xvi, 374 pages : 22 cm

To assemble this guide for film lovers in search of intriguing videos to rent, Sragow, movie critic for the San Francisco Examiner, asked 29 fellow members of the National Society of Film Critics for "strongly argued reviews of movies they had championed, even if that meant going out on a limb.''

Includes index

Only in America: All night long / Michael Sragow -- Bound for glory / Judith Crist -- Diner / Stephen Schiff -- Fat city / Charles Champlin -- Handle with care / Richard Schickel -- Heart like a wheel / Jay Carr -- Hearts of the west / David Ansen -- The last American hero / Bruce Williamson -- Melvin and Howard / Pauline Kael -- Payday / Charles Champlin -- Weeds / David Edelstein -- Beyond media politics: Blow out / Michael Sragow -- Casualties of war / Pauline Kael -- A cry in the dark / Peter Rainer -- Go tell the Spartans / Richard Schickel -- Hamburger Hill / Hal Hinson -- The right stuff / Richard T. Jameson -- Salvador / Michael Wilmington -- Under fire / Michael Sragow -- The lost boys and girls: Baby, it's you, / David Ansen -- Over the edge / David Denby -- Repo man / Carrie Rickey -- River's edge / David Denby -- Say anything / Roger Ebert -- September 30, 1955 / David Ansen -- Culture clashes: The border / Pauline Kael -- The bounty / David Denby -- The chant of Jimmie Blacksmith / Stephen Schiff -- Southern comfort / Michael Sragow -- Utu / Pauline Kael -- The white dawn / Joy Gould Boyum -- The English-language ghetto: Danny boy / Michael Wilmington -- Distant voices, still lives / Armond White -- The dressmaker / Hal Hinson -- High hopes / Roger Ebert -- I've heard the mermaids singing / Carrie Rickey -- The mighty quinn / Roger Ebert -- The offense / Bruce Williamson -- Auteur, auteur!: The adventures of Baron Munchausen / Hal Hinson -- After hours / Dave Kehe -- The animated art of the brothers Quay / Terrence Rafferty -- Comfort and joy / Terrence Rafferty -- The last temptation of Christ / Owen Gleiberman -- Love streams / Dave Kehr -- Never cry wolf / David Ansen -- The stunt man / Kenneth Turan -- Page to screen: The dead / Jay Carr -- Dreamchild / Jay Carr -- Housekeeping / Jonathan Rosenbaum -- The lonely passion of Judith Hearne / Owen Gleiberman -- Unseen truths: Best boy / Stephen Schiff -- George Stevens: a filmmaker's journey / Richard T. Jameson

Lodz Ghetto / Julie Salamon -- Streetwise / Peter Rainer -- Thy kingdom come, thy will be done / David Edelstein -- Love in the dark: Chilly scenes in winter / Kenneth Turan -- Choose me / Sheila Benson -- The good mother / Hal Hinson -- High tide / Carrie Rickey -- Mike's murder / Sheila Benson -- Personal best / Michael Sragow -- Shoot the moon / Peter Rainer -- Smash palace / Richard Schickel -- Something wild / Peter Rainer -- The horrors! the horrors!: The brood / Stephen Schiff -- Carnival of souls / Terrence Rafferty -- The company of wolves / J. Hoberman -- The fury / Kevin Tomas -- Henry: portrait of a serial killer / Peter Travers -- Near dark / Henry Sheehan -- Parents / Jonathan Rosenbaum -- The stepfather / David Edelstein -- Strange invaders / Richard T. Jameson -- Off the beaten laugh track: The best of times / Michael Wilmington -- By design / Stephen Schiff -- Lost in America / Dave Kehr -- The man with two brains / Richard Schickel -- Smorgasbord / J. Hoberman -- This is spinal tap / Sheila Benson -- The shoot westerns, don't they: The ballad of cable hogue / Richard Schickel -- Barbarosa / Terrence Rafferty -- Buffalo Bill and the Indians / Judith Crist -- Cattle Annie and Little Britches / Peter Rainer -- Shades of noir: The conversation / Joy Gould Boyum -- Cutter's ways / Kevin Thomas -- F/X Bruce Williamson -- The late show / David Denby -- The long goodbye / Judith Crist -- Night moves / Kevin Thomas -- Straight time / David Ansen -- All singing! all dancing! no audience!: Hair / Bruce Williamson -- Pennies from heaven / Pauline Kael -- Sign o' the times / Terrence Rafferty -- Under the cherry moon / J. Hoberman

Includes bibliographical references and index