Roger Ebert

Started by filmcritic, June 18, 2003, 11:33:11 AM

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Gamblour.

I propose that this thread be renamed because, while off the mark like every other critic from time to time, Roger Ebert has recently been writing some of his best and more cogent reviews. He's re-become my favorite critic and I definitely think his opinions are far FAR more valid than A. O. Scott who's becoming less and less of a good critic.

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SiliasRuby

I'm with you except when he HATED 'Blue Velvet'...hehe. Glad that the two bens are off the show, especially Lyons...Fucking hack!
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socketlevel

Quote from: Gamblour. on August 06, 2009, 11:23:24 AM
I propose that this thread be renamed because, while off the mark like every other critic from time to time, Roger Ebert has recently been writing some of his best and more cogent reviews. He's re-become my favorite critic and I definitely think his opinions are far FAR more valid than A. O. Scott who's becoming less and less of a good critic.

I'm alone here?

not even just recently, always.  he is a great critic, if not the best.  though yes at times i disagree with him, but that shouldn't matter should it?  In fact i don't need a critic to agree with all my choices, i need one to challenge them.  much like this site i like it when people challenge rather then gush about something in unison.  i like where Ebert comes from in his reviews, it's usually a good story or anecdote regarding something in his life or how he views it. i like how he's romantic about the artform and views the whole industry with resentment, hinting at longing to better times.  I like that spirit of wanting change, something better.  I also like how he's not always pragmatic about his reviews, sometimes he just gets his hate/love on regarding a certain film. 

Herzog dedicated "Encounters at the End of the World" to him.  on the dvd when he was asked why, he said something to the effect that Ebert was one of the dying breed in cinema; one of the last soldiers.  i couldn't agree more.  Ebert has a heart and tons of enthusiasm for the artform, so even if i disagree with him (which happens often enough) i know it's coming from a genuine place.  and shit... he's almost doing it posthumously in the last few years, that's fucking love.
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Gold Trumpet

Quote from: SiliasRuby on August 06, 2009, 11:27:37 AM
I'm with you except when he HATED 'Blue Velvet'...hehe. Glad that the two bens are off the show, especially Lyons...Fucking hack!

I wish he took stands against more films. Blue Velvet is just one of a few trendy art films he dissented against. Usually Roger Ebert is happy to accept every new cutting edge art film and movement with some approval. Some critics hate to look too traditional and not up with new film movements so they seem to find something to like in every new trend. Every critic who is willing to take stands against new critical approaches occasionally get burned very badly because sometimes they are very wrong about the intentions of a movement. Roger Ebert has been able to skirt controversy because he rarely ever takes tough or bold stances besides saying something is best this or that.

I like Roger Ebert personally, but he never illuminates me with knowledge about films. He picks a lot of good films in his Great Movie series, but I don't know of any piece that is an insightful review of the film. I see an overlap of previous critical comment mixed with a few general ideas thanks to Ebert himself, but nothing truly revealing of a critical insight. The most memorable piece is his E.T. one because he formatted it differently.

Then around the time of Muholland Drive, Roger Ebert also made the cardinal sin in criticism by saying that there likely was nothing more he could learn about film art. That's insane for anyone to say.

Pas

#244
I'm with you GT about critics just ''jumping on the bandwagon''(is that the word?) on arthouse flicks.

I think people still hold Blue Velvet against Ebert for the reason he didn't like it, which is that he thought it was bad treatment of women or some weird shit like that.

I hate every world war 2 movies because of the treatment of the jews. it's just silly.

socketlevel

yep I'm with you two, both make good points.  however i only half agree with your sentiment that he shouldn't make a statement about film art; which limits himself greatly. i must admit i feel that way at times myself.  it's like shock value mixed with disjointed images creates meaning... well that's kinda easy to do, it takes more talent imo to create a story and plot with the same images, and have the audience leave the theatre with the same reaction.  really making fucked up art cinema is easy, it's not remotely hard.  some of it stands out among the rest and i love it.  but maybe him saying that there likely was nothing more he could learn about film art, is really just saying there isn't much to learn from film art period.  like what do we really take from it through osmosis, how does it really change us?  it's cool, emotional, etc... but do we really have anything to learn from it?
the one last hit that spent you...

JG

coincidentally, his most recent blog past has something to do with film critics as contrarians. its not an especially great entry, but his blog is consistently pretty great.

Gold Trumpet

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/01/nil_by_mouth.html

Roger Ebert's blog about not being able to eat or drink anymore. The subject is harsh, but Ebert comes off as amazing because he mixes humor with rationality and fully explores the whole situation of not being able to eat or drink anymore, but his sanity is inspirational because I can only hope to meet my physical ends with a similiar upbeat approach.

Lately Ebert has been on a blogging frenzy, but his personal blogs are great because he allows his conscious (the best part of his reviews) to be fully exhibited on a spectrum of different subjects, which allows him to be a great moral voice. He's also a constant Twitter poster, but it feels like his new immobility is allowing him to pen the auto-biography of his conscious that many of us felt he was capable of.

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Stefen

Does anybody else get scared anytime this thread is posted in because you're scared Ebert may have passed away?  :(
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pete

I propose that we change the thread title to "roger ebert - don't leave us yet"
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matt35mm

How about we change it to: "Roger Ebert - This Isn't About His Death," and then, when the time comes, whoever's posting about it can change the subject line to: "Roger Ebert - Okay, Now He's Dead."

Pubrick

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MacGuffin

Read This: The Dying Days of Roger Ebert
Source: Cinematical

Esquire has written an incredibly personal and insightful article about Roger Ebert that goes into great detail about all the surgeries he's been going through, how he nearly died, and how life has changed for him these past few years. It's very touching and well worth your time. Ebert might be a polarizing guy ... people either love him or hate him, but there's no denying that he knows more about film than most people have forgotten. His film commentary track on the Citizen Kane DVD is worth the price of the disc alone.

For what it's worth, Roger Ebert was a constant presence around Sundance this year. At the opening press conference, he sat a couple of seats away from me, and when the conference was over, Robert Redford made a point to come down and speak with him personally. Ebert himself can't talk these days, but he communicates through notes and hand gestures, and it was quite a moment to see this renowned film critic with one of Hollywood's most iconic actors.

We also saw him in multiple film screenings throughout the opening week of the film festival, and after reading this article and realizing how much that means, I'm honored to have shared a row with the guy. There's blogging about film news, writing reviews, and doing interviews, and then there's what Roger Ebert does. When you've lived and breathed movies as long as this guy has, you're on a different level.


http://www.esquire.com/features/roger-ebert-0310
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