Leonard Maltin’s devotion to movies is clear. His 2011 Movie Guide summarizes and critiques over 17,000 movies.

Films old and new are given a rating between four stars and BOMB. Arranged alphabetically in two columns, each of the titles contain details such as the name of the director, the main actors and actresses, running time, release date, format availability (DVD, laserdisc, videocassette) and MPAA ratings (G, PG. PG-13, R, NC-17). The bolded symbols and titles make the reviews easy to browse or search, and with an entry length between two to thirty lines, quick to read. Up to date with 300 new entries, a listing of sources for home video, and ten movie lists (ex: Movies About Movies, Movies too Good to Miss), this book by one of the most well-known and respected movie experts is a reliable source of movie information. Sturdy in design, it will see a lot of use from movie lovers.

Although I disagreed with the low ratings of some of my favorite movies, I nonetheless enjoyed reading through Maltin’s list for the variety of movies it contains. I found new movies I want to watch, was reminded of my favorites, and looked up different actors and actresses in the Index of Stars to see what movies of theirs I had missed. This is a handy book to turn to when you are searching for a good movie to watch.