Is Roger Ebert Going Over the Edge?

[dudalb]

Poor Roger. He seems to be losing it. Here is a quote from his review of "The Happening"...one of the few favorable reviews that M Nigh Shylmalan's latest fiasco has gotten:

For some time the thought has been gathering at the back of my mind that we are in the final act. We have finally insulted the planet so much that it can no longer sustain us. It is exhausted. It never occurred to me that vegetation might exterminate us. In fact, the form of the planet's revenge remains undefined in my thoughts, although I have read of rising sea levels and the ends of species.

We have major problems with the enviroment, yeah, but this sounds more like mystic nonsense then a scientific warning.
And of the nasty things that nature might do to us releasing toxin that causes us to go bonkers and commit suicide to not going to get much credence with scientists. Although apparently it does with Roger.
And I have just lost respect for Ebert as a critic because he seems to be giving a poor film a good reviews just because he likes it's "message".

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

I did find that a little odd, yes. I'm concerned about the enviornment, yes, even very concerned and alarmed but I'm not paranoid enough to have a doomsday movie heavily resonate with me.

Anyway, he just seems to be describing one of the strengths of a movie as a critic, not spewing a doomsday scenario himself.

And he has been critical of movies whose message he generally supported but whose worth as a movie he found lacking. For instance, he gave a negative review to Leonardo DiCaprio's vanity project "documentary".

[Rika]

But he said Untraceable was a smart thriller. I dunno.

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

But he said Untraceable was a smart thriller. I dunno.

I have a feeling he has a soft spot for M. Night Shyamalan, seeing how he's the only critic I know of that gave Signs four stars out of four. (Allthough I think Richard Roeper did agree with him and called it great, too.)

My own jump to the defense of an "indefensible" Shymalan movie is The Village, which I enjoyed, would give a mild thumbs up to and thought was unjustly maligned. Allthough Lady in the Water bordered on unwatchable.

I could come up with plenty more examples of Roger rightfully trashing a bad film with a thesis he agreed with. War, Inc. (the war in Iraq), John Q (healthcare) the negative and bordering-on-negative review he gave to two of Michael Moore's movies and Funny Games (violence in Hollywood movies) are a few examples I can think of offhand.

[Buckaroo]

It's hard for me to imagine what anyone could see in this disaster of a film that would justify a good review, especially a movie critic who should know better. Okay, yeah, there's no accounting for taste, but come on.

[JoeEllison]

I wonder... was he impressed with the cinematography? Mostly, I think, he was most impressed with his own ideas on the themes of the film. For the rest of us, who expect a film to have ideas of its own to share with us? I doubt we'll enjoy it nearly as much.

[Kopji]

Here you go. Take my review, print it, and paste it over those bad reviews.

M Night is a ****ing genius! What starts out as a creepy thriller quickly morphs into incredibly bad acting, implausible plot-lines, dialogs written by non native English speakers, and all to sheer greatness. This movie could singlehandedly revive Mystery Science Theatre.

The campy 1950's Nuclear fallout cultural disaster movies have been updated and replaced by our newest fears - an ecology run amok - that turns against us like Hitchcock's "The Birds" only with invisible birds and without the suspense.

The cinematography is deftly implemented with the faux quality of a high school freshman in film class - microphones drop into scenes, they break into one house and it is filled with plastic food, the second house is boarded up and seemingly abandoned - but actually filled with redneck shooters - and the third house is occupied by an old woman hermit who sleeps with a sex toy and talks to god in her garden. A satirical indictment of our materialistic culture if there ever was one. So on a scale of 1 to 10. A TEN!!!

[Rika]

The Village wasn't bad, yeah. (I saw it in theatres) Not good, but not bad.

[Gene L]

If The Village was the one about the 17th Century village that exited in modern times it was a big bore and a huge let-down.

I think Roger has been walking toward the edge for a while. I remember him dissing the movie "Sleepers" as being homophobic. Which it was not, it was about pedophiles, not homosexuals. He's on the politicaly correct wagon, which hurts him as a critic.

I think he's the Rod Mceuen of criticism.

[Caper]

I have a feeling he has a soft spot for M. Night Shyamalan, seeing how he's the only critic I know of that gave Signs four stars out of four. (Allthough I think Richard Roeper did agree with him and called it great, too.)

My own jump to the defense of an "indefensible" Shymalan movie is The Village, which I enjoyed, would give a mild thumbs up to and thought was unjustly maligned. Allthough Lady in the Water bordered on unwatchable.

I could come up with plenty more examples of Roger rightfully trashing a bad film with a thesis he agreed with. War, Inc. (the war in Iraq), John Q (healthcare) the negative and bordering-on-negative review he gave to two of Michael Moore's movies and Funny Games (violence in Hollywood movies) are a few examples I can think of offhand.


I really enjoyed all the directors movies.... I even loved Signs and The Village..... Though I was amazed someone actually released Lady In The Water...... After seeing that, I'm almost scared to go see The happening, though I hope it is good.

[Zenskeptical]

Roger Ebert also gave the new Indiana Jones movie a high score...I haven't heard any positives from anyone I know who's seen the movie and believe me, I know the most tasteless people.

[Ysidro]

Roger Ebert also gave the new Indiana Jones movie a high score...I haven't heard any positives from anyone I know who's seen the movie and believe me, I know the most tasteless people.

Well I liked the new Indy, so :Þ