Cinema Paradiso

A comprehensive movie and television database web application built with Laravel and modern web technologies. Cinema Paradiso provides users with an extensive platform to discover, track, and discuss movies and TV shows while connecting with a community of film enthusiasts.

Discover trending movies, TV shows, and get personalized recommendations

Overview

Cinema Paradiso is a full-featured entertainment platform that integrates with The Movie Database (TMDb) API to provide users with access to a vast collection of movies, TV shows, and celebrity information. The application combines content discovery with social features, enabling users to build their personal collections, engage with other members, and stay updated with the latest entertainment news.

Screenshots & Features Overview

Homepage

Browse curated movie recommendations, trending content, and in-theater releases. Features include movie carousels, celebrity spotlights, and video trailers.

Authentication System

Login & Password Recovery: Secure authentication with email/username login, "Remember Me" functionality, and password reset via email.

User Registration: Create new accounts with username, email, password, and optional bio. Password validation ensures minimum 8 characters.

User Profile Management

Profile Customization: Edit personal information including username, email, name, phone, location (country/state), and bio. Upload custom avatars with real-time preview.

Top 5 Favorite Movies: Search and select up to 5 favorite movies to display on your public profile. Visual movie posters with easy selection interface.

Movie Discovery & Details

Browse Movies: Filter by year, rating, popularity, and genre. Search by keywords with a comprehensive movie database powered by TMDb API.

Movie Details: View comprehensive information including synopsis, ratings, release year, cast, crew, and media. Quick actions to add to collection, like, watchlist, write reviews, and share.

Reviews & Ratings

Community Reviews: Read detailed reviews from other users with star ratings and timestamps. Filter by newest, oldest, or highest rated.

Write Reviews: Rate movies with a 10-star system and share your thoughts (minimum 10 characters). Mark if you've watched the movie before.

Cast & Media

Cast & Crew Information: Browse complete cast lists, directors, writers, producers, and music composers. Click on any name to view their full filmography.

Media Gallery: Watch trailers, teasers, behind-the-scenes content, and visual trailers. 23+ videos available with subtitled and dubbed versions.

Discover Similar Content: Find movies related to what you're viewing with ratings and quick descriptions.

Community Features

Community Directory: Browse all members with activity statistics (followers, following, movies watched). Sort by most popular users and view their favorite movies.

Celebrities Database

Celebrity Profiles: Explore over 4.4 million celebrities with photos, roles, and filmographies. Search by name and sort by popularity.

Entertainment News

Latest News: Stay updated with entertainment news from Variety, Deadline, The Guardian, and other sources. Articles include images, publication dates, and source attribution.

Core Features

Content Discovery

Extensive Movie Database: Browse and search through millions of movies with detailed information including cast, crew, ratings, and reviews
TV Show Database: Access comprehensive TV series information with season and episode details
Celebrity Profiles: View detailed information about actors, directors, and other entertainment industry professionals (4.4M+ celebrities)
Advanced Search: Universal search functionality across movies, TV shows, and celebrities with smart filters
Genre Filtering: Browse content by specific genres with year and rating filters
Rich Media: Access 23+ trailers, teasers, behind-the-scenes content, and promotional materials for each title

User Collections & Engagement

Personal Movie Collection: Add and organize movies in your personal library with custom lists
Watchlist System: Maintain a list of movies and TV shows to watch later
Reviews and Ratings: Write detailed reviews with 10-star rating system (minimum 10 characters)
Top 5 Favorites: Showcase up to 5 favorite movies on your profile with visual posters
Like System: Heart your favorite movies and track what resonates with you
User Statistics: Track viewing habits, collection statistics, and activity points

Social & Community Features

Customizable User Profiles: Personalize profiles with avatars, bio, location, and contact information
Avatar Upload: Upload custom profile pictures with instant preview (JPEG, PNG, GIF up to 2MB)
Follow System: Follow other users to stay updated with their movie activity and reviews
Community Directory: Discover 21+ active members, browse by popularity, and connect with fellow movie enthusiasts
Direct Messaging: Private chat system with message requests for privacy control
Activity Tracking: View follower/following lists and user activity streams
Public Profiles: Share your favorite movies and reviews with the community

News & Updates

Entertainment News: Aggregated news from Variety, Deadline, The Guardian, and NewsAPI
Multiple Sources: Quality journalism from trusted entertainment industry sources
Reddit Integration: Access popular movie discussions from Reddit communities
Cached Content: Optimized news delivery with 6-hour intelligent caching for fast loading

Security & Authentication

Secure Login: Email/username authentication with "Remember Me" functionality
Password Recovery: Email-based password reset with temporary password generation
User Registration: Create accounts with validation (8+ character passwords, unique usernames/emails)
Session Management: Secure session handling with CSRF protection
Rate Limiting: Protection against abuse on uploads, messaging, and sensitive endpoints

Technology Stack

Backend

Framework: Laravel 12.0
Language: PHP 8.2+
Database: MySQL/PostgreSQL (configurable)
Caching: Redis/File-based caching
Queue System: Laravel Queue with database/Redis driver
Email: Laravel Mail with multiple driver support

Frontend

CSS Framework: Tailwind CSS 4.0
Build Tool: Vite 7.0
HTTP Client: Axios
JavaScript: Modern ES6+ standards

External APIs

TMDb API: The Movie Database API for movie and TV show data
NewsAPI: Entertainment news aggregation
The Guardian API: Quality journalism and reviews
Reddit API: Community discussions and trending topics

Project Structure

cinema-paradiso/
├── app/
│   ├── Console/
│   │   ├── Kernel.php
│   │   └── Commands/
│   │       ├── CacheStatus.php              # Check cache status
│   │       ├── FixBrokenPosters.php         # Fix broken poster images
│   │       ├── InvalidateCache.php          # Invalidate specific caches
│   │       ├── OptimizeCache.php            # Optimize application cache
│   │       └── UpdateUserPopularity.php     # Update user popularity scores
│   │
│   ├── Http/
│   │   ├── Controllers/
│   │   │   ├── Controller.php               # Base controller
│   │   │   ├── AuthController.php           # User authentication
│   │   │   ├── BlogController.php           # News and blog posts
│   │   │   ├── CelebrityController.php      # Celebrity information
│   │   │   ├── ChatController.php           # Messaging system
│   │   │   ├── CommunityController.php      # Community features
│   │   │   ├── ContactController.php        # Contact form handling
│   │   │   ├── HomeController.php           # Homepage and search
│   │   │   ├── MovieController.php          # Movie browsing and details
│   │   │   ├── TVShowController.php         # TV show functionality
│   │   │   ├── UserController.php           # User profile management
│   │   │   ├── UserMovieController.php      # User-movie interactions
│   │   │   └── UserTVShowController.php     # User-TV show interactions
│   │   │
│   │   └── Middleware/
│   │       ├── Authenticate.php             # Authentication middleware
│   │       └── CompressResponse.php         # Response compression
│   │
│   ├── Jobs/
│   │   └── WarmCacheJob.php                 # Cache warming background job
│   │
│   ├── Mail/
│   │   ├── ContactNotification.php          # Contact form email
│   │   └── ForgotPasswordMail.php           # Password reset email
│   │
│   ├── Models/
│   │   ├── User.php                         # User model
│   │   ├── Movie.php                        # Movie model
│   │   ├── ChatMessage.php                  # Chat message model
│   │   ├── ChatRequest.php                  # Chat request model
│   │   ├── Contact.php                      # Contact submission model
│   │   ├── UserActivity.php                 # User activity tracking
│   │   ├── UserFavoriteMovie.php            # User favorite movies
│   │   ├── UserFollower.php                 # User follow relationships
│   │   ├── UserMovie.php                    # User movie collection
│   │   ├── UserMovieLike.php                # Movie likes
│   │   ├── UserMovieReview.php              # Movie reviews
│   │   └── UserWatchlist.php                # User watchlist
│   │
│   ├── Providers/
│   │   └── AppServiceProvider.php           # Application service provider
│   │
│   └── Services/
│       ├── ApiRateLimiter.php               # API rate limiting service
│       ├── CacheOptimizationService.php     # Cache optimization
│       ├── MovieService.php                 # Movie data service
│       ├── NewsService.php                  # News aggregation service
│       ├── TVShowService.php                # TV show data service
│       └── UserPopularityService.php        # User popularity calculation
│
├── bootstrap/
│   ├── app.php                              # Application bootstrap
│   ├── providers.php                        # Service providers registration
│   └── cache/
│       ├── packages.php                     # Package manifest cache
│       └── services.php                     # Service manifest cache
│
├── config/
│   ├── app.php                              # Application configuration
│   ├── auth.php                             # Authentication configuration
│   ├── cache.php                            # Cache configuration
│   ├── database.php                         # Database configuration
│   ├── filesystems.php                      # File storage configuration
│   ├── logging.php                          # Logging configuration
│   ├── mail.php                             # Mail configuration
│   ├── queue.php                            # Queue configuration
│   ├── services.php                         # Third-party services (TMDb, APIs)
│   └── session.php                          # Session configuration
│
├── database/
│   ├── factories/
│   │   └── UserFactory.php                  # User factory for testing
│   │
│   ├── migrations/
│   │   ├── 0001_01_01_000000_create_users_table.php
│   │   ├── 0001_01_01_000001_create_cache_table.php
│   │   ├── 0001_01_01_000002_create_jobs_table.php
│   │   ├── 2025_09_30_190326_create_contacts_table.php
│   │   ├── 2025_10_03_213727_add_community_features_to_users_table.php
│   │   ├── 2025_10_20_161423_add_location_fields_to_users_table.php
│   │   ├── 2025_10_20_173048_create_user_movies_table.php
│   │   ├── 2025_10_20_173153_create_user_movie_likes_table.php
│   │   ├── 2025_10_20_173636_create_user_watchlist_table.php
│   │   ├── 2025_10_20_181236_create_user_movie_reviews_table.php
│   │   ├── 2025_10_22_175739_add_media_type_to_user_watchlist_table.php
│   │   ├── 2025_10_23_202109_create_chat_messages_table.php
│   │   └── 2025_10_23_202206_create_chat_requests_table.php
│   │
│   └── seeders/
│       └── DatabaseSeeder.php               # Main database seeder
│
├── public/
│   ├── index.php                            # Application entry point
│   ├── robots.txt                           # Search engine directives
│   ├── test-auth.html                       # Authentication test page
│   ├── test-forgot-link.html                # Password reset test page
│   ├── css/                                 # Compiled CSS files
│   ├── js/                                  # Compiled JavaScript files
│   ├── images/                              # Static images and assets
│   └── storage/                             # Symbolic link to storage
│
├── resources/
│   ├── css/
│   │   └── app.css                          # Main application styles
│   │
│   ├── fonts/                               # Custom web fonts
│   │
│   ├── images/                              # Source images
│   │
│   └── views/
│       ├── layouts/
│       │   └── app.blade.php                # Main application layout
│       │
│       ├── components/
│       │   └── tv-card.blade.php            # TV show card component
│       │
│       ├── partials/
│       │   ├── _header_top.blade.php        # Header partial
│       │   ├── _movieCard.blade.php         # Movie card partial
│       │   ├── _movieCardSmall.blade.php    # Small movie card
│       │   └── _search.blade.php            # Search partial
│       │
│       ├── movies/
│       │   ├── index.blade.php              # Movies listing page
│       │   ├── show.blade.php               # Movie detail page
│       │   ├── search.blade.php             # Movie search results
│       │   └── genre.blade.php              # Movies by genre
│       │
│       ├── tv/
│       │   ├── index.blade.php              # TV shows listing
│       │   ├── show.blade.php               # TV show detail page
│       │   ├── season.blade.php             # Season detail page
│       │   ├── search.blade.php             # TV show search
│       │   └── genre.blade.php              # TV shows by genre
│       │
│       ├── celebrities/
│       │   ├── index.blade.php              # Celebrities listing
│       │   └── show.blade.php               # Celebrity detail page
│       │
│       ├── profile/
│       │   ├── userprofile.blade.php        # User profile page
│       │   ├── userlist.blade.php           # User list page
│       │   ├── usermovies.blade.php         # User movie collection
│       │   ├── userwatchlist.blade.php      # User watchlist
│       │   ├── userreviews.blade.php        # User reviews
│       │   ├── following.blade.php          # Following list
│       │   ├── followers.blade.php          # Followers list
│       │   └── partials/                    # Profile partials
│       │
│       ├── community/
│       │   ├── index.blade.php              # Community directory
│       │   └── profile.blade.php            # Public user profile
│       │
│       ├── chat/
│       │   ├── index.blade.php              # Chat inbox
│       │   └── show.blade.php               # Chat conversation
│       │
│       ├── emails/
│       │   ├── contact-notification.blade.php
│       │   └── forgot-password.blade.php
│       │
│       ├── welcome.blade.php                # Welcome/landing page
│       ├── index_main.blade.php             # Main index page
│       ├── help.blade.php                   # Help page
│       ├── test-auth.blade.php              # Authentication test view
│       ├── bloggrid.blade.php               # Blog grid layout
│       ├── blogdetail.blade.php             # Blog detail page
│       ├── moviegrid.blade.php              # Movie grid layout
│       ├── movielist.blade.php              # Movie list layout
│       ├── celebritygrid01.blade.php        # Celebrity grid (style 1)
│       ├── celebritygrid02.blade.php        # Celebrity grid (style 2)
│       ├── celebritylist.blade.php          # Celebrity list layout
│       └── celebritysingle.blade.php        # Single celebrity page
│
├── routes/
│   ├── web.php                              # Web application routes
│   └── console.php                          # Artisan console routes
│
├── storage/
│   ├── app/
│   │   ├── public/                          # Publicly accessible files
│   │   └── private/                         # Private storage
│   │
│   ├── framework/
│   │   ├── cache/                           # Framework cache files
│   │   ├── sessions/                        # Session files
│   │   └── views/                           # Compiled Blade views
│   │
│   └── logs/
│       └── laravel.log                      # Application logs
│
├── tests/
│   ├── TestCase.php                         # Base test case
│   ├── Feature/                             # Feature tests
│   └── Unit/                                # Unit tests
│
├── vendor/                                  # Composer dependencies (generated)
│
├── .env                                     # Environment configuration (not in VCS)
├── .env.example                             # Example environment file
├── .gitignore                               # Git ignore rules
├── artisan                                  # Artisan CLI executable
├── composer.json                            # PHP dependencies
├── composer.lock                            # Locked PHP dependencies
├── package.json                             # Node.js dependencies
├── package-lock.json                        # Locked Node dependencies
├── phpunit.xml                              # PHPUnit configuration
├── vite.config.js                           # Vite build configuration
└── README.md                                # Project documentation

Installation

Prerequisites

PHP 8.2 or higher
Composer
Node.js and npm
MySQL or PostgreSQL database
Redis (recommended for caching and queues)

Setup Instructions

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/cinema-paradiso.git
cd cinema-paradiso

Install PHP dependencies:

composer install

Install JavaScript dependencies:

npm install

Create and configure environment file:

cp .env.example .env

Configure your .env file with the following essential settings:

APP_NAME="Cinema Paradiso"
APP_URL=http://localhost

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=cinema_paradiso
DB_USERNAME=your_username
DB_PASSWORD=your_password

TMDB_API_KEY=your_tmdb_api_key
NEWS_API_KEY=your_news_api_key
GUARDIAN_API_KEY=your_guardian_api_key

MAIL_MAILER=smtp
MAIL_HOST=your_mail_host
MAIL_PORT=587
MAIL_USERNAME=your_email
MAIL_PASSWORD=your_password

Generate application key:

php artisan key:generate

Run database migrations:

php artisan migrate

Build frontend assets:

npm run build

Start the development server:

php artisan serve

In a separate terminal, compile assets for development:

npm run dev

Queue Worker (Optional but Recommended)

For background job processing:

php artisan queue:work

Configuration

TMDb API Setup

Register for a free account at The Movie Database
Navigate to Settings > API and request an API key
Add your API key to the .env file as TMDB_API_KEY

News API Setup

Register at NewsAPI
Obtain your API key
Add to .env as NEWS_API_KEY

The Guardian API Setup

Register at The Guardian Open Platform
Request an API key
Add to .env as GUARDIAN_API_KEY

Database Schema

The application includes the following primary tables:

users: User accounts and authentication
user_movies: User movie collections
user_movie_likes: Movie likes/favorites
user_movie_reviews: User-submitted movie reviews
user_watchlist: Movies and TV shows on user watchlists
chat_messages: Direct messages between users
chat_requests: Chat request management
user_followers: User follow relationships
contacts: Contact form submissions
user_activities: User activity tracking

Security Features

CSRF protection on all forms
Rate limiting on sensitive endpoints (avatar uploads, messaging, chat requests)
Password hashing with bcrypt
SQL injection protection through Eloquent ORM
XSS protection through Laravel's built-in escaping
Authentication middleware for protected routes

Performance Optimization

Multi-layer Caching: Strategic caching of API responses, database queries, and rendered views
Image Optimization: Lazy loading and responsive images
Database Indexing: Optimized queries with proper indexing
API Rate Limiting: Prevents excessive API calls with intelligent rate limiting
Queue System: Offloads time-intensive operations to background jobs
Asset Bundling: Vite-powered asset compilation and minification

API Endpoints

Public Endpoints

GET / - Home page
GET /movies - Browse movies
GET /movies/{id} - Movie details
GET /tv - Browse TV shows
GET /tv/{id} - TV show details
GET /celebrities - Browse celebrities
GET /blog - Entertainment news
GET /community - Community member directory

Protected Endpoints (Authentication Required)

POST /movies/add - Add movie to collection
POST /movies/like - Like/unlike a movie
POST /movies/watchlist - Add/remove from watchlist
POST /movies/review - Submit movie review
GET /messages - View messages
POST /messages/{receiver}/send - Send message
POST /profile/follow/{userId} - Follow user
POST /profile/update - Update profile

Testing

Run the test suite:

php artisan test

Run specific test suites:

php artisan test --testsuite=Feature
php artisan test --testsuite=Unit

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please follow these guidelines:

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name)
Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add comprehensive description')
Push to the branch (git push origin feature/your-feature-name)
Open a Pull Request

Please ensure your code follows PSR-12 coding standards and includes appropriate tests.

Code Style

This project follows PSR-12 coding standards. Format your code using Laravel Pint:

./vendor/bin/pint

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

The Movie Database (TMDb) for providing comprehensive movie and TV show data
NewsAPI for entertainment news aggregation
The Guardian for quality journalism
Laravel community for the excellent framework and ecosystem

Support

For issues, questions, or contributions, please open an issue on the GitHub repository.

Project Status

Active development. New features and improvements are regularly added.

Built with Laravel and Tailwind CSS

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
app		app
bootstrap		bootstrap
config		config
database		database
public		public
resources		resources
routes		routes
screenshots		screenshots
storage		storage
tests		tests
vendor		vendor
.editorconfig		.editorconfig
.env		.env
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
.gitignore		.gitignore
README.md		README.md
SETUP_COMPLETE.md		SETUP_COMPLETE.md
artisan		artisan
composer.json		composer.json
composer.lock		composer.lock
package.json		package.json
phpunit.xml		phpunit.xml
vite.config.js		vite.config.js

Latest commit

History

Folders and files

Repository files navigation