How to Find Movie Listings Online, Reserve and Buy Tickets

So, you want to see a movie but don't have a newspaper to look up listings. Or let's say you're traveling, in a new city and want to see a movie but don't know where to begin looking? Anywhere that you can log on to the internet through a computer or smart phone, you'll be able to find movie listings and theater locations easily. Here's a guide to finding movie listings online.

There are movie listing websites like Fandango or Moviefone where you can get a lot of information about different movies and times playing at your location. Both sites' main page show listings of popular movies and include a date, and city or zip search. If you decide to search by city, once you type in the location and date, a list of theaters and movies nearby will come up. If you click on a specific movie, the site will ask for your zip code or city and state so it can give you times and locations of the movie. And if you're not sure what movie you want to see, you can watch movie trailers on both sites. You can even purchase tickets for certain theaters online, but there can be a service fee.

Instead of using a specific movie listing website, you can also find online movie listings through search engines like Google or Yahoo. To use Google just enter a search for "movie listings," and the first result will be "Showtimes in...," click on the "Change location" link to enter your zip or city to get listings for your location. A page with movies and theaters comes up for the day you search on. If you want a different day, you can click up to three days ahead on the left-hand menu. You can either click on the different theaters to find out what's playing, or you can click on specific movies to find out times and locations of showings. If you're looking for a specific movie, you can read reviews or watch trailers. You can also purchase tickets; this is linked to the Fandango ticket checkout site. To use Yahoo, search for "local movie listings," and the first result will be the Yahoo movie page [movies.yahoo.com/]. This page is similar to Fandango and Moviefone. Search by movie or by city to find times and locations.

Another way to find movie listings online is through the popular movie site The Internet Movie Database known simply as IMDb. Here you'll have to first click on the movie you want to see. Then scroll down and on the bottom of the left-hand menu you'll see "External Links," and underneath this click on, "showtimes." A new page will pop up where you enter your location and date you want to see the movie. The next page will give you theaters and times. If you want to purchase tickets, the site is linked to Fandango.

Now if you could just get seats that easily.