Including reviews of nearly 1,400 movies, this companion is a must have for movie fans who want more than just a capsule review. Over 1 million Companions have been sold, and Roger Ebert is the only film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize. Each review provides the cast, credits, and star rating for the film. The book also incorporates an index that cross-references actors, directors, and movies.

With a critical eye that mirrors his subject's, Todd Rendleman explores the values, temperament, character, and style that have made Roger Ebert the most trusted and influential film critic in America. Introducing the one critic whom so many moviegoers recognize, argue with, and love, Rule of Thumb illuminates Ebert's critical strengths and blind spots. His sensibilities are further appreciated through comparisons to incisive, provocative colleagues like Pauline Kael and John Simon. While exploring their critical clashes, the author offers fresh assessments of a host of movies, from modern classics like Last Tango in Paris and Blue Velvet, to films that deserve another glance, like Music Box, In Dreams, and Bliss. Few are in a position to write a firsthand memoir of one of the world's great film critics, but Rendleman accomplishes just this, smartly intertwining his own coming-of-age cinematic sensibility with a witty critical analysis of his subject. All told, his achievement is noteworthy: he offers a unique view of a celebrated personality, while revealing himself as a writer of insight and dash.

The 1991 edition includes some 150 new reviews, bringing a total of close to 1000. Exclusive interviews with such stars and directors as Spike Lee, John Waters, Tracey Ullman, Woody Allen, Matt Dillon, and Morgan Freeman.

During the 1980s, popular fear of World War III spurred moviemakers to produce dozens of nuclear threat films. Categories ranged from monster movies to post-apocalyptic adventures to realistic depictions of nuclear war and its immediate aftermath. Coverage of atomic angst films isn't new, but this is the first book to solely analyze 1980s nuclear threat movies as a group. Entries range from classics such as The Day After and WarGames to obscurities such as Desert Warrior and Massive Retaliation. Chronological coverage of the 121 films released between 1980 and 1990 includes production details, chapter notes, and critical commentaries.

Containing reviews written from January 2002 to mid-June 2004, including the films "Seabiscuit, The Passion of the Christ," and "Finding Nemo," the best (and the worst) films of this period undergo Ebert's trademark scrutiny. It also contains the year's interviews and essays, as well as highlights from Ebert's film festival coverage from Cannes.

Featuring every review Ebert wrote from January 2001 to mid-June 2003, this treasury also includes his essays, interviews, film festival reports, and In Memoriams, along with his famous star ratings.

Declaring that movies grant psychopaths much more power and fascination than they deserve, Wilson (psychology, Stephen F. Austin State U., Nacogdoches, Texas) profiles the various types portrayed, beginning with the computer HAL in 2001. He also discusses evil's imperfections, breach of character, mood and circumstance, the power within, justice, and other aspects. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR