8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book, but missing some obvious movie greats!, January 9, 2008
This review is from: 501 Movie Stars: A Comprehensive Guide to the Greatest Screen Actors (Hardcover)
I purchased this as a gift for my son, who is a huge fan of cinema, to put it mildly. Having purchased 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, also by Steven Jay Schneider, it was not much of a jump to order both 501 Movie Stars: A Comprehensive Guide to the Greatest Screen Actors and 501 Movie Directors: A Comprehensive Guide to the Greatest Filmmakers, upon their recent release as soon as they became available.
501 Movie Stars is a thick book and interesting to be sure; filled with wonderful info and photos.
I would doubtless give it 5 stars if it were not for some glaring omissions. It goes without saying that any reader would come up with a list of actors that they felt should be included and this reviewer understands you cannot include every actor of merit.
However, glance at this partial list of actors omitted from this huge hardcover book and tell me they should not have been included (many of whom have been nominated several times and have won Academy Awards):
Sean Astin
Ed Harris (4 nominations)
Phillip Seymour Hoffman (1 nomination, 1 win)
Diane Lane (1 nomination)
Jude Law (2 nominations)
Ian McCellan (2 nominations)
Viggo Mortenson
Billy Bob Thornton (1 nomination, 1 win)
Most glaring to us is the omission of Joe Pesci, who was nominated twice and won an Oscar for Goodfellas and Robert Duvall, who was nominated 6 times, including for his work in The Godfather and one win for Tender Mercies.
Again, this is but a partial list. Each day my son thinks of additional notable actors he is shocked to discover have been omitted.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not for the cinemaphile, June 5, 2009
This review is from: 501 Movie Stars: A Comprehensive Guide to the Greatest Screen Actors (Hardcover)
If you watch movies for a hobby, you may get easily disappointed by the superficial selections of both actors and the movies they played in. Just as an example, I was surprised that we have a page dedicated to Divine (I did not even know of this actor), yet David Carradine, the "Kill Bill", "North and South" and "Kung-Fu" guy is missing.
The book is titled "...Guide to the Greatest Screen Actors" and therefore commits to a lot. Unfortunately little is offered. The movie titles listed under each actor is very selective and includes low quality ones instead of better ones - at least with AMG you can select their best work. You will be much better off getting one of Roger Ebert's books or the Video Hound. They may not have all the fancy photographs of this book, yet if you're looking for substance, you'll get a lot more for your buck.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great!!, May 19, 2008
This review is from: 501 Movie Stars: A Comprehensive Guide to the Greatest Screen Actors (Hardcover)
If you want the most indepth review on movie stars then this is the book to get. I just wish they would have included some of the newer actors and actresses to the list.
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