Go to Google. With online searching, Google is the place to start. Not only is it a popular search engine, but it has a special search facility specifically created to help users find video content.
Click Videos, then Advanced Video Search. On the main Google screen, there is an option on the top of the screen that says "Video." Click that. Then, when the Video screen comes up, look to the right of the box where you type in the movie you are searching. There is an option that says "Advanced Video Search." Click that and then move halfway down the page to where it says "Duration."
Change the default option from "All durations" to "Long (<20mins)." This is because movies are longer than 20 minutes. Then type something into one of the search boxes denoted by the words "Find Results." As an example, if you want to find a movie about love, type the word "love" into the top box marked "with all the words." Then click the button marked "Search Videos."
Repeat with advanced options. Whenever you search on Google, it's best to use some of the advanced options to narrow down your results. For example, using quotation marks around a phrase helps keep your search focused on just what you're looking for. If you type "Harry Potter," you'll get only movies that have both Harry and Potter in their description tags and where the words are together and in the right order. If you omit the quotation marks, you'll get anything with Harry and anything with Potter in any order.
Other advanced options you can use include: -, +,~ and the OR operator. The minus sign means to exclude the word the follows. If you type Harry -Potter for example, you'll get movies with Harry, but none with Potter. The plus sign means to include only the following. For example if you type Harry +Potter, you'll get only Harry Potter and no other Harrys. Using the squiggle ~, will help you get lists of things. If you type Harry Potter ~glossary, you'll get dictionary and other lexicon type information about Harry Potter.
The operators listed here only touch the surface of what Google offers. To find and use more, go to Google's Google Guide at googleguide.com.
Go to the Bing website. Microsoft's Bing search engine has close ties with Hulu, one of the largest movie content sites on the net.
Click on Videos. Like Google, Bing has an option to jump right to searching for Videos. Next click on the Movies option just below the search box.
Type into the search box or use a menu. Bing realizes that a lot of movie searchers are searching for the same movies, so the Movies section lists several current movies in its feature window and also has a menu halfway down the page for listing certain categories of movies, such as the top 10 that have been searched for recently. If you prefer to search on your own, type something pertinent into the search box just as you would with Google.
Use advanced search features. Like Google, Bing also has search operators to help users more narrowly define their results. Such operators as AND, OR and NOT can be used to finesse searches to include or exclude results that are desired.
To see all of Bing's advanced search features, click on Help at the bottom right of the Bing main page. Then click on "See All Help topics." Scroll down to "Use advanced search." Clicking this will bring up a whole page of advanced search options.
Go to the Hulu website. Hulu is one of the most popular movie content sites on the Internet, due to most of its content being free of charge. To search for a movie, type the name of it into the search box at the top right side of the screen and then click the search button next to it.
Search for other sites that host movies. Use Google or Bing to find websites that host movies, then pick one by clicking on it. Use the search feature on that site or other sites to find the movie you are looking for in the same way you would on Hulu. Some examples of these are Youtube, Amazon and Joost.
Search established sites. Go to national network homepages, such as ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, TBS, TNT, Starz, HBO and Showtime. Most of these websites allow visitors to watch some of the movies that are broadcast on the respective television stations.