(no subject)

[quietprofanity]

OMG I'M LEAVING AND I HATE YOU GUYS AND ... oh, wait ... no I'm not. So much for me being a foaming-at-the-mouth slacktivist.

I'll be leaving IF and only IF everyone else leaves ... I'm really not in fandom enough to justify it and ... well, the blanket deletions were one thing, but the individual case-by-case basis stuff I don't mind so much.

Fun Montage for You Guys, just because I'm thinking about the Simpsons a lot ... and South Park, just because I like it.

In other news, it seems I shall have two guys visiting this month. cyberweasel is coming for a week starting on Saturday and 47nite says he might be in the area on the 30th so ... well, it should be fun if I can think of anything to do. Delaware is a little low on stuff to do ... as cyberweasel knows from my near-nightly rants which basically amount to "Waaah! Why don't they play movies I like?" (and degraded last night into a until-two-in-the-morning argument on the definition of art until I was finally like, "Okay, I'm a snob! Can I go to bed now?")

Which brings me to my next showcase of "What I Think is Awesome and None of You Do", which is becoming a popular program on this LJ:

The New and Improved "At The Movies!" a.k.a. Ebert & Roeper a.k.a. the original Siskel & Ebert for the first time on the web! The site has always had the vocals of Ebert & Roper but now you can get the visuals, and more!

I think this is very cool. I do like movie critics, although popular wisdom is that they're a bunch of pretentious gits who don't like the movies that THE PEOPLE like and are thus useless. But I think that what most people don't realize is that a critic is only personally effective if you know he or she has the same taste as you. (Which is why James Berardinelli is my favorite ... except for John Waters, I agree with him on a lot, and I respect that he doesn't dismiss a genre film just for being a genre film.)

But I like critics. I've gotten to see some really great films on critics' recommendations. Heck, I've been opened up to whole new TYPES of films and learned what to look for in films through critics. Yeah, when they crap on something I really liked it's kind of a bummer ... but they keep me rolling in biopics and artistic shots of nudity and subtitles. I have nothing to complain about.

Plus, the fights are fun! And seeing how much Ebert changes over the years is kind of amusing. (For now, anyway ... it'll probably be sad when he comes back with his face partly removed ... if he does come back -- he's going to need surgery to be able to speak again.)

So, yeah, I've been watching those. The only thing I think is lacking in the site is that you can't search for guest reviewers. Check the archives for the review of "The Guardian (2006)" and see Kevin Smith's rebuttal to Richard Roeper. ("I'm tellin' you my Dad was an idiot!") Shit like that is fun, man.

Comments

[sasha-bee.livejournal.com]

thanks for posting the siskel & ebert link. i love movie critics too. :-)

[quietprofanity.livejournal.com]

Have a favorite?

[sasha-bee.livejournal.com]

well s&e in their heyday. these days i like mark kermode of the bbc. very snarky.

[quietprofanity.livejournal.com]

I'm not familiar with Kermode. I'll have to check him out.

[47nite.livejournal.com]

(Ah, that's quite all right. I'd enjoy a simple, subdued visit to counterbalance the eight days of endless touring from site to site. ^~)

I've been following Ebert for ages now, and I've pretty much forgotten all the times he did dump on something I liked. ^~ It's probably because when he goes thumbs down (or, more precisely, marginal thumbs down), he lays out his argument as succinctly as one could hope from a half hour program that reviews 5 movies + ads + half the time being devoted to the other reviewer. Though it never occurred to me to read his reviews online. When it comes to entertainment, I love being old-fashioned ...if it suits me. XD

[quietprofanity.livejournal.com]

(Works for me. Tell me what kind of food you like and I'll try to find it.)

When it comes to his movie reviews, his criticism of Team America: World Police as being nihilistic was the only thing that made me go "Huh?" at first, but after reading Jim Emerson's defense I can see Ebert's point a little more.

At the moment, only thing that's really starting to annoy me is his criticism of video games, particularly since he seems determined to keep fighting about it over Clive Barker and every dork who writes into him and he should just. let. it. go.

[47nite.livejournal.com]

(Ooo. Anything's fine. Honestly, for me it's usually a list of foods I try to avoid lest I want to get sick. XD; Trying to be a total health nut nowadays has actually made my immune system more vulnerable, I bet. As a general rule, I try to avoid processed beef and tomato sauce.)