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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Maltin is great--but 2001 edition not quite up-to-par, May 22, 2001
This review is from: Leonard Maltin's 2001 Movie & Video Guide (Signet) (Mass Market Paperback)
Maltin's approach and format are superior to any of the other movie guides I've encountered. His capsule reviews are a study in conciseness and they give you a very good idea whether you would want to see a particular film or not. Best of all, his reviews discuss the movies *without* running through the plot (whereas the overlong and rather poorly written reviews in Videohound's Guide almost inevitably revert to plot summarizing).
Maltin's rating system (ranging from BOMB to four stars) manages somehow to surprise without being inconsistent. After a while you'll be able to determine in what ways your tastes diverge from the Maltin staff's and thereby know whether a two- or two-and-a-half star movie may be exactly what you're looking for. In general, the staff's taste is a tad mainstream & uninspired, but their ratings and evaluations are almost always well substantiated.
(Incidentally, you will find yourself spending hour upon hour browsing through this book, looking up every movie you've ever seen in order to find out "how many stars Maltin gives it." )
Unfortunately, this 2001 paperback edition seems to have been rather hastily thrown together. The print on certain pages is so light & thin that it can really strain already overworked eyes. Also, the 2001 lacks an Index of Directors at the end (my 1999 had this right after the Index of Stars). Also, the list of "100+ Recommended Family Films" toward the front of the book is fairly unsurprising, unhelpful and uninteresting.
So, for indexes of directors, actors, etc., your best bet by far is Videohound. (Videohound also has a list of suggested movies at the front that provides a good combination of the quirky and the classic.) For unbeatably useful and interesting reviews, however, get Maltin (preferably a slightly older edition if you're not overly concerned with movies made in the last couple years). On the other hand, get both Videohound *and* Maltin... and then you'll be set! The two sources complement each other remarkably well. It's a shame the merits of each can't be combined into a single volume.
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24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
OK for quick reference but the Internet does it better, April 15, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Leonard Maltin's 2001 Movie & Video Guide (Signet) (Mass Market Paperback)
Thanks to handy internet resources like the IMDB, Leonard Maltin's Movie Video Guide has become passe. IMDB and similar sites provide not only the cast credits for each film (AND the names of the characters they played), but also the names of the director, the screenwriter(s), the production crew... sometimes even the names of the stunt men involved! They also provide the film distributor's name, overseas running times, video availability info, and much more. What do you get in Maltin's book? Some of the actors (never all of them), no list of characters, the director's name but never the writer (unless it's someone famous like Neil Simon or David Mamet), no production credits to speak of, and outdated video info. (Example: Maltin lists "Dirty Mary Crazy Larry" as being on video. News alert, Leonard: "Dirty Mary" hasn't been on video for almost ten years and is so hard to find that most video stores don't even have it for rent anymore.) So what is Maltin's book good for? Well, if you're searching for a "guide" to which movies to rent, I humbly recommend you look elsewhere. Note that Maltin doesn't actually write all the reviews himself. Most are penned by his ghost writers (listed as "contributing editors"). As a result, the reviews are inconsistent and often ridiculous. I mean really... is there anyone out there besides Maltin's gang who thinks that "Streets of Fire" was better than "The Matrix"? Or that "Ssssss" was better than "Alien"? Similarly, Maltin's crew gives thumbs down (**1/2 rating or less) to "The Usual Suspects", "The Truman Show", "The Shawshank Redemption", "Forrest Gump", "Unforgiven", "The Mask", and "Liar Liar" while heaping praise on such cinematic greats as "Blacula", "Quigley Down Under", "A Man in Love", "Count Yorga, Vampire" and "Back to the Future 3". Bottom line: Maltin's book is OK for referencing such topics as what year "Old Yeller" was released or who directed "Muscle Beach Party". Aside from that, you're better off searching elsewhere.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Sometimes completely correct and at other times, way off!, August 5, 2001
This review is from: Leonard Maltin's 2001 Movie & Video Guide (Signet) (Mass Market Paperback)
Maltin seems to know what he's talking about most of the time, but misses the mark on many classics. First of all, look at his review on "The Shawshank Redemption" - he gave it ** 1/2 and called it "hollow". Today, it ranks second on the IMDB movie list, right under "The Godfather". Thousands of movie goers can't be wrong. Then there's the length factor - he simply cannot stand to sit through any movie over two hours. And one thing that completely caught me off guard was his PERFECT (!) four star review for "The Cider House Rules". Yes, it's true. It was one of the longest, drawn out and boring films I've ever seen. I expected him to [put it down] , but he thinks it's brilliant. Another sign of him missing the mark. However, on the flipside, he does creit brilliance where it exists most of the time. Overall, give him some credit, but don't take his reviews as the ultimate word on the film. My advice? ROTTENTOMATOES.COM - it gives the averaged score for a film from some of the best critics.
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