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Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide 2004

Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide 2004

List Price: $8.99
Your Price: $8.09
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: At least it's better than Roger Ebert's book.
Review: Compared to Roger Ebert Movie's Yearbook, Leonard Maltin's book is better in terms of film reviews and ratings. He is much smarter than Ebert though. I quite enjoy his brief reviews.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Leonard Maltin is one of our Great Movie Critics
Review: Every Year, since 1998, I look forward to the new edition of his movie & video guide to come out. And when it does, I look up all the new film entries only. About very 2 or 3 yrs., I buy the current edition. I'm already looking forward to the 2005 edition already, even though the 2004 guide has been out for about 2 months. Yes, the guide is that wonderful! And I also watch Leonard's TV Show "Hot Ticket", which is just as entertaining as the book. Anybody and everybody who likes his Movie Guides will like the show, I guarantee it! Now where's that chocolate of mine?

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Good Hunting License--Bad Guide
Review: If you want to look up a movie in this book, it helps if you're not in a hurry since the listings are not alphabetized correctly.

For example, "He Got Game" (page 602) comes after "Hedwig . . ." and before "Heidi". Then there's "He Laughed Last" on page 603 and "He said, She said" clear over on page 613. Actually, there are movies starting with "He" scattered all over the place.

As another example, "Hunt for Red October" comes after "Hunters" and before "Hunting". Then you have "Hunting Party" following by "Hunt the Man Down". In otherwords, the sequence "Hedwig", "HeGot Game" and "Hesaid, She said" and the sequence "Hunters", "Huntfor Red October" and "Hunting" only makes sence if you mentally combine the first two words when trying to find a title.

My guess is that the first two words of the movie titles all got alphabetized as though they were one word. It's extremely frustrating to say the least.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The best movie-guide out there
Review: Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video guide is simly a must-have. The reviews are short, well-written and smart. You get all the information you'll need, though I don't always agree with Maltin's ratings.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Maltin's the best...but, could be better
Review: Leonard Maltin's movie and video guide is always a good read, though I must say I find it increasingly exasperating and out of touch. Maltin & Co. seem to subtract points for daring, originality and style: "Barton Fink", "A.I.", "Treasure Planet", "Dodes'ka-den", "Vanilla Sky", "Black Robe", "Shy People", Neil Jordan's "The Company of Wolves" and "Interview with a Vampire", Cuaron's "Great Expectations", and the best work of Tim Burton, Sam Raimi, Baz Luhrmann and Karel Zeman consistently rate 2 1/2 stars or less. The brilliant Jan Svankmajer (Alice) is ignored entirely.
Some of 'Maltin's Omissions' are surprising, considering his reputation as an animation buff; indeed, baffling in the case of Reiniger's landmark "The Adventures of Prince Achmed" which has been available on video for some time. Macian's "El Mago de los Suenos" and Shanghai Studio's "Uproar in Heaven" are major achievements in feature animation, but perhaps a little off the beaten track. On the other hand, "Graveyard of the Fireflies" & "When the Wind Blows" have achieved wide currency in recent years. What do they all share in common? They're not in Maltin's video guide. Some of the current entries should be revised. Atamanov's "Snow Queen" was remastered years ago, and the Puppetoon movie (on DVD) contains twice as much material as the original issue. And it's about time someone reconsidered the 2 1/2 star rating for "Alien" -an established sci-fi classic.
Foreign film listings are weak - Robert Bresson, described by Maltin as a master film-maker is represented by "L'Argent" and "Diary of a Country Priest". Where are "Pickpocket", "Balthazar", "Mouchette" and "A Man Escaped"? Japanese Cinema? "Musashi Muramoto" won the oscar, and Imamura's "The Ballad of Narayama" was good enough for the Palm d'Or at Cannes, yet neither rates a mention here. Conspicuous by their absence are Shinoda's spectacular "Demon Pond", Disney's "Melody Time", Ptushko's sumptuous "Russlan and Ludmilla", and the oscar-nominated "Broadway Hostess" with the charismatic Wini Shaw (her only starring role). And while we're at it, how about at least a perfunctory nod towards 'Bollywood' ("Lagaan" or "God is my Witness").
Maltin's book is a convenient and informative guide, but let's have some serious tweaking for the 2005 edition.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: When shall we see the COMPLETE edition?
Review: I have been buying this book since the early 1970s and I'm a devoted fan. However, over the last 15 years or so Mr. Maltin has been eliminating hundreds of old entries with every new edition to make room for the new ones he is incorporating. These reviews are "lost". You'd have to keep every single annual copy of the book to have a complete record of its reviews. Mr. Maltin argues, not without reason, that he wants the book to maintain its format as a tome to keep next to your TV set.
But couldn't he at least publish a "special collectors edition" once every, say, five years? It could be a separate book, with a different title, in a larger format, maybe even hard cover, with ALL the reviews he ever included in the yearly editions.
I'm sure many of us would buy it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Leonard Maltin's 2003 Movie and Video Guide
Review: Anyone who claims to be a film buff and has never heard of Adam's Rib needs to shut up and watch it instead of complaining. There's a reason that Maltin gives it the highest rating and I'll bet it won't be easy to find a critic anywhere that doesn't agree with him. Since Maltin's books do not have competition they are an invaluable resource.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Leonard Maltin's 2003 Movie And Video Guide
Review: I have been buying Mr. Maltin's book for over ten years and am always disappointed that it is never up to date. It you are going to call a book a 2003 reference you should include most of the best movies of the previous year. I realize that many of the best of the year do not come out until November/December, but if Mr. Maltin can't get an advance copy to review he should delay publication until he can include at least some of the top 25 and/or Golden Globe/Academy Award nominee's. The 2003 book has 2 0r 3 of the 2002 25 best, and none of the award nominee's.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: INDESPENSIBLE....
Review: I have used this guide for over 20 yrs. I have to get a new one every year or I'm lost. I trust Maltin and his crew more than any other critic group. His guide is complete and comprehensive and has provided me with the most accurate information I could probably find. I prefer the large size and keep it like a Bible within easy reach at all times when I'm home. The use it has given me over the years is invaluable. It has guided me in my search for movies for so long that I could never get used to using anything else. I don't always agree with the reviews but then they wouldn't be doing their job, would they? For my money, Maltin is the best and I will continue to be a faithful follower as long as his guide keeps coming out. I personally recommend this guide above all others to anyone looking for a reliable and indespensible resource and reference book.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: One source is not enough
Review: Maltin's book is a good start especially for information about who directed and who starred. If you rely only on Maltin's book there are a number of good indie films that you'll never see.

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