Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide

By Leonard Maltin

Book Overview

Now updated and revised for 2009, Maltin's guide is most authoritative book in the field, and now contains more entries than ever before. It includes more than 17,000 entries as well as 10,000 DVD and 14,000 video entries. Original.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 045122468X
• ISBN13: 9780451224682
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Length: 1644 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.2" x 4.3" x 7.1"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Still the quintessential reference book after all these years

Leonard Maltin has been issuing this yearly movie reference guide for many years. A while back (not sure when exactly), Maltin decided to split up the movies in pre-and after 1960 movies. The pre-1960 movies now have their own book ("Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide"). "Leonard Maltin's 2009 Movie Guide" (a whopping 1,644 pages, this book should be sold "by the pound") brings the alphabetical listing of more than 17,000 movies and captures their essence in a single paragraph. The editions change little from year to year, bringing a batch of new movies. It's not exactly clear where the chronological cut-off point is: "Iron Man" is in here, but not "The Dark Knight". But it matters not. The beauty of this book is that it remains the essential "hard copy" reference tool for us movie lovers. Yes, the minute this book is issued it becomes out-dated (see the "Dark Knight" reference), and I'm sure there are on-line reference sites that are more up to date, but if you, like me, like to have an actual book, this reference guide is for you. At that level, this book remains the best and essential.

A great gift

I never go wrong giving this book as a present to family members or friends who love films.

Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide

Purchase the revised edition every year. Have not found a book with comparable reviews of up-to-date movies. Great for help with crosswords.

Maltin's the king of the succinct review

Every movie lover should have this compact, brick-sized guidebook. With more than 17,000 movie reviews -- including 300 new entries for this edition -- Leonard Maltin's 2009 Movie Guide is a valuable resource. My favorite movie critic has been and always will be Roger Ebert; I always buy his annual Movie Yearbook. This Leonard Maltin guide is also a must-buy. I like it for the writing. Maltin is the king of the succinct review, with each movie capsule containing from one to five sentences. For example, here is his review of the 1995 movie Toy Story: "A boy's favorite toy, a cowboy doll named Woody, feels threatened (and rightly so) by the arrival of a new birthday present, a high-tech spaceman model advertised on TV. Clever, incredible-looking animated film, produced entirely on computer. A grownup story masquerading as a kid's film, this story of friendship, fickleness, and the need for acceptance features a colorful cast of characters led by Woody and his rival, Buzz Lightyear. The `acting' of the two leads -- their facial expressions and body language -- is as good as anything ever seen in a conventional animated cartoon." Only four sentences, but it sums up the plot and gives you enough information to choose whether to see the movie or not. My only qualm is the quality of the presentation. The paper is a little see-through and grayish, like newsprint. The typeface is tiny. Instead of paying less for this quality level, I'd rather spend a few dollars more and get a book that's easy to read. Other than the reviews, the book contains: * A three-page introduction * A key to the book, which explains the alphabetization format used to put the movie reviews in order, Maltin's rating system, symbols used and the MPAA ratings system. * A list of 50 good to great movies that viewers may have missed. Included are a couple of my personal favorites, "The Man in the Moon" from 1991, and "Miss Potter" from 2006. * A directory of mail-order and online sources for buying and renting DVDs and videos. * A widescreen glossary, listing the aspect ratio of special widescreen processes such as CinemaScope and Technirama. * An index of leading actors and directors with a list of their movies.

The Best Movie Guide Out There

I think Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide 2009 is the best one-volume source on the movies currently being published. In its 1644 pages in addition to its capsule reviews and ratings it has an Index of Stars and an Index of Directors. An example of space shortage: Christian Bale is listed but not Christian Slater. I just wish the book would go to press in December of the year instead of the summer. Then it could include such 2008 titles as the Batman sequel "The Dark Knight." This year Maltin and his 12 editors and contributors have added 300 new titles. Many pre-1960 titles had to be dropped because of space limitations, but they are in another Maltin volume. Mick Martin and Marsha Porter published a comparable and very useful guide that listed Academy Award winners and an alternate title list for certain movies. It seems to have been discontinued after the 2007 edition. I would still rather look up films in this handy guide than rely solely on Google and other websites. You'll need something like this if your computer goes down. An excellent reference book.