Roger Ebert – Last Of A Long Lost Breed

Shout Bits Blog ^ | 04/08/2013 | Shout Bits

[Shout Bits]

Last week famed film critic, Roger Ebert, passed away, having long suffered from Cancer. Vitriol against the dead is unseemly, and Shout Bits does not want to lower itself to the leftists who inevitably will denigrate the late PM Margaret Thatcher, one of the true greats of the 20^th Century. Still, Ebert's story cannot be told without understanding his rabid partisan leftism. Especially after he was robbed of the ability to speak, Ebert was famous for his anti-Republican and anti-capitalist screeds. As with Walter Cronkite, Ebert's role has been supplanted by a more egalitarian system that far better serves the public.

Ebert and his partner Gene Siskel were famous for their PBS program where they gave thumbs 'up' or 'down' to movies. This was clever for many reasons – a movie goer can only choose to go or not to go to a movie, so a binary review made sense. Also, Siskel and Ebert often disagreed with their thumbs and would hash out their differences. Movie goers thereby got a sense of why the critics felt as they did. A single review was unreliable and often reflected the critic's snobbery and bias. Two reviews offered more perspective, which made Siskel and Ebert the tops of their profession.

Siskel was the intellectual with a taste for drama while Ebert was lustier with a taste for action. However both of them, along with most Old Media were snobs who thought patriotism or faith was for hacks. Ebert's review of Atlas Shrugged I, for example, spends the first paragraph insulting Ayn Rand and her followers. Only after that irrelevant snark did he dissect the movie. Ebert was a leftist who could never give Shrugged a review on its own terms, and he trashed it. Yes, the production values were not Scorseseian, and the plot was dull, but any Rand fan would expect that. Ebert and the OM in general were incapable of speaking to the people who were considering actually seeing the movie. Telling leftists, elitists, and popcorn flick aficionados not to see Shrugged was hardly a vital public service.

Enter the internet and Rotten Tomatoes. Just as the internet turned ordinary Joes into pundits (guilty as charged), anybody with an opinion became a movie critic. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 11% of OM critics liked Shrugged while 72% of amateur critics recommended it. The difference is that the OM is trained to reject ideas outside of Columbia University's leftist circles. Rotten Tomatoes lets people consider opinions from critics like themselves, who are usually critics not friendly with Weather Underground terrorists.

While citizen journalists largely supplement OM reporting by exposing bias and lies, citizen film critics have completely eclipsed the OM's influence. Very few trustworthy OM reviewers remain, and they certainly are outnumbered by the tagline whores who praise Hollywood's most terrible hacks. Instead, movie goers get quicker, better, and more targeted reviews from their peers.

So, RIP Mr. Ebert; you had a tough life with suffering nobody would take lightly. You were misguided with regard to your Chicago-style extreme leftism, but you were hardly the most powerful man to confuse Marx with liberty. You were clever and likeable in your reviews, but the march of progress has rendered your profession irrelevant.

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[TexasCajun]

So, RIP Mr. Ebert; you had a tough life with suffering nobody would take lightly. You were misguided with regard to your Chicago-style extreme leftism, but you were hardly the most powerful man to confuse Marx with liberty. You were clever and likeable in your reviews, but the march of progress has rendered your profession irrelevant.

...good enough for me.

[longtermmemmory]

wasn’t he alternative lifestyle?

His delivery and career was dependent on a limited source format. Only place to see that information.

Today, with internet and two way comminication via text and social media AND first hand review sites, there is no need to expend money.

look at how short movies stay in theaters. studios had to move to shock and awe number of screenings in order to beat/outrace bad reviews. (or concealed agendas)

(ie a leftist/homo/anti-american/anti-capitalist message)

One viral text/tweet can unravel a multimillion dollar ad budget deception.

[NativeSon]

There is some tipping point whereas a person becomes “famous” and then is thereafter convinced that they are correct and others are not. More importantly, they demand that their opinion matters much more than others and you must agree.

[Fightin Whitey]

He said some things that were not well considered in my view, but running down dead people is what Jim Carrey does. I don’t want to roll in the same slop pen with him.

So you praise Ebert and trash your fellow Freepers.

Good to know whose slop pen you eat out of.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

None of his obits so far have noted his efforts to screen write for the most unusual director, Russ Meyer. These scripts included the movies:

Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens (1979)

Up! (1976) (Most certainly not the animated version.)

and, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)

Meyer specifically recruited actresses that had enormous breasts and wasp waists, and typically as part of the movie at some point they would beat up the male actors, and they were the dominant characters in the movie. The male actors who were exposed also had outsized equipment.

Oddly enough, none of this seemed to trouble feminists.

[Sacajaweau]

Breed of what?? Watched him a couple times....Why would anyone even listen to these reviews??

I think most of us go to the movies for the actors or actresses. It's why we still like to watch the classics. Thank you to the Real Hollywood Stars for the years of enjoyment.

[stephenjohnbanker]

LOL!

[elcid1970]

What happened to Roger Ebert I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Disagree with his liberalism or his reviews (and I did) but don’t laugh at his fate. I knew someone with most of his jaw excised due to cancer & he later died of it. Awful way to go.

Anyway, it seems pretty normal to like Simon & Garfunkel while regarding The Graduate as a simplistic 1960’s leftwing putdown of `evil rich capitalists’ depicted by cardboard characters. One would think a liberal would like both the film and the music.

When I saw it in 1967 a reviewer pointed out that the new graduate was 30, the scheming older woman was 35, and her daughter the college girl was 27. At least those who portrayed them were.

[Rinnwald]

Siskel was the intellectual with a taste for drama while Ebert was lustier with a taste for action.

He got that backwards.

The trick of their review pairing was that with two points of reference you could much better gauge your own interest in the movie. My interests were much more aligned with Siskel.

[latina4dubya]

i guess i won’t say anything...

[x]

I haven't been a fan of Ebert for a long time, but this kind of grave desecration isn't the sort of thing any of us should take pride in.

Of course, Ebert's later-day tweets were regrettable. So was most of his recent film criticism. But that was all so evanescent that it's hardly worth the time or the space to say more than that.

The man died, after much pain. He may be remembered for a time for a few good things he did -- and for a few bad things he did. That's all anybody has to say.

[americas.best.days...]

I agree. I learned a lot about how to watch a movie from
him.About the mid or late 90’s though,I noticed that he
really reviewed films that promoted black actors,directors
or black-themed storylines EXTRA favorably. Then he married
a black woman. Not sure what it all means, just stating that
I noticed it. Then as the years went on,he really came out
as a rabid leftist.

I always dug that he was involved with Russ Meyer of
Faster Pussycat,Kill!Kill! (have it on vhs! LOL!)

[Secret Agent Man]

They were both pretty useless to me.

I would never have went to most of the movies they reviewed in the first place. If it was of interest, it was one they didn’t like.

[MarkL]

Simply astounding. That says so much about the main stream media.

Long ago, when I cared and actually went to the movies, I'd check out what Rex Reed said about the movies. For the most part, if he liked a movie, I wouldn't, and if he hated a movie, I'd love it. You might say that to me, Rex Reed was a "useful idiot!" lol

Mark

[JimRed]

I’ve never paid attention to entertainment “reviewers” since I assume them all to be idiot liberals. Are there any you* know of that I’m wrong about?

*You as in all of you.

[Oztrich Boy]

Neil LaBute’s wildly underrated and completely misunderstood remake of “The Wicker Man,” - Roger Ebert.

[dupree]

Banal??? This movie was groundbreaking and quite controversial when you compare it to other movies in the late ‘60s. Every character, from leads to bit parts, was interesting and original. Benjamin’s landlord (Norman Fell) and Mr. Robinson are both hilarious.

Silly??? Elvis movies and Beach,Blanket,Bingo are silly. The Graduate is not. Some of the funniest scenes are the little things, such as ‘track star’ Benjamin running to the church after running out of gas or the toaster popping up after Benjamin tells his parents he’s going to marry Elaine.

Forgettable??? I’ve seen this movie at least 10 times and will probably see it a few more times. If you’re looking for bathroom jokes or frat house humor then the Graduate is not the movie for you.

[catfish1957]

You know, I am not going to totally trash this person, but he did push his left wing agenda through his reviews, and for that he can burn in hell.

[ArrogantBustard]

De gustibus non disputandem

I found the movie banal and silly. "Inane" and "pretentious" also come to mind. As an aside, I do not find a need to insult or impugn the intelligence or taste of those whose opinion of a movie differs from mine.