You Gotta See This: More Than 100 of Hollywood's Best Reveal and Discuss Their Favorite Films

"You Gotta See This" is a fun,light read,like the celebrity quotes on the side of Starbucks cups. Instead of getting the American Film Institute's Top 100,or critical accolades, this is written from the actor/director perspective. Some actors go in depth about artistry and themes,while others have as much depth as a light and fluffy meringue. Jonathan Demme,director of the chilling "Silence of the Lambs",waxes rhapsodic about the geek comedy masterpiece "Napoleon Dynamite",saying his family has memorized the lines. Vote for Pedro this coming November! George Clooney praises "Dr. Strangelove" and "Fail-Safe" as pro-American,pro-dissent movies. As usual,Clooney shows his political side. Viggo Mortensen waxes poetic (he is a poet & photographer as side jobs) about the French "Passion of Joan of Arc"--a fitting movie for an actor who played the warrior-king of Middle-Earth. AnnaSophia Robb,who recently was in the fantastical "Bridge to Terabithia",gushes about the Harry Potter movies & loves the Aragorn/Arwen romance in LOTR,along with Legolas (surprise,surprise) Owen Wilson is moved by the scene in which Russell Crowe trips & falls in "The Insider" (funny,I thought Crowe gaining 30 pounds for the role was memorable-he looks good still,more of him to like) BOTH Heath Ledger & Johnny Depp are outed as "Wizard of Oz" fans. After all,in movies such as "Brokeback Mountain" and "Before Night Falls",they've played Friends of Dorothy. J.Lo says she wept during "West Side Story" since it had singing & dancing Puerto Ricans (but Natalie Wood was Russian-oh well) Former Frodo/future Iggy Pop Elijah Wood gives incoherent praise to "Harvey" saying "it's beautiful" (kind of like Keanu Reeves' contractual "whoa") The fashionable Catherine Zeta-Jones,unsurprisingly,loves the fashionable "Breakfast at Tiffany's." Chris Columbus,more renowned for the Harry Potter & Home Alone movies,and his relatively family-friendly version of "Rent",likes the gritty "On the Waterfront." "You gotta see this" is a fun,light read. It's like the candy at the movie concession stand. It's yummy,but don't expect it to be a meal.

Cindy Pearlman interviewed 135 film directors, producers, and stars, asking them each the same question: "What is your favorite film of all time?" The result is a paperback encyclopedia, referenced alphabetically by star, of classic (and not-so-classic) films. Each entry consists of a few paragraphs from the star describing why a film is her favorite, followed by a short description of the film and of the star. The entries span a broad range of personalities, from Tommy Lee Jones and Helena Bonham Carter to Martin Scorcese and Chris Columbus. Young stars (like AnnaSophia Robb) and television actors (America Ferrera) also feature. Some of the choices are surprising: Julianne Moore's favorite is Rosemary's Baby, and Queen Latifah includes Blacula in her list. Three different stars list The Wizard of Oz, and Dr. Strangelove comes up repeatedly. Sometimes the stars' comments touch on deeper issues, such as Tim Allen's remark on the relative shallowness of comedy* (his favorite is Seven Samurai) or Sanaa Lathan's observation on the complete lack of black people (except as maids) in her own favorite oldies. The introduction also includes a couple of gems, such as Jodie Foster's flat refusal to answer the question: "It's like asking which arm I like better... I just can't even go there." I found this on the discount shelf at my local bookstore, picked it up, and enjoyed it thoroughly. It's not a great book to read straight through (I did) since the structure of each entry is identical and occasional Pearlman inserts an insufferable joke (the bio of Elijah Wood calls him a "hard hobbit to break"; yes, it does). But it's given me dozens of ideas to add to my To See list (marked "2C" all through the margins of my copy). * Allen needs to see the exceedingly entertaining French film Moliere, wherein the playwright claims there are no important comedies, to which his lover responds, Then write them!