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| Leonard Maltin's 2009 Movie Guide (Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide) | 
 enlarge | Author: Leonard Maltin
Publisher: Plume
Category: Book
List Price: $20.00
Buy New: $10.48
You Save: $9.52 (48%)
New (54) Used (14) from $8.15
Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 48884
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2009
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1664
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.6
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.3 x 2.5
ISBN: 0452289785
Dewey Decimal Number: 016.7914375
EAN: 9780452289789
ASIN: 0452289785
Publication Date: August 5, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The New York Times bestselling movie guide from a household name in film criticism
Consulted more frequently than ever in this era of Netflix as the resource, Leonard Maltins New York Times bestselling film guide remains the most complete, most reliable, and most authoritative resource for movie reviews. Including nearly 17,000 films, the 2009 edition features more than 300 new entries, a completely updated index of leading actors and directors, and Leonards personal favorite films.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 Maltin's new movie guide August 26, 2008
27 out of 31 found this review helpful
I ordered this book because I wanted to get Leonard Maltin's most recent listings. When it arrived, I found it completely unusable. Obviously, it has many more entries, but instead of being larger than my old one (from about 3 years ago), the book is of smaller size. As a result, the type is so small that, with my 76-year-old eyes, I could not read it. I was planning to pass the old one along to my grown children but, instead, I gave them this one and kept the old one for myself. With more and more listings being added each year, somebody has to give serious thought to developing a reasonable format to accommodate the ever-increasing volume. This review clearly does not address itself to the content, which I was not able to access. I've enjoyed Maltin's guide for many years, and I can't imagine that the quality of the content has suffered. By giving it only one star I am only trying to communicate that this new guide did not serve MY purpose. It may be totally satisfactory for someone else with better eyesight.
Love Leonard Maltin, but why do they release the book so early? August 10, 2008
14 out of 18 found this review helpful
For my money, this is the best of the movie guides. These concise, knowledgeable reviews written by Leonard Maltin and his team are indispensable when flipping through movie channels on TV or trying to decide on the next DVD rental. They also do a great job each year in correcting errors and adding the names of newly-prominent actors to the cast lists.
My only significant complaint is the the book is published way, way too early in the year. Why issue the "2009 Guide" in early August 2008? Obviously, the summer is the key time for releasing new movies, but because of its publication date this year's guide only includes movies released through early July. It's missing reviews of The Incredible Hulk, WALL-E, Sex and the City, Kitt Kittredge, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Kung Fu Panda, and -- the biggest hit of 2008 -- The Dark Knight, among many other summer and fall releases. Anyone who buys the book right after publication (like I did) probably realizes some of these reviews will not be there, but I would guess this book sells a lot of copies during the holiday season. Many of those people are going to be pretty disappointed to find out just how many films are not reviewed in this "2009 Guide." Seems like a very strange strategy by the publisher.
 Still the quintessential reference book after all these years October 1, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
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.
Maltin's the king of the succinct review August 19, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
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 August 15, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
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.
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