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Halliwell's: the Movies That Matter 2009 (Halliwell's) | 
| Creator: David Gritten
Publisher: Harper
Category: Book
List Price: £18.99
Buy New: £11.39
You Save: £7.60 (40%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 4647
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 704
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.2
Dimensions (in): 9.8 x 7.5 x 1.7
ISBN: 0007271069
Dewey Decimal Number: 791
EAN: 9780007271061
ASIN: 0007271069
Publication Date: October 20, 2008
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
Halli-unwell? November 10, 2008
Potential buyers of the new edition of this landmark film guide - often bought as a Christmas present - should be aware that Harper Collins have removed all of John Walker's contributions so that they do not have to pay him a royalty fee. They also cancelled publication of Who's Who In The Movies, with the same net effect. Since Halliwell himself died in 1989, and John Walker was single-handedly responsible for editing and keeping the Guide up to date since then, everything since 1989 will have to have been rewritten or cut-and-pasted from elsewhere. "Caveat emptor"!
 The jury is out November 3, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Well, Halliwell's is back in a much different form. This is a film guide that was once upon a time the only one and for a time the best, if a bit Blimpy. Then creator Leslie Halliwell died and John Walker took over, misunderstood the star system and gave all sorts of arty drivel stupidly high marks. This is the first proper guide under Telegraph film critic David Gritten and it's a mixed bag.
Positive things first: it looks good, is well written (Gritten has cleared up a few of the inconsistencies from previous editions), easy to handle and, on balance, better than its immediate predecessors.
In comparison to previous editions there are very few reviews here - probably ensuring good charity shop sales for old editions. The criteria for choosing what what's in here is a trifle curious though, and might dissuade people from buying what is only `a bit' of a film guide. So we get two Lord of the Rings films, not three. The Spider-Man films? Number one and three, and strangely not number two. Star Wars? Four of the six. Curiouser and curiouser.
The four-star rated films have been revised, and it's two cheers for Gritten. Out go all sorts of barely watchable rubbish like Fassbinder's movies, Wings of Desire, Ivan's Childhood and others. But he brings in several eccentric new four starrers - The Long Day Closes, The Assassination of Jesse James, Gun Crazy, Michael Clayton, anyone? Grease?!
Talking of star ratings, there's still the chance to pick out your favourite silly ratings. For me: DePalma's horrible Scarface, a film that makes the planet a slightly worse place by its very presence, three stars; the dreadful Adam Sandler comedy Click, two stars; Allen's minor Broadway Danny Rose, three stars. But there aren't quite as many bad calls as before.
He also seems to be determined to slate recent Oscar winners like Crash, Chicago and Million Dollar Baby, and defiantly cuts his predecessor's ratings down. It reminds you that this book is merely the views of ONE man, one newspaper critic - and hardly an all-wise oracle on which to rely.
Maybe this new guide is a brave try, maybe it's another chapter in the decline of Halliwell's. Will it please those who buy it? We shall see.
 Sadly this is no longer the important film guide for film enthusiasts! October 27, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
'Halliwell's Film Guide' had been regarded as the bible of all film guides. It's author, Leslie Halliwell, was a very conservative film critic but he was often consistent with his criticism but his rather savage reviews of many modern films exposed his viewpoint as rather myopic. Leslie Halliwell would not have given any time to pretentious arthouse film makers like David Gretten has done in this shortened and slickly presented version. Gone are many of the films from yesteryear from what was the Golden Age of Cinema and a welcome has been given to the works of contemporary indie film makers such as Michael Haneke and Paul Thomas Anderson. The book has become less of a valuable guide and more of a collection of anecdotes from a Daily Telegraph arts critic whose entries can be a tad confusing, for example,'Ben-Hur' is referred to as a film classic but the movie ratings are rather low. 'From Russia With Love', possibly the best of the Bond films, receives only two stars now while the overrated arthouse flick 'The Piano Teacher' receives three stars (it originally had received none). For customers who argue that we should move on from the Halliwell style of reviewing should ask themselves then why his name is used in the title of the book? One point is certain that this edition is no longer the important film guide for genuine film enthusiasts.
Halliwell's, but not as we know it. October 16, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Regular Halliwell's readers beware, the famous film guide has been pared to the bone. As the introduction states, the ever increasing size and weight of previous editions and the rise of the internet as an alternative for film reviews has led to radical changes, with the number of reviews in this edition only numbering approx 2,800 compared to over 24,000 in last year's.
So what has been kept? 350 of the past year's new releases, 2,000 from the last 20 years, and 500 notable films from pre-1988. Several films have been given new reviews, and although the format remains relatively unchanged, the drastic reduction has allowed for much bigger print size, making the book (with only half as many pages as last year and much lighter) easier on the eyes.
There have been a couple of editions, a top 10 films by genre list at the back and 10 well written essays on various film topics are scattered throughout the book, but whether this will make up for the deletion of almost 90% of film reviews is doubtful.
Halliwell's is still an essential purchase for any film buff, but it can no longer claim to be "the only film guide that matters." The drastic cuts made leave the Time Out Film Guide as probably the most comprehensive film guide currently on the market. Alternatively, movie connoisseurs may wish to purchase (or hang on to) last year's Halliwell's, it seems it may be the last of its kind.
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