Customer Reviews

Halliwell's Film Guide 2004 (Halliwell's: The Movies That Matter)

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While I agree that Halliwell can appear to be THE essential guide and is in fact snobby and negative, it does offer multiple opinions for most films. This can be valuable, especially for films that have not been generally agreed upon. I would recommend this guide to anyone who already has a good general guide such as Movie Hound and wants more points of view.

Thank god for the Internet. When I was a film reviewer and reporter for the Daily News in the pre-Internet era, I had to rely on an earlier edition of this reference book, but mercifully, only when I needed a quick date or the name of a cinematographer.

I agree with the previous reviewer. Halliwell is the Pauline Kael, Roger Simon of film critics and pundits or Will Rogers' evil clone: He never met a film he didn't hate.

One example of his capsule reviews that are so acidulous they can give you an ulcer: Halliwell gives Citizen Kane four stars, then, to use Alexander Pope's phrase, he "damns it with faint praise" such as "A brilliant piece of Hollywood cinema...despite lapses of characterizations [whatever tha means] and gaps in the narrative..."

Fortunately, the Internet has made cranks like Halliwell unnecessary for research purposes.

Frank Sanello

Don't be fooled by the fancy cover and good advertising. This book struck me as very ignorant and stuck up. Apparently no film is good enough to please this critic, no matter how much of a classic it's considered. The really bad part is that his critiques are childish and silly. "The film was too long," "boring" or "gross" are just a few of the ridiculous things he says. Never does he mention directorial style, acting or any of that stuff, just "boring" or "too gruesome." Well, sire, could you make a better movie? I smell an angry, failed director in here. Anyway, avoid this and opt for the much more sensible Video and Movie Guide from Mick Martin and Marsha Porter, Maltin's guide, or (best of all) Ebert's excellent film books. Avoid this trash.

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