Customer Reviews
Massive but flawed - By: Wessex man, 29 Dec 2008 
Although this guide contains reviews of an immense number of films, & although the blurb says it 'reaches into home entertainment', with DVDs, productions that were originally TV series are almost all missing. This is fair enough, as the guide is marketed as a 'film' guide, but it does mean that several TV series now available on DVD that are very much better than films reviewed here are missing. For example the George Cukor 1935 version of David Copperfield is included, although W C Fields as Micawber with an American accent, makes it simply unbelievable. All criticism involves a personal opinion, but I believe that most people would prefer the Simon Curtis/Daniel Radcliffe/Maggie Smith BBC version. However, the excellent Roger Mitchell/Amanda Root/Ciaran Hinds BBC version of Persuasion is in, whereas the equally good (in my opinion) Adrian Shergold/Sally Hawkins/Rupert Penry-Jones Channel 4 version is not (this was released on DVDin 2007, so either Time Out's reviewers don't think it's good enough, or there's a long time lag before something gets into the guide).
Inevitably some of the opinions expressed will seem strange to some readers. I nearly fell off my chair laughing when I read that 'If ever actress & role were meant for each other, it's Reese Witherspoon & Becky Sharpe' (of Vanity Fair), especially as the reviewer then goes on to slate the film, & ends up telling us that Witherspoon is 'too nice, as if afraid of losing our sympathy'. Once again the contrast is with the captivating Natasha Little (sorry, again a TV series) who maintained her deceitfulness to the end.
Many (perhaps most) of the films reviewed here have probably not been screenedin public cinemas for yearsin Britain, even at the British Film Institute, so availability on DVD is important. For example I saw Antonioni's L'Avventurain the early 1960s when it was first screenedin Britain. I had to wait until the mid-1980s to see it again (at a student film societyin Cambridge) & when Antonioni died, & obituarists raved over this film, it was not even available as a Region 2 DVD (it still is not available, as far as I know,in a satisfactory Region 2 version at a reasonable price, although there is, of course a Region 1 version if you have a multi-region player). Time Out do apparently realise the importance of DVD, but they haven't yet caught up. I'm not suggesting that Time Out should delete any of their reviews: someone might be prompted by a review to transfer a film to DVD.
If there are several versions of a film, you usually will find only one version reviewed here. It may be the best version that is reviewed, but it's a pity not to have the opportunity to decide.
I don't think there is, at present, a satisfactory film/dvd guide: they all have their failings (Halliwell was always interesting, but idiosyncratic). If you're interestedin finding whether a film is worth seeing, or buying on DVD, & especially if there are several versions, you might be better off comparing what the multitude of web sites, & Amazon's reviews, say. However, this is a useful guide, as long as you realise its limitations, & it really is very cheap (at least from Amazon) for over 1300 pages.
