphic Novels

News, information for collectors.

Comics.com

Popular comics by category

Comics Online

DC Comics

Dilbert

Comic strip online

GoComics.com: Comic Strips & Editorial Cartoons

King Features Syndicate Comics

Marvel Comics

New York Times: Cartoons

New York Times: Comics and Comic Books / Strips News

PoliticalCartoons.com

Political Humor

Daily/weekly cartoons featured at About.com

Unshelved

A library comic strip

Disney FamilyFun

"Crafts, activities, recipes, and other ideas for kids and parents."

Family Fun and Teen Activities

Games, camping, parties, and more. From About.com.

Family Fun Craft Projects and Activity Ideas

From About.com.

Free Coloring Books from World-Class Libraries and Museums

A directory of free downloadable/printable adult coloring books (PDFs) offered by The Met, New York Public Library, Smithsonian, and others as part of the #ColorOurCollections week in February. Directory provided by OpenCulture.com. See also OpenCulture's 2016 listing and Twitter's #ColorOurCollections feed.

Funology: The Science of Having Fun

Family-friendly games and activities. Includes: Boredom Busters, Wacky Facts, Magic Tricks, Yummy Recipes, and Weird Science.

Nick Jr.

"Preschool kids games, preschool activities, and lesson plans."

Parents.com: Family Fun

Family vacation planning, games, birthdays, parties, indoor/outdoor activities, and more.

Popular Game Shows on TV

Family Feud

Jeopardy

The Price Is Right

Wheel of Fortune

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

Other Information

About.com: A Closer Look at Game Shows New and Old

Bethel Woods Center for the Arts

Current and upcoming concerts and performances. Bethel, NY.

The Chance Theater

"Hudson Valley's premier music venue." News on upcoming concerts. Poughkeepsie, NY.

City of Middletown, NY: Calendar of Events

Community Calendars

Middletown, NY and other local area community events.

Eisenhower Hall Theatre

Hudson Valley Music

Local bands, artists, music performances.

Local Culture, Events, and Tourism

For Orange County, NY and the greater Hudson Valley.

Middletown BID (Business Improvement District): Calendar of Events

Summer concerts and other public events.

Movie Theaters

AMC, Destinta, Downing Film Center (Newburgh, NY), Middletown Cinemas, and more theaters in or nearby Middletown, NY.

Newburgh Chamber Music

"The Newburgh Chamber Music series presents concerts of the highest caliber with a varied and unusual repertoire in different historical venues in Newburgh, New York."

Orange County Fair

Middletown, NY.

Paramount Theatre

Local theater in Middletown, New York.

Middletown Thrall Library: Library Programs

See also Thrall's Youth blog for children's and young adult events.

SUNY Orange: Calendar of Events

Local community college. Music, drama, and other performances. Middletown, NY.

Times Herald-Record: Entertainment Section

Local entertainment news and events. Orange County, NY.

Summer Theater

Forestburgh Playhouse

"The Forestburgh Playhouse is the oldest continuously operating summer theatre in New York State, and has been bringing professional theatre to the Catskill Mountains every summer since 1947."

Hudson Valley Shakespeare Theatre

"The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival is dedicated to producing the plays of Shakespeare with an economy of style that focuses its energy and resources on script, actors, and audience."

Shadowland Theatre

"Dedicated to high-quality, professionally produced plays and musicals, Shadowland is located in the charming village of Ellenville, in Ulster County NY."

Popular Publications Online

Entertainment Weekly

The Hollywood Reporter

People

Rolling Stone

Star Magazine

TV Guide

US Magazine

Vanity Fair

Variety

Journal Articles in Databases

Music, Dance, Drama, Film

Available to members of Thrall or researchers at the library. Browse by topic. Enter library card number when asked to log into a database.

Awards

Academy Awards

Current and past Oscar award winners and nominees.

Golden Globes: Nominations and Awards

Movie Awards

From infoplease.com. Includes: National Society of Film Critics Awards, Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, National Board of Review Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Annual Directors Guild of America Awards, MTV Movie Awards, NAACP Image Awards, Independent Spirit Awards, New York Film Critics Circle Awards, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, Boston Society of Film Critics Awards, British Academy of Film and Television Awards, Cannes Film Festival Winners.

Box Office Statistics

Box Office Mojo

Film Festivals

Cannes Film Festival

Film Festival Today

Film Festivals.com

IMDB: Film Festivals and Events

Inside Film Magazine: Film Festival Directory

New York International Independent Film and Video Festival

Sundance Film Festival

Woodstock Film Festival

General Information

AFI Catalog of Feature Films

Covering "the First 100 Years" (1893 - 1993). "In celebration of AFI's 50th Anniversary, the AFI Catalog database has been preserved, enhanced and redesigned with robust, user-friendly search capabilities to promote film education and appreciation worldwide. In addition, unique treasures from AFI productions and archives are now accessible for the first time as AFI Catalog Premier Records. Now everyone who comes to AFI.com has an opportunity to discover authoritative information about American cinema while watching footage of filmmakers discussing their work with AFI Conservatory fellows, or reviewing digitized assets from AFI Special Collections. The new database includes the AFI Catalog of Feature Films First 100 Years Project (1893-1993), which has nearly 54,000 academic records. In addition, there are approximately 9,000 films released after 1993 that are documented with basic records." From the American Film Institute (AFI).

IMDB: The Internet Movie Database

Information about past, current, and upcoming movies, films, and television programs and series. Details include: plots, actresses, actors, cast members, directories, and more.

Greatest Films Lists

100 Years, 100 Movies

Cinematic history and "best films." From the American Film Institute.

1000 Best Movies Ever Made

List from the New York Times.

The Greatest Films

Best films for different genres. Includes filmographies.

National Film Registry

"Established by Congress in 1989, the National Film Registry spotlights the importance of preserving America's unparalleled film heritage. These films are not selected as the 'best' American films of all time, but rather as works of enduring importance to American culture. They reflect who we are as a people and as a nation." View the list of films in the Registry from 1989 - present. From the National Film Preservation Board, Library of Congress.

News, Upcoming Films, & Movie Trailers

ComingSoon.net

Empire

Fandango: Movie News

Fandango / MovieClips.com: Movie Trailers

IMDB: Movie & Television News

IMDB: Movie Trailers

MovieWeb

MTV: Movie News

The New York Times: Movies - Articles, News, and Reviews

Screen Daily

Yahoo Movies

Reviews & Ratings

Common Sense Media: Movie Reviews for Parents

Ratings, reviews, and in-depth film content advisories.

Internet Movie Database

The database of everything movies. Includes descriptions and casts of thousands of movies, awards lists, and movie news. Movie database is searchable by title, people, characters, plots, and quotes.

Kids-in-Mind: The Parents' Guide to Movies and Video

Provides "objective, non-critical assessments of the potentially objectionable material contained in movies." Movies are listed by release date and can be searched by title. Each movie is given a rating on a scale of 0-10 in three distinct categories- sex and nudity, violence and gore, and profanity.

Metacritic

Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA): FilmRatings.com

History and explanation of the MPAA rating system by Jack Valenti along with a database showing the rarings of movies going back to 1968. Movie titles link to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB).

Movie Review Query Engine

Database of movie reviews on thousands of movies from dozens of sources.

New York Times: Movie Reviews

Rotten Tomatoes

Watching

Free registration required. "Discover TV series and movies recommended by New York Times experts. The Watching home page, where viewers can use filters to begin finding recommendations on what to watch next." From The New York Times.

VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever

For Thrall Library cardholders. "Featuring over 28,000 movie reviews, on films ranging from the popular to the downright obscure, VGMR offers an informed, irreverent take on the movie industry and stands as the definitive guide for both hardcore film freaks and those who consider themselves merely film-curious." Search or browse.

Theaters, Movie Listings, Show Times, & Tickets

AMC Movie Theaters

Middletown, New York

Downing Film Center, Newburgh, NY

The official website for the Downing Film Center, which focuses on independent and foreign films.

Flagship Cinemas (opening July 2022; formerly Elite 6 Cinema)

Chester, New York

Fandango

Click here for the Middletown, New York schedule of current/new/upcoming movies.

Middletown Cinemas

Middletown, New York

Movie Tickets.com

The Paramount Theater

Middletown, New York

Phoenix Theaters - New Windsor 12 (formerly Destinta Theatres)

New Windsor, New York

See also:

• See also: Theatre - Drama

Music Guide

News, lyrics, educational resources, and much more. Directory provided by Middletown Thrall Library.

Access Hollywood

Broadway.com

Celebrity News Sites (6 of the Best Sites to Track Recent Celebrity News)

From Lifewire.

CNN Entertainment

Entertainment News Sites

An article from 2017 providing annotations and links to the best online sources of entertainment news.

Entertainment Tonight Online

Entertainment Weekly

Eonline.com

Extra TV

Google News: Entertainment Headlines

Hollywood.com

Hollywood Reporter

The Insider

New York Times: Arts & Entertainment News

NPR: Arts and Life

Current

International Society for the Performing Arts: Useful Links

A small international directory of arts councils, agencies, and performing arts networks.

Local Entertainment

Orange County, NY and the greater Hudson Valley.

National Public Radio (NPR): Performing Arts

News, articles, reviews.

New York Times: Arts

Dance, music, theater, and related news and articles.

History

Library of Congress: Performing Arts Encyclopedia

Historical exhibits, images, and online features.

New York Public Library: Performing Arts in America

"With visual and audio images drawn from the extensive archival collections at The Library, the site features an authentic look at this past, from the Broadway theater and Tin Pan Alley to the art of dancer Loie Fuller and composer Charles Griffes, all brought to you in original documents. Captured in the then new techniques of photography, recorded sound, and film, the performing arts of the early twentieth century come alive as never before, preserved by The New York Public Library and brought to you a century later via the Internet."

BBC World Radio Service

CBS Radio

ESPN Radio

Live365 Internet Radio: Free Online Radio Stations

NBC Radio

NOAA Weather Radio

NPR: Radio Programs

Radio-Locator: Radio Station Search Engine

Talk Radio

Directory of Talk Radio websites including Radio Show Personalities. From Curlie

WFMU (91.1/90.1 FM)

Free-form radio station with a wide variety of programs.

WPDH (101.5 FM): Classic Rock

WQXR (105.9 FM): The New York Times Classical Music Station

WRRV: The New Rock Alternative (92.7/96.9 FM)

WTBQ (93.5 FM, 1110 AM)

Local radio station.

Guides - What's on TV?

New York Times: Television

News, reviews, upcoming programs and TV series.

Online TV Database (TVDB)

"TheTVDB.com is a community driven database of television shows. It is our aim to be the most complete and accurate source of information on TV series from many languages and countries." " You can browse or search for television shows. Concise summaries are provided for television episodes and series in the database. You can browse shows with multiple seasons by selecting the season number at the bottom of their pages. Nota bene: "This site is an open database that can be modified by anybody." Some television program entires / seasons are locked and require permission prior to editing. A public forum for discussing edits and the website is also provided.

TV Guide

TV Recaps and Episode Guides

Summaries of recent television shows / programs / series / televised events from major TV networks. Provided by Entertainment Weekly.

TV.com (formerly Clicker.com)

"Clicker is the complete guide to Internet Television. Our mission is to make it simple for you to find the right show, right now." Search or browse.

Major Networks

A&E: The Arts & Entertainment Channel

ABC

CBS

CNN

C-SPAN

Discovery Channel

Fox

MSNBC

National Geographic

NBC

Nickelodeon

PBS

SyFy

Science Fiction Channel

Local Stations

Time Warner Cable News (formerly YNN)

WABC

WCBS

WNBC

WNET - PBS (Channel 13)

WPIX

WWOR

News

Hollywood News Reporter: Television News

IMDB: Movie & Television News

TV Guide: Television News

TVWeek

"Television industry news, TV ratings, analysis, celebrity event photos."

USA Today: Television News

History

Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

Primetime Emmy Award Database

Database of Emmy Award winners and nominees from 1949 to the present searchable by year, name, network, and category.

Archive of American Television

"The Archive collects in-depth video interviews with TV's greatest legends and pioneers. Browse the interviews by person, show, topic or profession."

American Archive of Public Broadcasting

"Nearly 40,000 hours, comprising 68,000 digital files, of historical public broadcasting content have been preserved. On the website, nearly 7,000 of these American public radio and television programs dating back to the 1940s are now accessible to the public. These audio and video materials, contributed by more than 100 public broadcasting organizations across the country, are an exciting new resource to uncover ways that common concerns over the past half-century have played out on the local scene. Users are encouraged to check back often, as AAPB staff continue to add more content to the website." From the Library of Congress and WGBH.

The Encyclopedia of Television

This website from the Museum of Broadcast Communication contains 1,000 original essays from more than 250 contributors and examines specific programs and people, historic moments and trends, major policy disputes and other topics.

Epguides.com

This site contains episode lists for over 1500 British and American television shows. The list includes titles and airdates.

History of Television

The invention (and inventors) of television technologies. From About.com.

American Theatre Wing

"Dedicated to celebrating excellence and supporting education in the theatre, the American Theatre Wing has been an integral and influential part of the theatrical community for the better part of seven decades. Adapting its activities for each successive theatrical generation, ATW focuses today on programs and activities which help students, audiences and members of the theatrical community itself to learn more about what makes theatre tick from the people who make it so vital."

Current Broadway Shows

Taken from The New York Times, a list of all the shows running or soon to open on Broadway, with links to the New York Times reviews, readers' reviews and ticketing. Critics' Picks, the shows chosen as favorites by the New York Times's theater critics, are denoted with a gold button. Also includes Off Broadway, Off-Off Broadway, and London theater.

Internet Broadway Database

"IBDB (Internet Broadway Database) archive is the official database for Broadway theatre information. IBDB provides records of productions from the beginnings of New York theatre until today." The League of American Theatres and Producers.

Playbill

The online version of Playbill includes schedules, theatre news and history.

Ticketmaster

Streaming Videos Available to Members of Thrall

Hoopla

Active library card required.

Kanopy & Kanopy Kids

Active library card required.

Streaming Videos in RCLS OverDrive

OverDrive Videos

Available to members of Thrall and other RCLS libraries.

Children's Videos

The Cartoon Network

The Disney Channel

National Geographic Kids Videos

Nick.com Videos

Nick Jr. Videos

PBS Kids Videos

Other Videos

AOL Video

Shows, news, and other videos

BBC America Videos

Shows, news, and other videos

BET Videos

Bing Videos

Categories include: TV, Music, Movies, News, Comedy, Viral, Sports, Fashion, and more.

C-SPAN Videos Library

CMT

Country Music Television.

CNET TV

Computers, technology, gadgets news, previews, reviews.

Comedy Central

Crunchyroll

An amazingly large selection of streaming anime and Asian drama shows, that's both free and legal!

Discovery Channel: Videos

ESPN: Sports Videos

The History Channel: Videos

How Stuff Works: Video Channel

Hubble Space Telescope Videos

Hulu

Television shows and other videos.

IMDb Freedive

"Watch Hollywood hits and TV favorites. Free on IMDb and Fire TV devices." Free account (IMDb or Amazon) required.

Live and Featured News Videos

Metacafe: Online Video Entertainment

MTV Music Videos

NASA Videos

Space missions, documentaries on space exploration.

National Geographic Videos

The New York Times Video Library

PBS Videos

Pluto TV

"100+ live and original channels and thousands of on-demand movies in partnership with major TV networks, movie studios, publishers, and digital media companies."

Popcornflix

"Popcornflix has full-length movies that will make you laugh, make you cry, scare the heck out of you, or inspire you to hug the person you love. We have compelling documentaries, foreign films, unique original web series, and a place that showcases the brightest film makers of tomorrow. We built Popcornflix to be the most user friendly movie destination on the web. No movie is more than two clicks away and they are all FREE."

The Science Channel: Videos

Sidereel.com

TV shows, movies, movie trailers.

TED: Technology, Entertainment, Design

"Riveting talks by remarkable people." Video lectures.

Tubi

"Watch amazing movies and TV shows for free. No subscription fees, and no credit cards. Just thousands of hours of streaming video content from studios like Paramount, Lionsgate, MGM and more. With content from over 200 partners."

TV.com (formerly Clicker.com)

Search or browse.

USTREAM

"Watch and discuss live events."

Videos in the News

Vimeo.com

The White House: Videos

YouTube

Internet user-uploaded videos and other content.

The Amazing Fact Generator

Random trivia facts on demand. From Mental Floss.

Fifty States and Fifty Fun Facts

From the Infoplease Almanac.

Fun Trivia Quizzes

Categories include: Animals, Brain Teasers, Celebrities, Entertainment, For Children, General, General Knowledge, Geography, History, Hobbies, Humanities, Literature, Movies, Music, People, Religion, Sci / Tech, Sports, Television, Video Games, World.

Library Trivia

Literature Trivia

Music Trivia

Water Trivia

From the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).