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Capt. Nemo
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
630 Posts |
 Posted - 11/28/2007 : 12:17:08 AM
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The recently released Hitman is latest entry in games-to-movie flop sweepstakes. And I must say, the critics have not been kind.
[url="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hitman/"]Click Here for Rotten Tomattoes Reviews[/url]
Even our venerable brother, Foywonder, felt compelled to warn us about this boring mess of suckatude.
[url="http://foywonder.livejournal.com/104466.html"]Click Here to Read Foywonder's Review[/url]
And you'd think the almighty critic himself, Roger Ebert would follow suit. NOT TRUE! Apparently, Ebert gave a pass on this film. And saw character depth, that is not even there. I think fairly obvious from the review that he liked seeing a naked woman on ths screen.
[url="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071120/REVIEWS/711200303/1023"]Click Here to read Ebert's Review[/url]
This kind of makes me wonder. If that's all it takes to get Ebert on your side, would it work with ANY movie? Sci-fi, Drama, Horror, Comeday, Musical, Family film, Children's films and Cartoons could all get a thumbs up if they hire a lady to put up(or draw up) the goods.
Think it's time for the balcony to close for good?
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"Ward, the Beaver blew up the 7-11 again."
"I'll have a talk with him Dear" |
Edited by - Capt. Nemo on 11/28/2007 08:21:17 AM
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 11/28/2007 : 01:58:58 AM
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Ebert has weird little brain farts from time to time, either praising something hideous or missing the point of some films wildly. It's part of his charm.
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo |
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Capt. Nemo
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
630 Posts |
Posted - 11/28/2007 : 08:19:40 AM
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I have wondered if he ever changed his mind on any film.
Like does he still believe Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome is still worth four stars?
"a movie of great visionary wonders." C'mon.
[url="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19850710/REVIEWS/507100301/1023"]Click Here for Ebert's Review of Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome![/url]
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"Ward, the Beaver blew up the 7-11 again."
"I'll have a talk with him Dear" |
Edited by - Capt. Nemo on 11/28/2007 08:29:19 AM |
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R. Dittmar
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
420 Posts |
Posted - 11/28/2007 : 10:56:16 AM
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The title of your post assumes that Ebert did at one time "have it" - a dubious assertion.
You can probably find scores of boneheaded reviews in Ebert's archives, but probably the worst was one Ken pointed out several years back - Gods and Generals:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030221/REVIEWS/302210302/1023
Ebert's review is basically - slavery was bad so this can't possibly be a good movie.
My personal favorite is still his trashing of Wolf's Creek - stuffed to the noseholes with his usual rants against slasher flicks - only about 2 months after praising Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects of all things. The reason - Ebert has the hots for Zombie's wife. |
Edited by - R. Dittmar on 11/28/2007 10:56:49 AM |
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Terrahawk
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
644 Posts |
Posted - 11/28/2007 : 3:16:11 PM
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From the Gods and Generals review:
Except for Lee, a nonbeliever, both sides trust in God, just like at the Super Bowl.
What is he talking about? Lee definitely was a Christian. Aarrgghhh, he can't even get simple facts right.
R. Dittmar, you are right. That review was awful. You can't treat Southerners as somehow human and fighting for what they believed in. No, they supported slavery and were somehow inhuman monsters. If a film showed Muslims the way he wants Southerners shown, he would scream bloody murder.
Anyways, I saw Hitman and it was passable. The fight scenes were sped up and had the MTV jumps. This made them pretty unwatchable. Having the hero resist the advances of the heroine was nice. There were a couple of nice lines. It falls in the twilight of good and bad.
- While science has societal benefits, science is not a social virtue. - |
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BradH812
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1294 Posts |
Posted - 11/28/2007 : 6:55:22 PM
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I remember Ebert writing a four-star review for The Public Eye (which I thought was an excellent movie). He noted that the Joe Pesci character "reminded him of Weegee", aka photographer Arthur Fellig.
Well, DUH! The character was based on Weegee... and the movie used several of Weegee's pictures, and mentioned him in the credits!
I think I'd rather have Ebert disagree with me. One feels all's right with the world when he gives The Hitcher no stars and 9 1/2 Weeks three and a half stars. Ay yi yi. |
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TheFoywonder
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
833 Posts |
Posted - 11/28/2007 : 9:19:55 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by TerrahawkR. Dittmar, you are right. That review was awful. You can't treat Southerners as somehow human and fighting for what they believed in. No, they supported slavery and were somehow inhuman monsters. If a film showed Muslims the way he wants Southerners shown, he would scream bloody murder.
And here's the part where you're proven wrong: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19860214/REVIEWS/602140301/1023
Now Playing in Foyeurism at Foywonder.com: BLACK COUGARIZED - As seen on "American Inventor", the most New York superhero of all time!
Plus: B-WARE THE BLOG is alive at http://www.livejournal.com/users/foywonder |
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Capt. Nemo
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
630 Posts |
Posted - 11/28/2007 : 10:22:43 PM
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Not so fast Foy.
"Hauer plays Nick Randall, the great-grandson of Josh Randall, the character played by Steve McQueen in the TV series of the same name. His retirement comes to an end when Malak Al Rahim starts to blow up innocent civilians. Al Rahim is an example of a recent trend toward Arab villains in the movies. What would Hollywood do without at least one ethnic group that is fair game for categorical racist stereotyping? I was never quite sure what or whom Al Rahim represented, or what his goals were, apart from the ritualistic destruction of innocent civilians, but who cares? He's an Arab, isn't he? And they all want to blow up everybody, don't they? "
[url="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19870116/REVIEWS/701160301/1023"]Wanted: Dead or Alive[/url]
"...because the same feelings are not at stake. Of all our ethnic groups, only Arabs come from nations that are currently in a state of indefinitely suspended war with the United States. The vast majority of Arab-Americans are patriotic citizens who are happy to plunge into the melting pot with the rest of us (a point the movie does make), but a minority have been much in the news, especially after the World Trade Center bombing in New York City."
[url="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19981106/REVIEWS/811060302/1023"]The Siege[/url]
"In the passenger section, Hassan comes across as a fanatic bent ondestroying millions of lives. His fellow hijackers think the mission is to forcethe release of one of their leaders, but after the leader is released, Hassanreveals that his original demands were only a cover for his real plans. Amoderate among his followers steps forward, shouts ``This has nothing to do withIslam!,'' and is shot. His function is to get the filmmakers off the hook:Hassan is a fanatic, see, and not to be taken as typical of his co-religionists.
(It would have been easy to make the terrorists members of a non-sectarianmovement, and I wish they had; what purpose does it serve to slander areligion?)"
[url="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19960315/REVIEWS/603150302/1023"]Executive Decision[/url]
Strangely, he gave James Cameron a pass on True Lies.
And the most zany one has to be this one:
"The Americans who complain about “negative” news are the ideological cousins of those who shoot at CNN crews. The news is the news, good or bad, and those who resent being informed of it are pitiful. More Americans are well-informed about current sports and auto-racing statistics, I sometimes think, than anything else."
[url="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070621/REVIEWS/70621002/1023"]A Mighty Heart[/url]
Or at the very least, I don't want to follow that to it's logical conclusion.
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"Ward, the Beaver blew up the 7-11 again."
"I'll have a talk with him Dear" |
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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2007 : 11:32:44 AM
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Ebert also gave a complete pass to The Delta Force.
[url]http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19860214/REVIEWS/602140301/1023[/url]
Sardu's right. Ebert's all over the map. |
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hbrennan
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Philippines
1455 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2007 : 1:59:57 PM
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quote:
Capt. Nemo wrote: I have wondered if he ever changed his mind on any film.
I believe he (and Siskel) originally panned "Blade Runner", then changed their minds.
"...yet it hadn't destroyed his brain."
re: Charles "The Butcher" Benton (1956)
http://www.henrybrennan.com/
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Terrahawk
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
644 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2007 : 3:29:12 PM
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Thanks Capt. Nemo. That's my point. He wants nuance towards Muslims but Southerners during the Civil War should be shown as racist thugs.
Foy, the problem with using that review is that it is from 1986. While most Americans knew those areas were Muslim, they didn't associate Islam with the acts. Today, with much more of what is said by those groups and how they associate their actions with Islam, it changes the dynamic. Let's face it, most people in 1986 were just thinking of this as a whacked out terrorist group and not associating it with Muslims.
- While science has societal benefits, science is not a social virtue. - |
Edited by - Terrahawk on 11/29/2007 3:33:29 PM |
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2007 : 5:08:09 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by hbrennan
Capt. Nemo wrote: I have wondered if he ever changed his mind on any film.
I believe he (and Siskel) originally panned "Blade Runner", then changed their minds.
[/quote]
That was one of his "I don't like it so I give it 3 stars" reviews. He didn't think there was enough human story (whatever that means) so he panned it but he thought the FX and look of the film were great so he recommended it- just not really. With the release of the new version he has reversed himself and put it in his Great Films selection, but he hasn't really changed his review and he still doesn't deem to really like it- he just admits it has great historical importance as a film.
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo |
Edited by - Sardu on 11/29/2007 5:08:31 PM |
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Capt. Nemo
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
630 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2007 : 11:21:53 PM
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Here is one that I never was able to get my head around:
""Cabaret" explores some of the same kinky territory celebrated in Visconti's "The Damned." Both movies share the general idea that the rise of the Nazi party in Germany was accompanied by a rise in bisexuality, homosexuality, sadomasochism, and assorted other activities. Taken as a generalization about a national movement, this is certainly extreme oversimplification. But taken as one approach to the darker recesses of Nazism, it may come pretty close to the mark. The Nazi gimmicks like boots and leather and muscles and racial superiority and outdoor rallies and Aryan comradeship offered an array of machismo-for-rent that had (and has) a special appeal to some kinds of impotent people."
[url="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19720101/REVIEWS/201010304/1023"]Cabaret (1972)[/url]
What exactly did he mean by THAT? Yikes!
________________________________________________________________________
"Ward, the Beaver blew up the 7-11 again."
"I'll have a talk with him Dear" |
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Terrahawk
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
644 Posts |
Posted - 11/30/2007 : 08:12:46 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Capt. Nemo
Here is one that I never was able to get my head around:
""Cabaret" explores some of the same kinky territory celebrated in Visconti's "The Damned." Both movies share the general idea that the rise of the Nazi party in Germany was accompanied by a rise in bisexuality, homosexuality, sadomasochism, and assorted other activities. Taken as a generalization about a national movement, this is certainly extreme oversimplification. But taken as one approach to the darker recesses of Nazism, it may come pretty close to the mark. The Nazi gimmicks like boots and leather and muscles and racial superiority and outdoor rallies and Aryan comradeship offered an array of machismo-for-rent that had (and has) a special appeal to some kinds of impotent people."
[url="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19720101/REVIEWS/201010304/1023"]Cabaret (1972)[/url]
What exactly did he mean by THAT? Yikes!
If you read Rise and Decline of the Third Reich what Ebert is saying makes some sense. Several Nazis officials were active in perverted sexual activities. So, it can be said that such activities grew along with the growth of the Nazi party. However, equating that with having attire that looked slick and authoritative seems to be stretch. Also, calling a party that managed to conquer Europe full of impotent types is grossly wrong.
- While science has societal benefits, science is not a social virtue. - |
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Ken HPoJ
Supreme Potentate
USA
1530 Posts |
Posted - 11/30/2007 : 08:46:04 AM
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As a local Chicago guy, I can confirm that Ebert has always given soft reviews to women he had crushes on. I first noticed this back in the day when he would give good reviews to otherwise almost uniformly panned Farrah Fawcett and Nastassja Kinski movies.
Ebert is a weird duck. He can definately allow his politics to completely override his critical facilties (a trait that has grown over the years)--watching Roper lean away from Ebert's literally spitting mad review of The Life and Death of David Gale was particularly instructive, as Ebert attacked it solely on political grounds--but on the other hand he is in the main one of the wittiest and best writers and deepest thinkers about film. His books, and of especial interest here are his two hilarious collections of the bad reviews he's given, contain some of the best and most accessable writing on film I've read.
That said, I often disagree with him, and regularly find him quite pompous. I generally found my tastes aligned more with Siskel.
PEGGY: I don't see how having a girl on the team would ruin it. Did a woman judge ruin the Supreme Court?
HANK: Yes, and that woman's name was Earl Warren.
--King of the Hill |
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R. Dittmar
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
420 Posts |
Posted - 12/01/2007 : 09:16:00 AM
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Now here’s an Ebert movie review for you!
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19750101/REVIEWS/501010302/1023
For young-uns who may be unaware, this truly has to be the Holy Grail of the Jabootu cult - a fiasco so comprehensive that someone involved with the production has apparently used blackmail or Mafia ties to permanently prevent its release on any home video format. The director, Peter Bogdanovich, apparently thought it would be a good idea to direct an homage to old ‘30’s-style song-and-dance musicals. So he went out and hired Cybill Shepherd, Burt Reynolds, Madeline Kahn and some guy who no one has ever heard of then or since. None of these people, however, could actually sing and dance! And to compound the horror, Bogdanovich actually had everyone “singing” their numbers live on camera while dancing. Absolutely no attempt was made to polish the endemic tone deafness in post-production! The thought of a score of actors utterly devoid of terpsichorean talents galumphing around a set while belting out Cole Porter standards is enough to drive every man mad – the ultimate goal of the eldritch horned-one himself.
But, it did have a young Cybill Shepherd in it – enough for Rog to give it the thumbs up.
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