MovieStingers

Going to the cinema, especially if it's a multiplex, isn't as much as fun as it used to be. Tickets are extortionately expensive, especially if you live in London. The less said about the cost and quality of the food sold on the premises or the helpfulness and efficiency of the staff, the better.

Many multiplexes have been colonized by witless hordes of teenage chavs who think Scary Movie is the best flick ever and enjoy pelting their fellow viewers with popcorn while making farting noises. Your average multiplex is also highly unlikely to show any of those fancy, high-brow, foreign films with subtitles unless those subtitles are for Elvish dialogue.

One of the slightly less irritating aspects of modern cinema is the post-credits sequence, or stinger. These short scenes are shown after or during the end credits. They may tie up loose plot ends, hint at an upcoming sequel, or just be charming and/or humourous extras. Not all films have stingers though. Even if they do, is it worth sticking around for? You may want to see it if only to get your £12 worth, but you may also have a dying need to visit the toilet after working you way through that half gallon cup of Diet Coke.

Thankfully MovieStinger.com is here to help. This website maintains a large database of films, listing whether or not they have a post-credits sequence as well as detailing what happens during the scene itself. Readers can even vote on whether the stinger is worth sticking around for. Sometimes, it will even list the details of the song played during the end credits and provide a link to iTunes so you can buy it.

Best of all, there's a mobile version of the site optimized for smartphones so you can check its database on your phone as you finish your popcorn. Naturally, your phone will have been turned off during the film itself unless you want to risk my popcorn-throwing wrath…

Alan Lu