Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide
Encyclopedia
Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide is a book-format collection of movie capsule review
s that began in 1969 and has been updated yearly since 1978. It was originally called TV Movies, which became Leonard Maltin's TV Movies and Video Guide, which then became Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide. Leonard Maltin
edits it and contributes a large portion of its reviews.
The Guide is notable for containing what the Guinness Book of World Records calls the world's shortest movie review. His 2 out of 4 star review of the 1948 musical Isn't It Romantic?
consists of the word "No". His other very short review for the film "Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed" in which he says, "It is what it is."
, William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd
, Gene Autry
and Roy Rogers
.
Similar books include Movies on TV, by Steven H. Scheuer
, Halliwell's Film Guide, by Leslie Halliwell
, and The Good Film and Video Guide, by David Shipman. Scheuer's guide was the first published, in 1958, preceding Maltin's by ten years. His book was challenged at a library in Canada in 2009.
Capsule review
A capsule review is a form of criticism, usually associated with journalism, that offers a relatively short critique of a specified artistic work...
s that began in 1969 and has been updated yearly since 1978. It was originally called TV Movies, which became Leonard Maltin's TV Movies and Video Guide, which then became Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide. Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
edits it and contributes a large portion of its reviews.
Features
The book uses a four star rating system. The lowest rating is "BOMB," followed by one and a half stars, rising in half-star increments to a maximum of four stars. Another notable feature is that each review includes a reference to the source material for the film if it is based on previously published material. Films are listed alphabetically letter-by-letter, with articles ignored and transposed to the end of the title.The Guide is notable for containing what the Guinness Book of World Records calls the world's shortest movie review. His 2 out of 4 star review of the 1948 musical Isn't It Romantic?
Isn't It Romantic? (film)
Isn't It Romantic? is a 1948 film from Paramount Pictures, directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Veronica Lake and Billy De Wolfe. Although it takes its title from a 1932 song by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, it is based on a novel called Gather Ye Rosebuds by Jeannette C...
consists of the word "No". His other very short review for the film "Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed" in which he says, "It is what it is."
History
In 2005, logistical problems of a single book prompted him to launch a companion volume, Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide, restricted to films from 1960 and earlier, several of which no longer appear in the annual publication (some had been deleted over the years to make room for newer films, others removed at this point because the additional venue allowed it) and many others that never had. The latter category includes the "complete" (according to Maltin's introduction) Saturday matinee cowboy programmers of John WayneJohn Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
, William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd
William Boyd (actor)
William Lawrence Boyd was an American film actor best known for portraying Hopalong Cassidy.-Biography:...
, Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
and Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
.
Similar books include Movies on TV, by Steven H. Scheuer
Steven H. Scheuer
Steven H. Scheuer is a film and television historian and critic. He edited all seventeen editions of Movies on TV published between 1958 and 1993 and wrote The Movie Book, subtitled A Comprehensive, Authoritative, Omnibus Volume on Motion Pictures and the Cinema World...
, Halliwell's Film Guide, by Leslie Halliwell
Leslie Halliwell
Robert James Leslie Halliwell was a British film encyclopaedist and television impresario who in 1965 compiled The Filmgoer's Companion, the first one-volume encyclopaedia devoted to all aspects of the cinema. He followed it a dozen years later with Halliwell's Film Guide, another monumental work...
, and The Good Film and Video Guide, by David Shipman. Scheuer's guide was the first published, in 1958, preceding Maltin's by ten years. His book was challenged at a library in Canada in 2009.