From Publishers Weekly
Like a movie-land version of our ever-expanding universe, this massive home reference continues its inexorable growth. The latest edition adds 300 recent video, DVD and laserdisc releases to its nearly 19,000 entries on mostly American films. Film critic and historian Maltin presides over a stable of reviewers whose often tart capsule reviews are dedicated to holding the line against ratings inflation in the 21st century, "a time of creative bankruptcy in Hollywood." Beleaguered parents will find helpful warnings about sexual content and violence, and can turn to a list of "100+ Recommended Family Films" to settle video-rental disputes. Entries for multi-film video anthologies, together with filmographies of famous actors and a list of specialty video mail-order companies, will assist those looking to put together their own private film festivals. Movie buffs may occasionally raise their eyebrows at Maltin's assessments (Boys Don't Cry and Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves both get two and a half stars) but his methodology-judging a movie against what it could have been and what it wanted to be-is ultimately an extremely sound one. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide 2004 FROM OUR EDITORS
With more than 1,600 pages, Leonard Maltin's 2004 Movie & Video Guide tests the limits of mass market binders; but size isn't its only virtue. Its more than 20,000 capsule movie reviews (including more than 300 new entries) provide everything from synopsis to ratings to running times to the name of that actor you can't quite identify.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
To create this quintessential guidebook to the movies, Leonard Maltin has added some 400 new film entries, bringing the total to more than 19,000, and kept pace with video and laserdisc releases.
SYNOPSIS
Here is the latest "millennium'' version of the premiere guide to movie watching, from one of the most respected names in film review. Total capsule reviews top more than a whopping 20,000 including 300 new entries; an updated and expanded list of more than 14,000 films on video; over 9,000 laserdisc and DVD listings; star and director indexes; catalog of every film series from Andy Hardy to Tarzan; exclusive list of the century's 100 "must-see'' films; star ratings for all entries; official motion picture code ratings; more. ``Easily the most comprehensive work of its kind anywhere, it belongs next to every TV and VCR in every home.''—USA Today.
FROM THE CRITICS
Art Today
August 1998
"Inch for inch, dollar for dollar, Maltin's book gives you the most." —Boston Sunday Herald
"The most comprehensive work of its kind anywhere."—Larry King, USA Today
Esquire
A book you must buy.
Roger Ebert
I recommend Leonard Maltin's guide, which has become standard.
New York Times
The biggest and the best. Head and shoulders above the rest.
KLIATT - Janet Julian
The definitive guide to DVD, videocassette, and laserdisc releases, Maltin's latest edition is approaching the size of the OED. True, he has omitted some films and dropped ten actors from the index of stars, but newly released films as well as Hugh Grant, Adam Sandler, and Renee Zellweger have been added. The summaries, reviews, and ratings are still here, although Maltin finds it "difficult to retain a positive outlook" on today's movies. "Dumb comedies are dumber and cruder" and there is a "widening gulf between the best movies and the most popular." There is a newly added list of 50 good movies you really ought to see and four pages of mail-order sources for videos. Some Like It Hot and Dumbo are still four-star films and The Blood of Dracula's Castle is still a BOMB. Maltin's guide is a must for every library, public and private. KLIATT Codes: JSA-Recommended for junior and senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2003, Penguin, Plume, 1644p., Ages 12 to adult.
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