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43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very few will need the separate Classic Guide..., September 22, 2006
Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide is one of four essential movie guide's on the market, the others being Halliwell's Film Guide, The Time Out Movie Guide and The Virgin Film Guide (which is actually an updated edition of James Monaco's Movie Guide and is available from Amazon.co.uk). Each of these books have their own particular strengths, The Virgin and Time Out Guide's with longer but fewer reviews and Maltin's and Halliwell's books with very comprehensive but brief entries.
My initial concern when I heart that Maltin was creating a separate Classic Movie Guide was that many earlier films would now only be available in that separate book. Of the hundreds of pre-60's films I looked up every single one was still included in this book, many of them far from standard classics. What Maltin has done is wisely weed out all of the obscure pre-1960's programmers that few people have an interest in seeing today in order to keep the book a maneagable size. Unless you have a need to research really obscure, generic fare (and it's going to have to be a lot more obscure than anything directed by Edgar G. Ulmer for example) you will be fine without the Classic Guide.
Regarding the print size, it is true that the type isn't much bigger than with the mass market edition but it IS slightly larger. I would still recommend sticking with the larger Plume trade size paperback.
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This guide is better than ever!!!, September 22, 2006
Alright, there are some logical complaints here, but all easy to answer. First, this book IS available, as one reviewer mentioned, in large print(for those who need this). However, for others, like myself, just get this book. The descriptions of milestones, early appearances, etc. are well worth it. The facts here are much more numerous than any other guide. Included is a family guide-with a large quantity of great family pictures of the past and present(there's also a "Leonard Maltin Family Film Guide" on the market, if it's more of this you so desire), a mail-order video area, and a widescreen glossary(which I find very useful-and not a bad idea for others to use, too-especially when I read on Amazon that they need to release the widescreen version of "Shadow of a Doubt", et al., although this film was never in widescreen format).
As far as the comment on his TV movies, his TV guide has not been on the market for awhile(probably not a phenomenal sell-big shocker, huh?) This is why the more "important" TV films are still here. Although it appears that he's stopped adding recent TV movies(within the last decade or more), his main focus is on cinema, which is obviously the meat of this guide. If it's more depth in the TV area that interests you, you may need to look for a good TV encyclopedia. Also, where it might be a space saver for Maltin to remove the actors/directors guide in the back, this short directory comes in handy when looking for a quick reference on the bigger stars and directors, which is its focus. In fact, he's enlargened this section to include even more important/contemporary names. This section, which had always been available in the guide, had been lost in the early part of this decade. In fact, I know that the 2000 edition is worth finding for its "100 Must-See Films of the 20th Century", found in the front of the book, which is nice to own. At that time, it had swapped this for the actor/director directory. Now, if you're a real film buff(and, I mean, you take in all periods and types of films), then you're probably not going to miss the absence of some of the recent pop culture actors/directors, anyway. If you do, though, get one of the other guides, like Ephraim Katz's Film Encyclopedia(a great one for in-depth study).
Next year's edition of the Maltin Movie/Video Guide is always released in the previous August. So, as I write this-autumn 2006-the 2007 edition is now available. Just get this book!
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finding a review of every movie., November 10, 2006
I always buy Leonard Maltin's paperback Movie Guide every year. I have found that it contains a review of every movie I look for (except, obviously movies that were released after the publication date).
Years ago I bought two other rather large movie guide books, only to find that they were not nearly as complete and comprehensive as Maltin's Book.
My only complaint with the paperback version is the size of the print - a little small for my 70-year-old eyes.
Next year, I will visit one of the larger booksellers and ask if there is a version with larger print.
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