Though I hold no fondness for softcover/paperback books, I am enthralled by so-called pocket books, the dimensions of which are approximately four inches by seven inches. Perhaps I have been mesmerized by the mother of all such books, Quotations From Chairman Mao Zedong or The Little Red Book, which is filled with bon mots such as:

We are advocates of the abolition of war, we do not want war; but war can only be abolished through war, and in order to get rid of the gun it is necessary to take up the gun.

Anyway, the tome under examination here, Movies: The Ultimate Insider’s Guide to Cinema’s Hidden Gems (Universe Publishing), has specifications that pathologically draw my attention—measuring 4 x 7.5 inches, with red cloth boards, sparingly designed by Ingrid Bromberg Kennedy and touching on a subject I have an abiding interest in: movies. Architect Robert Kahn, who created and edits the series that contains this title, immediately offers this:

I love movies but I am no cinephile, and often find myself at a loss when choosing a film to rent. Fortunately I have friends who know films well and I often ask them what I should watch—and that is the idea behind this book.

Of course, not everyone has friends like Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, Ken Auletta, Milos Forman, Anjelica Huston, Barbara Kopple, Sidney Lumet, or Simon Schama.

Finally, if such things influence you, some of the proceeds from this book will be donated to Scorsese’s The Film Foundation.

Apropos of nothing, my advocacy of this book was solidified by what producer Mark Johnson notes about an early Bertolucci film:

While Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Conformist is hardly an overlooked film critically, it nevertheless seems to be largely unknown today. It’s as close to a perfect film as I have ever seen…

That’s right.