TLA Video & DVD Guide 2005 : The Discerning Film Lover's Guide (Tla Video & DVD Guide)

Rating:
Summary: Great book for best Popular, Indie/Art and Foreign films !
Review: The TLA Guide is a fantastic reference for the cream of the crop in films of all genres. As the title states, it is discerning by cutting out what they consider to be films that are low quality or just plain bad. Of course its debatable what films should or shouldn't be included according to taste (If you are looking for H.O.T.S., A Nymphoid Barbarian In Dinosaur Hell or Beaks:The Movie, you should look elsewhere). In the introduction of the book it says..."It's not our goal to include every film ever made, but to bring attention to films that we feel have achieved artistic success, amassed some popularity, or made an impact-past or present-on the art form". I think they do a pretty good job of their intentions. This book is a "best of film" type of guide in that I can browse through the books film listings and almost all the titles listed have cinematic value. They do rate popular, big budget and B-movies that are duds(rated at one or two stars),but only the more "important" ones so you don't have to sort through pages and pages of mediocrity. The book is well organized, clear & direct in the reviews(also they don't give everything away in the plot)and they have the best Index Listing of Foreign Films according to country of origin(better than Videohound and Time Out's list is confusing). More than 10,000 films are reviewed. I don't think they are in competition with the "list everything" type of guides such as Videohound but if you are a movie lover I would also buy another guide as a supplement like the Martin & Porter Guide or Videohound. The TLA Guide is a great choice. Highly recommended!