cover image 10 Sure Signs a Movie Character Is Doomed, and Other Surprising Movie Lists

10 Sure Signs a Movie Character Is Doomed, and Other Surprising Movie Lists

Richard Roeper. Hyperion Books, $19.95 (300pp) ISBN 978-0-7868-8830-6

Roeper, the syndicated movie critic who replaced the late Gene Siskel as Roger Ebert's TV partner, certainly has the credentials to craft a handful of insightful movie lists. He also has the wit to make this book fun enough that you don't have to be a movie buff to appreciate it. Treating his subjects with the respect they deserve, he runs the gamut from the funnily frivolous (""Red-Carpet Flubs and Blunders by Joan Rivers"" e.g., Rivers gushes about J.Lo's teeth and then asks the diva,""Are they yours?"") to the frivolously risque (""Best Porn Titles Based on Legit Movies"" e.g., 6 Lays, 7 Nights) to more conventional fare (""Best Films that Didn't Win the Academy Award for Best Picture"" e.g., Citizen Kane). Lest the Motion Picture Academy feel slighted, Roeper also takes the AFI to task, listing movies that should and should not have made its 100""best"" list. Whatever the category, Roeper lets it rip.