Movie Books

There are many things to appreciate about this terrific collection of short essays about the best movies in the history of cinema. I especially liked how the films were listed in chronological order, from "A Trip To The Moon" in 1902 to the latest...
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I received this book as a Christmas gift and have enjoyed skimming through it. Several movies of which I was previously unaware I would now like to see. However, I was very surprised at some of the films not included. For example, there isn't a...
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Most movie reviewers are so serious about their subject, that I was beginning to wonder if any of them enjoyed what they did anymore. Videohound uses a group of reviewers, which balances out the egotism most one-man shows have. The comments are...
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Over the years I have found some glaring errors in the Retriever's Guide, including wrong names for director, writer, etc. I don't know if they still do it, but they had Don "The Dragon" Wilson starring in films from the 1930's under his...
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So, they've got a cute gimmick with the title, the bones and the Woof rating for real dogs. But ... I'm giving my copy away and replacing it with the latest Leonard Maltin review book. Why? Because I didn't like the reviews as well, I didn't...
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Teaching film requires you to look at film. The second week of my film course (they are always night classes that meet once a week so that you have enough time to actually screen something) I always drag in about 50 videotapes to work through the...
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This book serves as only a general intro. to film, but even at the level of general intro., Bruce Kawin's How Movies Work or Louis Giannetti's Understanding Movies is better than this one in many respects, particularly Kawin's.

Bordwell is...
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"The Bible" provides everything you need under one cover: primer, industry formatting guide, workbook, marketing plan, and a list of resources including contests. It is one of the top selling screenwriting books available, is endorsed by numerous...
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I own this book, and it's terrible. Many of the so-called examples are extraordinarily simplistic. The likes of which I'd not seen since grade school. No joke!

And, perhaps most remarkably, there are no real worksheets given to help write. A far...
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I love author's language and his way of explaining things to the reader. It really works. The overall content of the book is very useful. But, I can't say the same thing about its format. This book is big and not in an "easy-to-use" style. I...
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Lots of preproduction art, just as great as the other PIXAr-Art of-books...a Must-Have!
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I think some reviewers are confusing the movie with the book. The film is amazingly brilliant. The book is not. At least not compared to a book like "The Art of The Incredibles". I just don't feel like I learned much or was shown the wide variety...
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I found Robert McKee's book STORY to be very helpful. Although it comes at the development of storyline from a screenwriters perspective there is plenty enough powerful information here to benefit every writer who wishes to hone their craft,...
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Don't get me wrong, this is a book that every screenwriter should read, but... I find myself at odds many times when reading it. First look at Robert McKee's IMDb listing. Here is a man who has NOT written a number of award-winning screenplays. I...
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For years I've wondered if Roger Ebert was going to release another collection of reviews of movies he hated hated hated. Along came "Your Movie Sucks". Ebert has always said that he'd rather enjoy a movie than not enjoy it. "Your Movie Sucks" is...
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Martin's opinions are quite consistent with my own. Easy to use. I have several guides & it's the first one I reach for & I've been using it for 10 or 15 years. Very family-friendly in that it explains why the MPAA rating was given (e.g., nudity,...
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The short movie descriptions are very helpful, but the print is very small, I have to strain to read it with reading glasses.

I have a 2002 printing of this guide and liked it. I upgraded to the 2007 version for the newer movies...
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I love these books, I get one for my husband every year. However, it did not arrive in great shape. The edges were worn down and cracked. Not sure it happen in transit of if it was sent out that way. Otherwise, I like the book.
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As new movies proliferate but Leonard Maltin's bestselling Movie Guide remains more or less constant at 4" thick and about 18,000 entries, more and more minor old movies have gotten squeezed out (even as they become more and more available on TV)....
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Leonard Maltin put this book out too soon. It seems like a rush job.There are hundreds of films repeated from his classic and, what is worse, there are hundreds of available films that he skips. Many films on TCM this month (April) where missing....
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This book has really enlightened my view of storytelling and brought things into a focus I could'nt grasp otherwise. As an award winning feature filmmaker I've done a ton of educational methods to be a better director/writer and I'm already...
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I should have known it when I saw that the author's big credit was "Stop or My Mom Will Shoot" - a film that even it's best poster was painful to watch. If you've been attracted to screenwriting from those films that have made big impressions on...
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This book definitely has some usable information, and its breezy tone makes for easy reading, but it's by no means the last book on screenwriting you'll ever need. Blake Snyder has certainly made money in the industry -- good for him -- and if...
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I bought this book expecting to just be instructed, and came away thoroughly entertained and entralled. Full of verve and funny but telling observations, this is one of the best written books I have read in years. Part culture critique, part...
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