From Booklist
The alphabetically arranged film entries consist of the following: date of release, awards(s) won, a one- or two-sentence description of the plot, and basic filmographic information (actors, color or black and white, running time, director, and company). It is important to emphasize that the entries consist of a wide variety of films--from movies that have been widely acclaimed to those that have excelled in just one area (such as best visual effects in The Abyss and best original score in A Little Romance).
Approximately 100 black-and-white movie stills are sprinkled throughout the entries; a brief bibliography and an index of film and cast names end the book. Valuable appendixes include a chronological list of winners of major awards (best film, actor, actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, and director); a chronological list of nominees for these six categories; record holders for Oscars won in 11 areas of film work; a chronological list of Oscar nominees for best picture; directors who have worked with the most Oscar-winning actors; nominated films and the number of awards each lost; "200 Great Films That Weren't Nominated" (an uneven and seemingly arbitrary list); memorial and honorary awards given by the academy; and a chronological list of Oscar hosts.
The Academy Awards Index [RBB F 1 94] is arranged quite differently. The first half of the book lists both nominees and winners by award category and by year. Brief introductions provide the history of each award category. The second half lists nominees and winners by year and then by award category. An index of personal and film names makes it possible to find specific winners. The Academy Awards Index has more extensive information than The Oscar Movies. For example, it lists nominees as well as winners for all categories. While The Oscar Movies lists films that have won awards in all categories, there is no way to find out which film won the award for best editing or best art direction in a particular year. This book, with its photographs and plot summaries, is very browsable and makes information about the most popular categories of Academy Awards accessible at a reasonable price. Libraries serving serious film researchers will want The Academy Awards Index; high school and small public libraries will want The Oscar Movies. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
