VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever

My wife and I have been buying this book annually since the early/mid 90's. It's been a rare moment that it has disappointed, and believe it or not, the reviews are intelligently written and, in this movie nut's opinion much more fair and helpful to the would-be viewer than many of the top US newspaper's and web site's highly paid guns-for-hire. I don't want to put across the impression that all "big-time" critics aren't really that great, but more and more often these folks seem to think they're in a competition with their counterparts to see who can find and use the most obscure phraseology and biting criticism that it's like trying to follow a Dennis Miller routine if you haven't read every major newspaper in the country that day! These folks seem to understand the critics job in more of an everyman way, sure they're witty, and they can bite with the biggest dogs out there, but we find that the reviews are very often right on the money. It rates on a system of dog bones, 1 bone (actually they have a no-bone rating, simply stated as "woof") through 4 bones, and when they give a movie 4 bones, I think you would really have to try very hard to find that particular movie unlikable. We have rented or purchased a "4-boner" on those criteria alone. Just my opinion, but they just seem to tell it like it is, but still have a little fun with it. After all, it is a MOVIE, right? You laugh, you cry, yada, yada. Of course, it has to get bigger every year, (2008's has 1800+ pages, but it's also a blast just to scan thru...because as well as reviewing almost every movie made, the reviews give exhaustively complete credits, i.e., cinematography, music score, screenplay, based on a book by ___, etc., etc., you also get, after the movie section, a cross-referencing group of sections that defies you to try and play "stump the Hound". If you cannot find out information on, say, Bud Cort's first film appearance, (M.A.S.H.) or maybe a disturbing filmography of David Lynch, this is where you look. I would say it could satisfy (at least to a certain extent!), the very freakishly obsessed with movies and movie-making trivia. Just stroll through the section on actors, and you'll soon learn that many of your favorite star's went through a relatively inauspicious beginning, and that's just one of the many categories that are almost voyeuristic in their "completeness"...directors, with their bodies of work just lying there chronologically for you to pick at, lol, the category list, which contains genre, sub-genre, thematic, even significant scene selections, and a "kibbles and series" list, actually a bunch of off the wall indexes rolled into one index...you would look here to find out what your favorite movie's genesis really was...literary, theatrical, cartoon, television adaptations, plus there's a quality check with categories like "woofs", "4 bones" top grossing, jeez, I'm getting carpal tunnel while trying (woefully unsuccessfully) to keep this somewhat short. If you like movies check it out, if you love them, just buy it. My wife and I started calling it the "boner book" from the second week we found our first one. BTW...you can pre-order the '09 edition right now, you sicko!

If you like movies you need this book. For instance my wife and I were watching the original Pink Panther movie the other day. When Capucine (who played Peter Sellers wife) came on the screen my wife and I tried to figure out her age when the movie was made? Instead of a long and annoying internet search engine, it was easier to pick up this book, go to the Cast Index section and find not just her birth year 1933, which meant she was only 31 when the movie was made, but the year of her death 1990 which really surprised us. Along with a list of all the movies she had appeared in.Besides the alphabetical movie reviews which comprises the first 1,216 pages, you get a 203 page category index in case for example want to Netflex some Science Fiction movies, or Vampire movies etc. Then you get among other things the list of all the Academy Awards, British Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Independent Spirit Awards, Writers Guild of America Awards and the easy to forget about but good for a laugh, the Golden Raspberry Award of the worst - who could forget that Dan Aykrod got worst actor for Caddyshack 2?There is also a Director Index and the book finishes with the Writers Index and then the Website Guide.So you can get 1,973 pages of helpful information all in one place for what you would spend going to a movie and getting a big popcorn and big drink. It's a deal you shouldn't miss out on. Unless you don't care anything about movies.

The Videohound's guides are the most comprehensive and user-friendly collections of movie reviews around. Films are sorted by title, genre, cast, director, writer and even composer and cinematographer, so if you can remember anything at all about a movie, you can look it up. Reviews are concise and often amusing, with ratings from Woof! to ****. Many of the Woofs! are low-budget horror films that fall into the "so bad it's good" category. Flaws? In my opinion, some of the reviewers (I assume they weren't all written by one person!) don't appreciate many low-key, offbeat independent films. Some of my favorite movies only get one or two stars. But no gigantic collection of reviews can expect to please everyone, and the primary value of Videohound's is that it's a superb reference tool. Whether you agree with the reviews is secondary.

This is the third edition of VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever we've bought. We keep it in the entertainment center with our DVDs, Videotapes (yes we still have some) and players. When we're watching a movie and someone says "I wonder what other movies Jessica Lange (or whoever) has been in" we pause the player and find out then and there. Only drawback is you don't get a full review for movies that have never made it to DVD, but the title is there so you know the movie exists and is only available on videotape. A must for the movie viewer, serious or just curious.

As far as this is my seventh yearly Moview Review book I've purchased I feel that the reviews for each movie give me and other friends an idea of wether we'll like the movie (if we buy it) also has a pretty good listing of most stars if I am looking for a movie, but don't remember the title. I also like that this book lists independants as well as the million dollar movie studios. I sometimes discount the bones as that's the opinion of the reviewer who may not think like me or may be looking for perfection whereas I'm looking to be entertained as well as gain some knowledge because I feel that many movies mirror current events (not just documentaries).

Love it!!! Finally--a replacement for my very old movie books. I thought I would never find an update after years of looking. Nobody seems to write these any more. This has all the information I need and is current. This book is the size of a dictionary, but then it has to be in order to hold everything that it does. I prefer written material over the internet when I want a quick synopsis without any spoilers and I am not overwhelmed with so much data. This is a great book to curl up with to plan your movie week.

Of all the books on DVD and video releases that I have seen, this one remains my favourite. Brief write-ups on the films and rated with bones. Different sections listing cast, directors, composers, etc. A good reference when watching TV and videos.

With close on 30000 film reviews this book is easily the most comprehensive film review book available. Highly recommended.

Es sind fast alle Filme drin, die ich suche. Selbst TV-Filme oder DVD-Veröffentlichungen findet man. Was mir sehr gut gefällt (und was ich noch bei keinem anderen Filmkritiknachschlagewerk gefunden habe), ist die Auflistung der Preise, die der jeweilige Film/Darsteller/Ton/Buch usw. gewonnen hat.

ES UN LIBRO EXCELENTE, RECOMENDABLE PARA CUALQUIER CINEFILO, TANTO PARA PRINCIPIANTES, COMO PARA LOS MAS EXIGENTES, EL UNICO DETALLE ES QUE COMO EN LO PERSONAL SOY FAN DE LOS CARTELES DE CINE, ESTE LIBRO NO CONTIENE, PERO EN GENERAL MUY BUENO Y DETALLADO.

best movie review book ever only bad thing is it it won't fit in my purse :P