Ebert and Roeper
I miss the days of Siskel and Ebert. Back in the day, I knew exactly which movies I wanted to see. If Siskel and Ebert gave a movie two thumbs up, I went to see it. If it didn't, I didn't go see it. But then Siskel dropped out of the game. Suddenly almost every movie was receiving two thumbs up. Even movies that I wanted to leave halfway, but didn't want to sacrifice my $9 without seeing it to the end. It threw off the entire order of my universe.
Stupid Roeper likes freaking everything. I saw their television show by accident, and I discovered that my suspicions were correct: he really has the indiscriminating taste of the lowest common denominator. He is the embodiment of it, except he can afford to go see all of the atrocious stuff that the rest of the indiscriminating public normally can't. And Ebert's just too freaking old to care anymore. He knows that the good old days are gone, and seems to be giving a thumbs up on the basis of everything after a certain golden era being terrible, and so only mildly discerns movies as really terrible and pretty terrible. The latter receive thumbs up.
I now have to decide for myself whether or not a movie is worth seeing, and often from something so misleading as a preview. What about that movie Along Came Polly, where the only funny moments were in the previews, and I went to unsuspectingly, still wary of romantic comedies, but willing to give it a try? I've had to become an adept scanner of previews, assessing the movie's merits. But what about the movies that were actually good, like Superman Returns, for which the previews were the quality of what my dog leaves in our back yard every day? How is a movie-going layman to know?!
I have also had to learn more about my friends. There are only some of them whom I can trust to like and recommend good movies. There is one friend (not you, Bassett) who has dragged me to more romantic comedies than you can shake a stick at. Where I formerly could have told her I wouldn't go see it because Siskel and Ebert thought it was bad (as a cover for my lack of desire to see it), now I have no excuse. I have learned that rarely can I trust her recommend a movie that I too will enjoy. But it's okay, our friendship is stronger than that. It's why that travesty of a song, "Breakfast at Tiffany's," is so terrible. The song sounds like margarine tastes, and sort of liking a movie is not a sound indicator of a potentially stable/recoverable relationship.
In short, Ebert has betrayed me in the despair of losing Siskel, and I still feel the repercussions, even all these years later. Ebert, like my some of my friends, can no longer be trusted with movie selections. Et tu, Ebert?
Stupid Roeper likes freaking everything. I saw their television show by accident, and I discovered that my suspicions were correct: he really has the indiscriminating taste of the lowest common denominator. He is the embodiment of it, except he can afford to go see all of the atrocious stuff that the rest of the indiscriminating public normally can't. And Ebert's just too freaking old to care anymore. He knows that the good old days are gone, and seems to be giving a thumbs up on the basis of everything after a certain golden era being terrible, and so only mildly discerns movies as really terrible and pretty terrible. The latter receive thumbs up.
I now have to decide for myself whether or not a movie is worth seeing, and often from something so misleading as a preview. What about that movie Along Came Polly, where the only funny moments were in the previews, and I went to unsuspectingly, still wary of romantic comedies, but willing to give it a try? I've had to become an adept scanner of previews, assessing the movie's merits. But what about the movies that were actually good, like Superman Returns, for which the previews were the quality of what my dog leaves in our back yard every day? How is a movie-going layman to know?!
I have also had to learn more about my friends. There are only some of them whom I can trust to like and recommend good movies. There is one friend (not you, Bassett) who has dragged me to more romantic comedies than you can shake a stick at. Where I formerly could have told her I wouldn't go see it because Siskel and Ebert thought it was bad (as a cover for my lack of desire to see it), now I have no excuse. I have learned that rarely can I trust her recommend a movie that I too will enjoy. But it's okay, our friendship is stronger than that. It's why that travesty of a song, "Breakfast at Tiffany's," is so terrible. The song sounds like margarine tastes, and sort of liking a movie is not a sound indicator of a potentially stable/recoverable relationship.
In short, Ebert has betrayed me in the despair of losing Siskel, and I still feel the repercussions, even all these years later. Ebert, like my some of my friends, can no longer be trusted with movie selections. Et tu, Ebert?
posted by Meredith at 1:06 PM
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