Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide 2015: The Modern Era

The final issue of Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide, which he says is the end of the line because the world increasingly wants something free, is about the same as other years except it has excluded the pages of credits for actors and directors. Otherwise, it has about the same number of pages as always (1,609) and says it focuses on modern films. I'm sure this is because it is the last version planned and everyone wants to go into posterity noting as many current films as possible.My gripe with Maltin's annual movie review book, and it's a big one, is I do not believe he and his associate critics (he calls them editors) have universally good taste when it comes to ranking films. I have been a paid critic for recordings so I know criticism is completely subjective; I don't argue with that. Still, I can't get over how regularly Maltin or one of his helpers either overrates bland films or underrates great one. Here are a few examples:"American Hustle," the movie whose script revolves around the 1970s Abscam undercover project, was nominated for 11 Oscars and won numerous other awards for its staff chemistry. Most professional critics gave it 4 stars upon release. Maltin's book gives it 2 1/2 stars, says the film never quite comes together, and gives it the same ranking as thousands of ordinary films."Taxi Driver," a renowned masterpiece from DeNiro and Scorsese that visually depicts the declining morality, increasing crime and Vietnam-era alienation of the period (1976) is routinely ranked 4 stars by critics. Maltin's book gives it 2 stars and says it depicts too much violence and unsavory behavior.It works the other way, too. "The Pope of Greenwich Village," a 1984 vehicle for Mickey Rourke, Daryl Hannah and Eric Roberts, is about small-time criminals in Little Italy. Nothing much ever happens, the acting is forgettable, the script even more bland, and it goes nowhere. This book gives it 3 stars, a better rating than "American Hustle," calling it a good character study.Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, agreed, but I find these funky rankings throughout Maltin's book where I see he and his "editors" praising poor or forgettable films and downgrading great ones. I've owned many of these books and have never previously seen such inconsistency. It is only possible, of course, because Maltin and crew have outlasted the competition: they are the only game in town any longer.In the days when people actually read hardcopy reference books there were better ones than this, the best coming from Steven Scheuer. But that's the past and today Maltin is all there is. So buy this as tribute to 40 years of adequate books covering feature films. But don't expect the ratings to be on target all the time.

I have bought Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide since the early 1980s and have always enjoyed it. He has over 16,000 thoughtful reviews of many different movies and would go to a lot of trouble getting the title listing, year and running time correct. Unfortunately in the last few years he has cut features out of the book. One Amazon reviewer noted that the book is shrinking, this is true. The 2013 version has 1640 pages and the 2015 has only 1611 pages. The index of stars has been cut from this edition, they also had a index of directors which was cut years ago too, along with TV made movies. He is also cutting out any silent movies (movies released before 1927) from the 2015 edition. I am going to keep my 2013 edition on hand for the features that were cut in the 2015 edition. He seems to have a terrible phobia about letting the book get too big, he could easily divide a book with all of the features that we love into 2 parts and sell them in a sleeve.After 46 years of publications, Maltin is announcing that this is his last edition. In the "Introduction to 2015 Edition", he starts out this section by stating "This is the final edition of Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide. There's no way to soften or defect that news, although I can't pretend that it comes as a shock. With ready access to information on the Internet, our readership has diminished at an alarming rate. The book's loyal followers know that we strive to offer something one can't easily find online: curated information that is accurate and user-friendly, along with our own reviews and ratings. But when a growing number of people believe that everything should be free, it's impossible to support a reference book that requires a staff of contributors and editors." It's a shame, internet and new technology claims another victim which is this book.Leonard Maltin is one of the best and most respected movie critics out there today even though I disagree with his negative reviews of The Shining, Caddyshack, Blade Runner and Scarface. Even with the cuts, I will miss this great reference book, unfortunately this version goes out with a whimper.

It looks like the rise of the online review make the book no longer viable.This is the last edition to be published.That's a real shame as myself and probably thousands of others have grew up with this book.I first bought it in the early 90's, I had to buy this edition with it being the last.I don't always agree with the reviews but that's half the fun, comparing my own reviews with an expert like Maltin.But more often then not his reviews are spot on.Reviews are concise and to the point, a general overview of the plot,then a critique of the film in question.I would personally prefer a slightly different rating system. Rate the film 1-10, rather then the BOMB (really awful) up to 4 star including halfs. But that quibble aside a must own book.

There are plenty of other reviews to choose from on the web, but for me this provides the benchmark against which others can be judged. I have always found it to be an essential reference over successive years and this remains a reliable and definitive film guide, but I can see why it has struggled against more accessible alternatives.The e-book version is way too clunky to use as a simple A-Z list (the App, now defunct, was slightly better) and would score two and a half points for format, but the content remains five stars (or four if using the guides own rating) I will be buying the last print version too (you can stumble across other absorbing titles more easily when browsing for the film you want).

This is really a great and useful guide, great value for money, and I can see I'm going to have many hours of fun using it. It's very easy to search, to cross refer and bookmark, and the reviews are short and sweet giving ratings and the cast etc of each movie which is exactly what I was looking for! I understand that this will be the author's last movie guide, and that is a great shame! Pleased to have this book on my amazon Fire, and many thanks undeed to Leonard Malton!

Forget The Radio Times Film Guide which tells you nothing about the story but lots you don't want to know about the directors and actors. Maltin's tells you (briefly) the outline of the plot without revealing secrets. Downside is the small print and the book's small format which makes it difficult to find what you're looking for. That aside it's an excellent guide if you're wondering to record the film or not.

Supposed to be the last ever edition of Maltin's Movie Guide.This used to be essential for movie fans.Nowadays with the internet it is largely outdated.I still love this book..I often disagree with Maltin but it has always been a fun read as well as a useful referencee tool over the years.I shall miss it