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Matrixprime
Diocesan Ecclesiarch of the Sacred Order of Jabootu
USA
69 Posts |
 Posted - 01/06/2006 : 5:22:04 PM
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Bouncing about the length and breadth of the thread:
-I've never been a fan of Ebert. Maybe recently he's developed a sense of humor, but I've always considered him a person bloated with his own self importance. I always file him under the type of movie critic that gets so involved in analysis he loses site of enjoying a movie (as opposed to, say, Joe Bob Briggs, or Ken himself!).
I've always liked Siskel. One episode summed it up best; they were reviewing some mediocre movie with a lot of skin, and Ebert said it sucked (of course), after which Siskel gave it a thumbs up. Ebert said something to the effect of the movie being nothing more than T&A exploitation, and Siskel said 'well why else would I watch it?'. That moment defined for me why I liked Siskel but not Ebert.
-As for horror; these movies like Wolf Creek are less slasher and more exploitation. Like the original Texas Chainsaw, its all about the brutality of man. People watch 'em for the same reason why they go do extreme sports.
Bah Weep Granna Weep Ninny Bahn - Universal Greeting
Est Solarus Oth Mithas - Solamnic Knight Pledge
And now its me too:
http://matrixprime.blogspot.com |
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Prankster
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Canada
727 Posts |
Posted - 01/06/2006 : 8:21:50 PM
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Just for the record, Ebert had a similar (negative) reaction to Night of the Living Dead, calling it a sick film devoid of value, etc.
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Check out my online comics at [URL]http://www.phantasmictales.com[/URL]! |
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Jonah Falcon
Preeminent Apostolic Prelate of the Discipleship of Jabootu
USA
113 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2006 : 09:25:56 AM
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| Read Ebert's review of Aliens. He wants to give it a bad review, but gives it 3.5 out of 4 because everyone else is raving. |
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BrainFromArous
Preeminent Apostolic Prelate of the Discipleship of Jabootu
USA
102 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2006 : 02:54:15 AM
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I think it comes down to this: What is the engine of the movie? That is, what animates it? What's the POINT of it?
In something like Wolf Creek, the point is to turn the graphic, prolonged suffering of helpless innocent people into entertainment. There's precious little suspense, tension or what have you. This is violence-pornography, pure and simple.
Another good example is Friday the 13th, in which the paper-thin plot is simply a connecting device to string together graphic murder spectacles just as the, ahem, story of a porn movie joins the sex scenes together.
Carpenter's Halloween is a REAL "scare" film, because his style choices (and material constraints) led him to emphasize dread and atmosphere over gore.
As an aside, the next moronic rookie director who praises Halloween in the pages of Fango or Rue Morgue as the inspiration for his upcoming butcher-a-thon horror flick should be slapped. (Then somebody should slap everyone at Fango just on principle...)
I don't agree with Ebert on much, but hats off to him for calling this crap what it is. Horror cinema can do better, and should.
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Boards don't hit back.
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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2006 : 9:27:40 PM
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"Siskel & Ebert" really should have been called "Siskel & Ebert & Ebert", because Roger always seemed to have an evil identical twin who swapped places with him from show to show (and sometimes from commercial break to commercial break).
I've ranted about this before. One minute he's praising Purple Rain, 9 1/2 Weeks and Body Double to high heaven, the next minute he's lambasting Fast Times at Ridgemont High for being "sexist". He'll diss The Howling but champion Silver Bullet. He'll dump on Die Hard while serving Cop and a Half the big thumbs-up.
Basically, Ebert's talked out of both sides of his mouth his whole career, and really I don't care anymore. I no longer watch his show. I don't read his reviews. So it really doesn't matter what he thinks of Wolf Creek. No matter what he says now, he'll remark the polar opposite the next time around. Guaranteed. |
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Jonah Falcon
Preeminent Apostolic Prelate of the Discipleship of Jabootu
USA
113 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2006 : 06:03:00 AM
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| He just gave a 3 star review to The Ringer. (rolling eyes) |
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R. Dittmar
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
420 Posts |
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Neville
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Spain
1590 Posts |
Posted - 01/14/2006 : 5:47:14 PM
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I've just seen Wolf Creek and I just wanted to say that although I don't share Ebert's views on the film (I think he's overreacting, he's treating the film as if the violence on it was real) I can understand his reaction, since this film, altohugh an slasher in its own right, portrays violence (and everything else, I might add) in an extremely realistic fashion. I don't mean only the gore itself, which is actually quite limited, but the fact that the violence comes out of the blue, has no meaning or purpose, no subtext, as somebody pointed out, and no explanation. Nor is needed, IMHO.
It is a deeply disturbing film and I'd only recommend it to very seasoned viewers, but I did not think of it as gratuitous or as offensive. Of course, others might disagree. |
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Prankster
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Canada
727 Posts |
Posted - 01/17/2006 : 01:56:38 AM
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Interesting that the subject comes up just as the B-Masters do their "Video Nasties" roundtable. Check out El Santo's reviews for some spirited defense of sick 'n' twisted filmmaking.
Since the subject came up, I wonder what you folks think of Ebert's recent response to the backlash against "Crash" (which I haven't seen, BTW):
[url]http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060108/COMMENTARY/601080310[/url]
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Check out my online comics at [URL]http://www.phantasmictales.com[/URL]! |
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Neville
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Spain
1590 Posts |
Posted - 01/17/2006 : 02:34:11 AM
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| I found "Crash" to be an excellent film. Direction, acting, dialogue, are very good. However, it is true that the plot is quite hard to believe, and that while trying to fight racist cliches it reproduces quite a string of them. If that's clumsyness on the part of Paul Haggis (writer and director) or the desire to create debate I can't tell. |
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