The Electric Commentary Declares A Thumb War!
This is funny...I'm being squared off against Roger Ebert on The Electric Commentary. Ebert loved Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and thought Wedding Crashers was a disappointment. I personally think Ebert got caught up in the marketing campaign for Wedding Crashers and was expecting Old School 2, but to each his own. Anyway, I found that amusing. Thanks, Paul (no hint of sarcasm should be inferred).
posted by Chris @ 7/15/2005 01:54:00 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
No problem. Your reviews in general tend to reflect better what I think of movies. I like Ebert, and think he's interesting, but a lot of the time I think his review gets pushed to the side so that he can make some impressive sounding point. I think that this was the case with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, in which he seems distracted from an enjoyable movie by the need to compare Depp to Michael Jackson. He should have ignored this, because he should have realized that Willy Wonka IS like Michael Jackson. C'mon, he spends all day hanging out with 3 foot tall beings.
Despite that, even when Ebert doesn't like something I can usually tell that I will. His most telling review ever, I think, is for Donnie Darko (original, not the inferior director's cut), in which he seems to really really want to give it a good review, but something is getting in the way.
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20011026/REVIEWS/110260302
(Broken Lizard's Club Dread is another example, although I think that only about 100 people like that movie. It is kinda stupid. He gave it "2.5 stars, a nudge, and a wink." What is that?).
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040227/REVIEWS/402270301/1023
It's funny how a lot of reviewers were reticent to give DONNIE DARKO a good review (I think I read a Maltin review where he was just dismissing it as some sort of cheap inessential entertainment). And it's hard to see why, exactly. Of all the movies of this decade, I don't think I've discussed any one movie more than that one.
Maltin was also the guy who trashed the hell out of "E.T." right after it came out, and then by some miracle (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) he gave it a glowing review a few weeks later.
Also, I'm one of those 100 people who likes "Club Dread."
Donnie Darko has so much going on, it's terribly interesting, and the mood conveyed is just overwhelming. It still gives me the willies. And you could write an entire dissertation on the thing. Have you ever read this review by Jim Emerson:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041102/EDITOR/41022001
The fact that Ebert hosted this on his site contributes to my theory that he has secretly always liked it. It's pretty interesting.
I like the Broken Lizard guys, but rarely do they make me laugh out loud. It's like one big in-joke, and I think I like them more than I should, but I can even rewatch them and not get bored.
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