I picked this book up today and it seems like a nice reference book.  It's a compilation of the original New York Times reviews of "Best 1000 Movies Ever Made".  

I was checking out the "Chinatown" review by Vincent Canby, dated June 21, 1974, and I found the following quote very interesting:

"Robert Towne...is good, but I'm not sure he's good enough to compete with the big boys."

I guess it just goes to show that you can't please everyone, and time, like wounds, tends to heal all.

CR