Goodbye, Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide

This edition is the last in the long-running Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide.

I rather feel like this is nearly a tombstone to an era of guides. All Movie Guide is one of the few comprehensive ones online (and it has taken a major nosedive quality-wise in the last two or three years).

I believe Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever is the last of the print ones.

Music and movie guides are going away. Many critic haters will rejoice. I'm a little bummed.

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

I have fond memories of the Leonard Maltin guide, it was invaluable in the early 90s while I was rabidly trying to learn as much as I could about as many genres of films as possible.

 

This is a terrible day for guys named "Doug Benson."

 

My copy of the 2009 edition is sitting right here. An invaluable resource before I brought the internet into my home, now, sadly, it's a weight to keep the table from tipping over, when the top of the table is lifted, for use as a desk.

 

I still buy the current edition each year. A positive review for a film I've never heard of often results in a rental. Sometimes, I even love the movie.

The information is great, but sites provide most of that (and more) for free. It is the critical aspect of these guides I will miss.

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

I used to have a whole shelf of movie guides; Maltin, VideoHound, Ebert, Scarecrow and ended up getting rid of them all when I thought that the same information was available online. It's true that IMDB has links to critics reviews, but they are inconsistent and lack the common voice that an edited guide would bring. There are some websites out there that do a good job, but they tend to eventually disappear or are forced to depend on ad views to drive content updates.

 

Understood. Since late 2009, I've come to rely on IMDB, DVD Talk, and Blu-ray.com.

 

thanks. Sorry to see it go.

 

An invaluable resource then and now. Old editions contain info on films that may never find their way to a "Wiki" page on the ol' interweb. Didnt always agree with the ratings, but always loved scouring the guide for films. Adieu!

 

They really should continue it as a paid-access online edition.

 

They should, but people don't seem to want to pay for things anymore. Why read a movie guide written by a professional writer and critic when you can do a google search and see what Joe Blow thinks?

 

Have not bought one in many years, but I used to really like them.

 

I should have known this was coming when they took down the mobile app earlier this year.

This news makes me very sad.

 

This won't be missed by me. I never used it.

 

You mean, Jo Blo (http://www.joblo.com), right?

 

Wow, I thought that book would be around forever. I buy the new edition every year. I enjoy browsing it and use it as a reference tool. Sure, you can find similar content on the Internet, but not the exact same reviews from the same "voice" (even though I know Maltin uses several writers). And I like to get a break from staring at a computer screen.

 

While I appreciate what Maltin did and as a film historian he is terrific, I often disagree with his assessments of films. Many of the films he feels are great, I feel aren't so much and vice versa.

Taste comes into it even though movie critics would deny it.

 

Do you think so? I can't imagine many people - critics or otherwise - would deny they have their own personal preferences/biases. For instance, I've always admitted in my reviews that I'm not a fan of musicals...

 

I haven't bought a new copy in a long time, but have flipped endlessly through the 1996 and 2006 editions I have. As I'm
mostly interested in older films, the newer editions aren't as necessary for me. One thing I like to do with these, which is
harder to do with an online resource, is tick off films as I see them, so if something is listed for a cable airing, I can avoid
taping something I've already seen. I may not agree with all of Maltin's reviews, but they're fun and informative.

 

I liked his handy book but some of his entries are downright nutty. Many beloved classics are dismissed while sewage like Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and the Star Wars prequels get 4-star praise. He thinks "Jason Takes Manhattan" is the best of the series. He gave "The Waterboy" a higher rating than "Blue Velvet", "Taxi Driver", and "Blade Runner"(a one-star movie in his estimation). I guess I respect his balls to go out on a limb and call it like he sees it, though I'm pretty sure he only liked "Muppets Take Manhattan" because he has a cameo.

 

Same with Gremlins 2 LOL

 

There was a critic in L.A. For the Times that I spoke to when I lived in L.A. and he indicated that the best critics judge the work and that personal bias doesn't enter into it and yet he always gave genre films a negative to mediocre review including some that are considered classics today and he also admitted he didn't care for fantasy or science fiction films. Granted, a lot of them are crap but still...

My issue isn't so much that but be honest about what your bias is upfront.

I also once got into a series of emails discussing films, critics and their bias with Mick LaSalle of the SF Chronicle about the same subject and his contention was that a good film was a good film regardless of bias but, again, his reviews of genre films often prove the opposite to be true.

Once you know that bias it at least provides perspective n the material.

 

I bought those for several years in the early-mid '90s; I also have one of the Blockbuster guides and one of the Video Movie Guides by Martin and Porter (didn't like that one, their star ratings were more generous than the other two guides). Sometimes old reviews in the Maltin book would be replaced in newer editions - Killer Klowns from Outer Space switched from negative to positive one year.

 

Recently, Maltin admitted he was wrong about Alien, replacing his previous negative review with a positive one.

Clifton Fadiman said, "One of the advantages of a long life is that you are given a chance to change your mind."

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs