He Rents, She Rents: The Ultimate Guide to the Best Women's Films and Guy Movies [Paperback]

Richard Roeper (Author), Laurie Viera (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1999

Video-store wars of the sexes have raged for years now, with the bloodiest battles usually reserved for the Foreign and Action aisles. But can't we all just get along? In He Rents, She Rents, Richard Roeper and Laurie Viera get to the heart of the cinematic schism between the sexes. While there's no guarantee that this book can heal old video-rental relationship scars, it can certainly provide an unprecedented peek into the logic behind the continued popularity of the Die Hard trilogy:

HE SAYS: You've got your car chases, your fistfights, your gun battles, your explosions, your male bonding, your memorable one-liners, your great drinking scenes, and yeah, your female nudity factor. The more of these elements I find in a film, the more likely I am to recommend it.

SHE SAYS: Silly me. When I'm watching a film, I look for grand passions, scintillating dialogue, women who do more than just serve as window dressing, men who do more than just grunt in monosyllabic utterances, fabulous clothes...and yeah, a nicely formed, scantily clad male bod is always a welcome bonus.

So maybe there's more middle ground than previously suspected. Complete with photos and undeniably hilarious, He Rents, She Rents is a must-read before your next trip to the video store.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard Roeper's daily column for the Chicago Sun-Times is distributed nationwide by the New York Times syndicate. Roeper has also written for TV Guide, Entertainment Weekly, Playboy, and other publications.

Laurie Viera is an author and freelance book editor who lives in Los Angeles. She has spent several years on and around movie sets as a screenwriter, story analyst, and producer of three short films.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (April 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312198973
• ISBN-13: 978-0312198978
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,609,254 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hysterical -- absolutely cannot live without ., May 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: He Rents, She Rents: The Ultimate Guide to the Best Women's Films and Guy Movies (Paperback)

We love this book - it is a humorous book not to be shelved within the confines of "video directories." Ever since Adam and Eve have the sexes disagreed over almost everything but one of the biggest issues men and women (at least the men I date never agree upon are films to watch -- but often times we are too afraid to say what we really think. This amazing book touches upon all of the thoughts and feelings men feel on womens films and vice-verse, however derivitive they may be, of the constant battle in the video store. Instead of saying "i disagree with you" you can now say "um, turn to Richard's comments. page 28..." It gets one's point accross and no one's feelings are as hurt.

Video didn't kill the radio star...it may have broken up a few marriages but kill? Never.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Monty Python Not A Guy Flick!, August 21, 2004

By 

Python Lady (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: He Rents, She Rents: The Ultimate Guide to the Best Women's Films and Guy Movies (Paperback)

The book was otherwise enjoyable but Roeper's classification of Monty Python and the Holy Grail as a guy flick was so dreadfully wrong that now I'm not sure his advice about any movie can be trusted. Roeper says that he has never met a female Pythonite in America. I have to wonder what sort of women he associates with. Either he or they don't get out enough. Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a PARODY of a guy flick. This is an important distinction and one a competent movie reviewer should be able to make. It was fake blood, it was fake violence, it was in-your-dreams seductiveness. One of the knights didn't even have a proper horse. He had coconuts! That's funny! When guys do graphic sex, violence and blood and take it seriously it's a guy flick. Big difference.
The rest of the book had some interesting, informative and useful content but this misclassification of one of the all time great sidesplitters is just too egregious to be overlooked.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the perfect guide for the married man, February 17, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: He Rents, She Rents: The Ultimate Guide to the Best Women's Films and Guy Movies (Paperback)

Every once in a while I am allowed to go out and pick a movie at the nearest Blockbuster by myself - without running all contenders in the new release section by my wife. Usually it's evenings that require drives through rain and / or snowstorms, and the last thing you want to do is getting lost in aisle seven while dinner is waiting at home. Since I've resorted to bringing "He rents She rents" with me to the store, you can find me studying especially talented author Laurie Viera's femme fatale section that has managed to make innocent me an expert on forgotten gems like "Mildred Pierce" and "Mrs.Miniver" - leaving my devoted wife speechless on more than one occasion. I've also dabbled in the delightul Viera's hilarious "romantic recipe - sidebars" where she's sparring it out with co-author Richard Roeper. Since viewing "All About Eve" and "The Goodbye Girl" with tears in my eyes all in one evening, there's no limit to what I'm capable of in the future. Looking ahead, I've already renamed my very own assistant Eve Harrington.