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

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

Cindy Pearlman. Plume Books, $15 (256pp) ISBN 978-0-452-28823-2

What is your favorite movie of all time? This is the question Pearlman, senior entertainment writer for the New York Times Syndicate, asked hundreds of Hollywood heavy hitters over the past two years, resulting in this collection of more than 100 incisive interviews with actors, screenwriters and directors. High points include David Cronenberg explaining why Fellini's La Dolce Vita remains his perennial favorite (""How many modern directors deserve to be adjectives?"") and Julianne Moore admitting ""there's nothing I love better than a scary movie"" in her discussion of Rosemary's Baby. The collection also unearths the inspiration that set some on the path to stardom: Jennifer Lopez says that West Side Story left her ""in that dark theater crying because here was my proof that my people could sing, dance, and act,"" while Johnny Depp fell for The Wizard of Oz because he ""wanted to have a tornado sweep me up and take me away from the life I was living as a teenager."" This slim book's brilliance lies in its numerous reminders that even stars are movie fans, too; it should hold great interest for cineastes hoping to expand their horizons and average pop culture junkies alike.