tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post112891300309445105..comments2024-02-23T05:17:08.682-05:00Comments on The Film Freak Central Blog: Notes from the TrenchesBill Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14011398543859221282noreply@blogger.comBlogger84125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129597460672302562005-10-17T21:04:00.000-04:002005-10-17T21:04:00.000-04:00Geoff Pevere is a good critic (or atleast a good w...Geoff Pevere is a good critic (or atleast a good writer) from Toronto Star. Often makes sense.Hollow Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16027400445729272871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129572528105438242005-10-17T14:08:00.000-04:002005-10-17T14:08:00.000-04:00I’ve always been wary of Ebert—although I too have...I’ve always been wary of Ebert—although I too have fond memories of his PBS show (Especially “The Dog of the Week” segment—invariably trashing some awesomely terrible horror film or Kung-Fu epic) I’ve usually found his print reviews relentlessly formulaic—(I don’t have official numbers on this, but I suspect that Ebert has referred to a film as “sweet” approximately 134,556 times) and his Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129520456002151422005-10-16T23:40:00.000-04:002005-10-16T23:40:00.000-04:00Let's face it - I'm way too poor not to jump at th...Let's face it - I'm way too poor not to jump at the chance to become the most hated man in America. Believe me - a giant dose of me spattered across Ebert's core constituency would result in me getting spit on and accosted just about everywhere I went in almost no time flat. But - I'd take it in a flash - I'm just about at the end of the period where I think it's still a fight worth having, butWalter_Chawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14314737706201691225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129481267886778752005-10-16T12:47:00.000-04:002005-10-16T12:47:00.000-04:00Maybe "Chaw & Ebert", rather, rolls off the tongue...Maybe "Chaw & Ebert", rather, rolls off the tongue better. Gags that he'd eat you for upstaging him are now in poorer taste due to the mass weightloss he took part in post-Brown-Bunny post-Bill's-comments.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129473767143426562005-10-16T10:42:00.000-04:002005-10-16T10:42:00.000-04:00"Ebert & Chaw"... he he. I would pay good money to..."Ebert & Chaw"... he he. I would pay good money to be in the room to hear Walter say, "Roger, you can love films and be a fan of spectacles without being a fucking idiot." <BR/><BR/>Not that he would, mind you, I would a expect a more diplomatic approach, but it's nice to imagine.James Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03964207789326645793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129443703066554732005-10-16T02:21:00.000-04:002005-10-16T02:21:00.000-04:00I'm pretty much lowbrow in any conversation, but h...I'm pretty much lowbrow in any conversation, but how would the FFC villagers feel about the idea of having Richard Roeper axed in light of creating the new show Ebert & Chaw At The Movies? If, by some amazing miracle of the gods, you were offered a chance, Walter, would you give it a shot?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129438392484293852005-10-16T00:53:00.000-04:002005-10-16T00:53:00.000-04:00That I still care is a testament to how important ...<I>That I still care is a testament to how important Ebert was to me growing up in movies </I><BR/><BR/>Exactly, Walter. I don't know how old you are, but I think I'm older than you, and I remember first encountering Ebert and Siskel way back when they did "Sneak Previews" which was carried on PBS stations (about the only incarnation I missed was their slightly earlier local Chicago-based show.) James Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03964207789326645793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129424845789000442005-10-15T21:07:00.000-04:002005-10-15T21:07:00.000-04:00H-Man:Kung Fu Hustle - didn’t think all that much ...H-Man:<BR/><I>Kung Fu Hustle</I> - didn’t think all that much of it the first time, either, but watching it again the last couple of weeks, I was really sort of blown away by it. Reminded me in a lot of ways of what the French were doing during the New Wave: not so much the way it’s made, but the philosophy that governs the way that it’s made – this borrowing of genre and images from American Walter_Chawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14314737706201691225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129403857717870092005-10-15T15:17:00.000-04:002005-10-15T15:17:00.000-04:00I'll always be greatful to Ebert's Great Movies se...I'll always be greatful to Ebert's Great Movies section for telling me about some of my favorite films. Now, from a more mature outlook, his selection for this section seem populist but that's the thing that is really good about it. i don't know how much ebert loves all the films in there, or how many films he would've liked to put in instead; the fact remains that his "great movies" section Hollow Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16027400445729272871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129398120784958292005-10-15T13:42:00.000-04:002005-10-15T13:42:00.000-04:00the point is, the dude's got a network show and he...<I>the point is, the dude's got a network show and he has to give 3 stars to 75% of the crap to remain america's film critic.</I> <BR/><BR/>That's...that's the rub. Simply by being a celebrity film critic, one who really seems to care about film, Ebert gives it legitimacy. But of course his celebrity is contingent on him not being terribly critical. <BR/><BR/>Ebert's Great Movies section turned Alex Jacksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13028946403342782184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129397208963275542005-10-15T13:26:00.000-04:002005-10-15T13:26:00.000-04:00Me again, with more pointless info:Eberts ratings ...Me again, with more pointless info:<BR/><BR/>Eberts ratings for 2005 (you can search his reviews on his site by year and star rating, so this was rather easy)<BR/><BR/>4 stars (22)<BR/>3.5 stars (43)<BR/>3 stars (81) - by far his most favorite rating, what a shocker<BR/>2.5 stars (19)<BR/>2 stars (28)<BR/>1.5 stars (8)<BR/>0.5 stars (0)<BR/>Zero (3) (<I>Dirty Love, Chaos, and Deuce Bigalow 2</I> James Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03964207789326645793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129391720822018872005-10-15T11:55:00.000-04:002005-10-15T11:55:00.000-04:00Walt-Oh yeah, one little silly observation: did yo...Walt-<BR/><BR/>Oh yeah, one little silly observation: did you mean "Mendoza line"? (In MLB, batting below .200 is called being below "the Mendoza line." Anyone curious can Google it for a full origin of the expression.)<BR/><BR/>Menendez line (as in "Menendez Brothers") sounds kinda funny, but for the wrong reasons.James Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03964207789326645793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129390754446437222005-10-15T11:39:00.000-04:002005-10-15T11:39:00.000-04:00Walt-Re: EbertWow.Not much to add to that. The thi...Walt-<BR/><BR/>Re: Ebert<BR/><BR/>Wow.<BR/><BR/>Not much to add to that. The thing I would say is that despite all our collective misgivings about ol' Roger, we still watch him and read him faithfully. But I suppose we have to, given his noteriety (I don't know if he's the most influential critic, but he is definitely the most well known). In other words, it's hard to talk about film criticism inJames Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03964207789326645793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129363175691511672005-10-15T03:59:00.000-04:002005-10-15T03:59:00.000-04:00p.s. But ofcourse 3-iron is the best film in last ...p.s. But ofcourse 3-iron is the best film in last five years (tied with punch-drunk love).Hollow Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16027400445729272871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129363108110668252005-10-15T03:58:00.000-04:002005-10-15T03:58:00.000-04:00Surprised to see in kungfu hustle in the mix, Walt...Surprised to see in kungfu hustle in the mix, Walter. Seemed like a good time to me, but that's about it. Two films that i really wanna pay to see are Last Days and The New World (Why Colin Ferrel ? Why? Why? Why? ). Rest I'll see as it comes along. I think I'll add Batman Begins to that list. Didn't see The World (don't like Zhang Ke Jia) or Palindrome (Really don't like Todd Solondz), but otherHollow Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16027400445729272871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129362686601157362005-10-15T03:51:00.000-04:002005-10-15T03:51:00.000-04:00nothing more to add about ebert after what walter ...nothing more to add about ebert after what walter wrote. the fact is i don't truely hate him because he still seems to have his heart in the right place when it comes to really good films (despite his taste for indie schlock like crash). and while saying this i don't mean the usual "i'd like to thank my agent" shit, i mean the really good films that he believes in. i don't love him either, mostlyHollow Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16027400445729272871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129345439987743432005-10-14T23:03:00.000-04:002005-10-14T23:03:00.000-04:00Eee, ignore that - I never knew what Un Chien Anda...Eee, ignore that - I never knew what <I>Un Chien Andalou</I> actually translated to in English..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129345159470433382005-10-14T22:59:00.000-04:002005-10-14T22:59:00.000-04:00Any chance you can link to his review of The Andal...Any chance you can link to his review of <I>The Andalusian Dog</I>?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129337753477523632005-10-14T20:55:00.000-04:002005-10-14T20:55:00.000-04:00Wow - never let it be said that FFC readers aren't...Wow - never let it be said that FFC readers aren't sharp - both things I wanted to rant about today have already been taken care of: Ebert's 3-star reviews and the fact that I mentioned the Hall of Presidents ride twice, back-to-back. Both evidence of encroaching madness, methinks.<BR/><BR/>H-Man:<BR/>Best films of the year so far, the ones that will probably make it through to the top ten Walter_Chawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14314737706201691225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129308876517532722005-10-14T12:54:00.000-04:002005-10-14T12:54:00.000-04:00>>I stopped understanding Ebert's reasoning for hi...>>I stopped understanding Ebert's reasoning for his star ratings when (if I remember correctly)ERIN BROCKOVICH got two stars and NUTTY PROFESSOR II got three stars.<<<BR/><BR/>That could be justified. <BR/><BR/>Not a fan of Arid Bralessbitch; she sits alongside Michael Alig and Caligula as one of the most repugnant movie protagonists in film history. <BR/><BR/>I still find Ebert and his star Alex Jacksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13028946403342782184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129303410734433892005-10-14T11:23:00.000-04:002005-10-14T11:23:00.000-04:00Hi WalterCouple of music notes -I just got into th...Hi Walter<BR/><BR/>Couple of music notes -<BR/><BR/>I just got into the Decembrists - funny <BR/>stuff.<BR/><BR/>I had a leaked version of the Fiona Apple album, and it was pretty bad. Just not very inspiring, fairly bad mixing, not very much vocal range. The remixed version (now released) is quite a bit better. How do you like the rest of it?<BR/><BR/>And a note on Desperate Housewives<BR/><Satchmohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00541023264925563538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129300867356706572005-10-14T10:41:00.000-04:002005-10-14T10:41:00.000-04:00OK. Ebert has ladled three stars on "Elizabethtown...OK. Ebert has ladled three stars on "Elizabethtown" and "Domino"--his transformation to Leonard Maltin is now complete.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129263251048503892005-10-14T00:14:00.000-04:002005-10-14T00:14:00.000-04:00p.s. for those who have seen Elizabethtown, I'm pr...p.s. for those who have seen Elizabethtown, I'm probably not going to but how was Paul Schneider in it ?Hollow Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16027400445729272871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129262788556733172005-10-14T00:06:00.000-04:002005-10-14T00:06:00.000-04:00So Walter,best films of this year so far ?So Walter,<BR/><BR/>best films of this year so far ?Hollow Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16027400445729272871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-1129248635910801212005-10-13T20:10:00.001-04:002005-10-13T20:10:00.001-04:00Walter - Great, now I'm going to have to watch The...Walter - <BR/><BR/>Great, now I'm going to have to watch <I>The Royal Tennenbaums</I> this weekend. <BR/><BR/>Nice review, btw.JG Friendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14880088540166440777noreply@blogger.com