The trick to using an iPhone movie guide is to really make the most of it. Don’t just use it to look up movie listings, use it as a miniature Roger Ebert in your pocket. Here are a few of the questions you can ask with the guide on your iPhone…

What Was His Name Again…?

Whenever you’re in the middle of a conversation and you suddenly space on the name of an actor that you SHOULD be able to name, just whip out the ol’ iPhone. You can figure out who it was by cross referencing the movies you know they’ve been. “Let’s see, he was one of the bank robbers in Heat, and he was in True Romance and Natural Born Killers… Ah! Tom Sizemore!” Sooner or later, we all have those “senior moments” no matter how old we are, where we forget things that we know by heart. iPhones have been remedying this problem from the beginning.

What Do You Want to See?

Come on, the reason you asked is because you couldn’t make up your own mind in the first place! Oh well. At least with your iPhone guide, you can just look up on the internet and see what’s playing, or when selecting a DVD, you can check out what you might like. You can check by ratings, by recommendation, or look for movies starring some of your favorite actors or directed by a favorite film maker. It’s sort of like having your personal opinions put into a handy guide for you to reference and find similar stuff to what you enjoy without even trying.

Wait, Wasn’t He Dead?

You can keep tabs on all your favorite film makers and actors by just seeing if they have any new movies out. These days, the major studios own all the theaters, so the movies that used to be given releases are now given indie or straight to DVD release, and this is where a lot of talented actors and film makers have gone. So if nothing else, you can keep tabs on these guys and look like an expert since you always seem to know exactly what Corey Feldman is doing even though nobody’s heard from him in years. Of course… You may mainly seem like an expert on direct to DVD releases and cable channel originals, but hey, everyone needs a niche, right?

How Was That Movie?

Next time you’re in line at the movie theater, undecided, and you’re up next, just do a quick look at what’s playing right now on your iPhone movie companion. You want action? See which one gets the best reviews from sites like Aintitcool. Comedy? Look and see on your personal movie and TV companion which one people are saying is funniest. Obviously, it’s fairly subjective and all, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t gauge and predict your own response to the film by seeing what other people have said. After all, the reason hardcore action junkies love Shootemup is for the same reasons all the serious critics hated the movie.