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Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 1999 (Serial)

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

Movie reviews aren't always going to agree with your personal opinion. Sometimes you will like a movie and somebody like Mr. Ebert may think it isn't worth the celluloid it's printed on. But, when Ebert hates a film, he LOATHES it. The fun of this book is in seeing how he manages to tear down a film completely and so thoroughly in a single line. Who wants to read a glowing review of a film (especially if you thought it was dreck anyway?) But reading Ebert trash "The Jackal" as being the tale of "an over achiever" who would import bugspray from Iran if he were hired to kill a mosquito, is pure literary gold. In a time where most people are content to say a movie was either good or bad, depending on the mood they were in when they saw it, Ebert blows a great breath of fresh air into critical savagery. And if that's not worth the cover price, why do you want a movie review compendium in the first place?

"'You think people deceive, and do things for the satisfaction of their vanity, and only talk about what high standards they have?' 'Yes, yes I do actually.'" This is part of my favorite Roger Ebert review, of the film Valmont, which includes an insightful interview with the director, Milos Forman. Unfortunately, the interview can be found in the Ebert website archive, but not in the Movie Yearbook (at least not in the 1998 version which I have been consulting recently.) Roger Ebert is such a prolific film critic that his reviews would spill over into several volumes. Thus, his annual yearbook contains only a selection, and in the case of Valmont, a more compact though less interesting version than is elsewhere available. It is understandable, of course, that, as Ebert states in his introduction, his volume only provides a complete set of reviews for the films he has written about in the past two years or so, whereas the selection of previous films is changed yearly, particularly eliminating films in which interest has waned. It is a fair compromise considering the limited space available even in a bulky volume, but at the same time it produces a book which on the one hand is incomplete -- the introduction refers the reader to the website and to other authors' more exhaustive companions containing less substantial blurbs -- but on the other, there is considerable overlap from one year's edition to the next. It makes me wonder if perhaps it would be a better idea to publish an exhaustive multi-volume set of the old reviews, and then make each yearbook an annual supplement. This might satisfy die-hard Ebert fans who would be interested in the complete reviews, without needlessly filling their shelf space with the duplication in each new year's volume. Still, it is very difficult for me to give Mr. Ebert a negative review, since, through his "Sneak Previews" program he has been my virtual companion to the movies since I was a kid, and, for a film buff who has none of the past Ebert yearbooks, there is no more insightful collection of film criticism in a single volume than the 1999 yearbook. Marginal thumbs up.

This book is comprehensive, detailed, and humorous. Just the thing I was looking for in a video guide book. This book is one of the best, along with Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever 2000 and The Manly Movie Guide. For one of the best alternatives to the Internet Movie Database read Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 1999 (not to be confused with version 1998).

This new kind of venture is a fun read. I have several past volumes of his Video Companion and have always enjoyed Mr. Ebert's reviews. This tome has some great stuff in his more scathing reviews. The previous collections of critiques were getting a little top heavy with favorable reviews presumably to encourage people to check out some hidden gems. This book gives you a real idea of the films he slogs through on a weekly basis. As for people who are miffed because he has an honest change of opinion sometimes, the only people whose ideas never change are dead or employ expensive spin-doctors to convince you that they had that belief all along.

Roger Ebert's "Movie Yearbook 1999" is the best guide out there today. I am so tired of Leonard Maltin, a critic who understands nothing of the art of films (he gives three stars to "Brazil" but only one and a half to "Scarface")! Here Ebert shows how one must approach critiquing the art of movies. I myself am a film critic and use Ebert's guide as a sort of book for study. I love his writing style and how he makes clear why a film is bad or good. I also love the fact that he adds intellectuality to his reviews. They are very informative and packed with interesting facts. This is a fabulous book because it also includes essays, interviews, and a list of all films in his previous guide editions along with star rating. I don't care if his reviews are long, I love to read all the interesting comments he puts. Roger Ebert is the greatest film critic around. Leonard Maltin seems like a sissy compared to Ebert and his magnificant mind for film criticsm.

As stated by Ebert in the introduction of this book........"This 1999 edition includes, indeed, many reviews that I wrote between January 1, 1996 and June 30th, 1998 that were not in last year's Video Companion, about 225, I estimate."

The Amazon. com editorial review of this 1999 yearbook, mistakenly leads one to believe that the 1999 yearbook includes all reviews written during 1998 by ebert, and that would be incorrect.

For those reviews written after June 30th, 1998, one would have to purchase his 2002 movie yearbook.

Roger Ebert is the best critic around he loves films almost has much as I do. I loved his review of Godzilla, Lost In Space, Armageddon. Screw Leonard Maltin(God, Maltin knows nothing about film what-so-ever. Imean he gives Taxi Driver two and a half stars, read Ebert's for a good review of it.) Ebert knows film very well!!!

Roger Ebert generally gives some of the best reviews in the world. While I don't always agree with his reviews (the imperfect but still very good I Know What You Did Last Summer earned one star), they are very in depth and very very funny. (I loved his review of Armageddon!) This is a must for every movie fan!

I felt the book had a lot of good points to it. I was amazed at how in depth it was!

I have read many reviews of Roger ebert and kmust say he is good. When he loves a movie he makes it sound like a gem like Casno, Babe, Leaving Las vegas, and whedn he hates a film he makes it sounbd so made that you even laugh at his words- like Patch adams. he always sharees his opinions and he is actually more of a positive reviewer than Siskel and other critics. Maltin doesn't write his reviews as well nor as quickly.