As family and friends gather around the country this holiday season there will undoubtedly be a great deal of movie watching. Awards season after all is just on the other side of 2009. Showtimes may be just what the movie goer ordered.

Showtimes is the casual and serious moviegoers oracle. The recently updated entertainment app puts complete movie information in the palm of your hands. It’s a full-featured app with movie descriptions, critic’s ratings, times and local theaters. If you’re not sure what a movie’s about, you can even check out the trailer.

Load the app and you’re greeted by its signature purple background and logo. Showtimes will ask to use your current location. Say “yes” and Showtimes will find the closest theaters based on your current location.  

Now, the fun really begins. From the main page you’ll find a list of movie theaters in your area sorted by distance. Four shortcut keys give you movie titles by release date, critic’s ratings, new releases and theaters. Each category gives you access to movie times, synopsis, the trailer and access to IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, or MetaCritic. You can search for movies up to a week in advance. The app’s “One Touch” functionality makes it easy to use and its clean uncluttered appearance make its easy to see.

Showtimes is missing a couple of things. First, Showtimes gives you an address but doesn’t give you the theater number. Second, it lists only one cast member per movie. Albeit, it is does provide a link to popular movie databases so curious users can quickly obtain more info.

Cinemaphiles using the Edge network may have some trouble. There’s a lot of Internet functionality so make sure that you’re in a place where you have access to a WiFi or at least 3G network. This way you can get those maps and even watch those movie trailers without the frustrating wait time. It would be nice if there was a way to save some information for viewing offline.

Showtimes is free. While we love a good deal, we’d even be willing to pay for an app that comes in handy like this one.

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category: Best Free Apps, Editor's Picks, Entertainment