Others have said they miss Ebert. I'm certainly in that club.
I haven't paid much attention to film reviews since Ebert died. Sure, he gave scores, but they were not the point. I read his reviews because they helped me to explore my own thoughts about the films. It's the same reason I enjoy chatting with friends about films, books, art, etc. Scoring is not the point. Agreement is not the desired outcome.
Oftentimes, after I watch an old film, I'll look up Ebert's review, to see what he thought. Almost always, I'm enriched by doing that.
Ebert wrote beautifully. I was lucky enough to have met him once or twice at book signing events here in Boulder. He was a regular at the Conference on World Affairs dissecting movies one shot at a time. I attended all of his "Cinema Interruptus" for Mulholland Drive, La Dolce Vita, (no small commitment actually) and a few others. On top of it, Ebert was a kind, good human. I also miss Ebert. Check out his "Great Movies" book series if you can.
These days, I find I enjoy Eddie Mueller. Some movie dvds have an alternate soundtrack which is him critiquing the movies. Listening to his prattle is often far better than the movie.
In related news, I recall one movie with a director's commentary track. It was full of each of the actors saying their bit about the movie. Everyone (including the dog) casually concluded with he/she had to sleep with the director to get the part. Another one where the commentary track was better than the flick.
> I recall one movie with a director's commentary track. It was full of each of the actors saying their bit about the movie. Everyone (including the dog) casually concluded with he/she had to sleep with the director to get the part. Another one where the commentary track was better than the flick.
Wait you’re not going to tell us what movies these were? Also I assume in the first example they were kidding? Or the director was dead?
Thanks. In my defense I knew for certain you were kidding about the dogs, but… some weird shit happens in Hollywood that goes undocumented for generations and it’s striking when these things surface publicly.
I haven't paid much attention to film reviews since Ebert died. Sure, he gave scores, but they were not the point. I read his reviews because they helped me to explore my own thoughts about the films. It's the same reason I enjoy chatting with friends about films, books, art, etc. Scoring is not the point. Agreement is not the desired outcome.
Oftentimes, after I watch an old film, I'll look up Ebert's review, to see what he thought. Almost always, I'm enriched by doing that.