52 replies to this topic

[brvheart]

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



I heard about this on the Dan Le Batard show today. Very excellent article. Pretty sad, I love Ebert.

[JoeyJoJo]

That was excellent.

I want to know more about his process of just tossing his notes on the floor during the movie. Is there a reason for that? Like he wants to go back and recreate the movie from his notes instead of just reading it back? Or is it just what he does?

[frautotenkinder]

That was great, really great.

An aside about his note tossing, I've been to a couple of screenings where he was present, and I don't remember the paper tearing sound. But, this was years and years ago when he was still in good health, and I don't believe I was in the private screening room described in the article. Maybe the movies I saw with him in the audience were a rewatch for him? Or maybe the nonlinear note taking style is something that's become more pronounced since he's lost his voice.

[Mercury69]

I love teh Ebert.

All the best to you, sir.

[LadyGrey]

I had no idea he'd had cancer/surgery/illness/anything. I saw that picture and thought "Damn, why'd they use such an unflattering shot?". Crazy to think he can't eat, drink or talk anymore. Poor guy. What an inspiration though, it really shows how much you can achieve in the face of adversity if you just keep your will strong.

More often than not after I watch a film, I look it up on wikipedia, check out the rottentomatos score, and look for a review by Ebert. I don't always agree with him due to differences in our personal tastes, but his insight is so spot-on in terms of imagery, cinematography, meaning, etc. Hate the thought that at some point in the not-so-far-off future there won't be anymore Ebert reviews. He's such a legend.

[JoeyJoJo]

the face of adversity

Heh

[LadyGrey]

Heh

For reference, this is the face of adversity:



This Chinese guy is absolutely incredible. For some reason his body started growing these giant tumours on his face and neck. They crushed one of his eyes, smushed his mouth up so he has no teeth and can't speak clearly, and are now the tumours are slowly strangling him to death. It's really dangerous for him to have surgery done to remove them since they are full of networks of blood vessels and one of his ears is on the end of the left tumour so the doctors are afraid to damage it. He has had part of the tumours removed, but there's still a long way to go in terms of surgery and he will never look 'normal'.

It's crazy and surreal to see him because he doesn't look real/human, but I watched a documentary about him and it's just amazing. He is so brave, and his family is so supportive. I think a lot of people might just kill themselves in his situation, since he is a complete burden on his family - they have to do everything for him since he can't earn a living. People like this guy honestly do inspire me, since he is making a go of life despite having drawn possibly the worst lot in the world.

[JoeyJoJo]

More often than not after I watch a film, I look it up on wikipedia, check out the rottentomatos score, and look for a review by Ebert.

I actually avoid his reviews before I've seen the movie because I feel like he influences my thinking too much. But the first thing I do after seeing a movie is go read his review.

On his website he has a "great movies" section where he went back and reviewed what he considered to be the greatest movies. I highly recommend checking them out.

I also enjoy his Answer Man section.

Website

Oh, and the Your Movies Sucks files are fantastic too.


Your Movie Sucks

GI Joe - An 118-minute largely animated film with sequences involving the faces and other body parts of human beings. It is sure to be enjoyed by those whose movie appreciation is defined by the ability to discern that moving pictures and sound are being employed to depict violence. Nevertheless, it is better than "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen."

That last line kills me.

[BigDMcGee]

His 1 star reviews and under really are works of art. He released a book of his bad movie reviews, and it is hilarious.

[JoeyJoJo]

His 1 star reviews and under really are works of art. He released a book of his bad movie reviews, and it is hilarious.

"Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo" makes a living cleaning fish tanks and occasionally prostituting himself. How much he charges I'm not sure, but the price is worth it if it keeps him off the streets and out of another movie. "Deuce Bigalow" is aggressively bad, as if it wants to cause suffering to the audience. The best thing about it is that it runs for only 75 minutes.

Rob Schneider is back, playing a male prostitute (or, as the movie reminds us dozens of times, a "man whore"). He is not a gay hustler, but specializes in pleasuring women, although the movie's closest thing to a sex scene is when he wears diapers on orders from a giantess. Oh, and he goes to dinner with a woman with a laryngectomy, who sprays wine on him through her neck vent.

The plot: Deuce visits his friend T.J. Hicks (Eddie Griffin) in Amsterdam, where T.J. is a pimp specializing in man-whores. Business is bad, because a serial killer is murdering male prostitutes, and so Deuce acts as a decoy to entrap the killer. In his investigation he encounters a woman with a penis for a nose. You don't want to know what happens when she sneezes.

Does this sound like a movie you want to see? It sounds to me like a movie that Columbia Pictures and the film's producers (Glenn S. Gainor, Jack Giarraputo, Tom McNulty, Nathan Talbert Reimann, Adam Sandler and John Schneider) should be discussing in long, sad conversations with their inner child.

The movie created a spot of controversy last February. According to a story by Larry Carroll of MTV News, Rob Schneider took offense when Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times listed this year's Best Picture Nominees and wrote that they were "ignored, unloved and turned down flat by most of the same studios that ... bankroll hundreds of sequels, including a follow-up to 'Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo,' a film that was sadly overlooked at Oscar time because apparently nobody had the foresight to invent a category for Best Running Penis Joke Delivered by a Third-Rate Comic."

Schneider retaliated by attacking Goldstein in full-page ads in Daily Variety and the Hollywood Reporter. In an open letter to Goldstein, Schneider wrote: "Well, Mr. Goldstein, I decided to do some research to find out what awards you have won. I went online and found that you have won nothing. Absolutely nothing. No journalistic awards of any kind ... Maybe you didn't win a Pulitzer Prize because they haven't invented a category for Best Third-Rate, Unfunny Pompous Reporter Who's Never Been Acknowledged by His Peers."

Reading this, I was about to observe that Schneider can dish it out but he can't take it. Then I found he's not so good at dishing it out, either. I went online and found that Patrick Goldstein has won a National Headliner Award, a Los Angeles Press Club Award, a RockCritics.com award, and the Publicists' Guild award for lifetime achievement.

Schneider was nominated for a 2000 Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor, but lost to Jar-Jar Binks.

But Schneider is correct, and Patrick Goldstein has not yet won a Pulitzer Prize. Therefore, Goldstein is not qualified to complain that Columbia financed "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo" while passing on the opportunity to participate in "Million Dollar Baby," "Ray," "The Aviator," "Sideways" and "Finding Neverland." As chance would have it, I have won the Pulitzer Prize, and so I am qualified. Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks.

[JubilantLankyLad]

For reference, this is the face of adversity:

good thing he has such a smokin' hot bod.

[Dubey]

Great Article, thanks for posting that. He has always been my favourite movie critic.

[speedz99]

He is so brave, and his family is so supportive. I think a lot of people might just kill themselves in his situation, since he is a complete burden on his family - they have to do everything for him since he can't earn a living.

Some might argue that the truly brave thing to do would be to eliminate his family's heavy burdon.

But Schneider is correct, and Patrick Goldstein has not yet won a Pulitzer Prize. Therefore, Goldstein is not qualified to complain that Columbia financed "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo" while passing on the opportunity to participate in "Million Dollar Baby," "Ray," "The Aviator," "Sideways" and "Finding Neverland." As chance would have it, I have won the Pulitzer Prize, and so I am qualified. Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks.

Awesome. I'm going to go play on his website for a while...I didn't realize how much I liked the guy until recently.

[brvheart]

But the first thing I do after seeing a movie is go read his review.

Every. Time.

[BigDMcGee]

For reference, this is the face of adversity:



I think a lot of people might just kill themselves in his situation, since he is a complete burden on his family - they have to do everything for him since he can't earn a living.

He could make a decent living on the star wars convention circuit as a jabba the hut impersonator.

[BigDMcGee]

seriously though, ebert is my favorite non-porn star twitterer. All kinds of great comments and links. http://twitter.com/ebertchicago

[LadyGrey]

I actually avoid his reviews before I've seen the movie because I feel like he influences my thinking too much. But the first thing I do after seeing a movie is go read his review.

What? Did you read my post as saying I do all that shit BEFORE I watch a movie? Because it didn't say that. It said I look up the review AFTER. Like you described yourself doing above.

[JoeyJoJo]

What? Did you read my post as saying I do all that shit BEFORE I watch a movie? Because it didn't say that. It said I look up the review AFTER. Like you described yourself doing above.

No, I was just using your post to lead into talking about me. Maybe I should've said "actively avoid" to emphasize it.

[BigDMcGee]

THe only time I'll read Ebert before watching a movie is if I'm on the fence about seeing it (or have no intention of seeing it at all, and want to read his scathing review) was on the fence about seeing avatar, for instance, and Ebert's gushing review pushed me over the top.

[brvheart]

seriously though, ebert is my favorite non-porn star twitterer. All kinds of great comments and links. http://twitter.com/ebertchicago

hmm. He seems to be pretty political on Twitter. No thanks.