Post #1 - Leonard Maltin’s 2009 Movie Guide and Leonard Maltin’s Classic Movie Guide, by Leonard Maltin:

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Is The Dark Knight the movie event of the summer? Is it the best Batman film of all time? Or is it an unrelentingly dark, nihilistic tale of our post-9/11 world? That's all a matter of opinion.

As someone who airs his views in public, I learned long ago that everyone has an opinion about movies and most people aren't shy about voicing their disagreements with a professional critic.

That's fine with me, because I understand that every person who watches a movie brings his or her personal history along as baggage. How you view a film has everything to do with who you are, how old you are, how you were raised, where you were raised, what you've experienced in life-and what you haven't. It also has a lot to do with what movies you've seen-and what movies you haven't.

When I embarked upon the first edition of my annual Movie Guide, my editor insisted that I assign a star-rating to each review. I fought the idea, but he said, "People love that kind of shorthand." He was right. And just like the endless pop-culture lists we see nowadays, ratings are meant to inspire debate.

One day a man approached me and said that he used my book all the time, but always cut my ratings in half to determine whether or not he'd agree with my opinion. Later that week-and I swear this is true-someone else told me he doubled my ratings to achieve the same effect!

In today's Internet age there are more outlets then ever for people to voice their feelings, although it seems to me that many of them are shaking their fists as they do so. A rant is not the same thing as a discussion.

Just look at the home-grown reviews people post online and you'll see how extreme this can get. I recently consulted an online movie source about the British sleeper "Billy Elliot" and below the enthusiastic viewer rating was another posting headlined WORST MOVIE EVER.

There is no right or wrong here, only opinions. That's why I refer to my annual Guide as a reference book, although it also offers reviews; you may disagree, but at least you come away with some useful information. Besides, you can always cut our ratings in half!

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