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WHAT I'M THANKFUL FOR 11.2.10

post #1 of 8
11/2/10 at 8:00pm
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Ebert's 1996 Video Companion.


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post #2 of 8
11/2/10 at 8:09pm
I still look up Ebert reviews whenever I watch a movie from his era. Sometimes it doesn't help at all (his Fright Night review is little more than a synopsis and a soap-box to take a stand against slasher films) but most of the time they make me look at films in a different way (Quiz Show is less about past antisemitism and more about present anti-intellectualism) or at least sum up my feelings in ways more succinct and neat than I could.

I read Pauline Kael when I really want my views challenged, but Ebert's writing is a joy to read, even when he's completely off the mark.
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post #3 of 8
11/2/10 at 8:22pm
I love Ebert's QUIZ SHOW review. A perfect example of the dude firing on all cylinders.
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post #4 of 8
11/3/10 at 1:27am
I am so glad you wrote this. I grew up with pretty much nothing but Disney and PG-13 films and never went to the movies. Been trying to make up for that for the last 10 years, and pretty hardcore in the past two years. Basically, I am late to the party on everything.

Would you actually recommend this book for someone like me that has a storehouse of things I still haven't seen? Or would the advice be, just keep watching shit.
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post #5 of 8
11/3/10 at 1:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by 88 Inches View Post
I am so glad you wrote this. I grew up with pretty much nothing but Disney and PG-13 films and never went to the movies. Been trying to make up for that for the last 10 years, and pretty hardcore in the past two years. Basically, I am late to the party on everything.

Would you actually recommend this book for someone like me that has a storehouse of things I still haven't seen? Or would the advice be, just keep watching shit.
That's where I'm at as well. I haven't picked up any books on the matter (though I probably should get around to that, especially after reading this and Rath's post the other day), but I've found myself in a cozy groove with the "just keep watching shit" route.
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post #6 of 8
11/3/10 at 1:43am
I don't think a book like that is best used to discover new films, as it has reviews of everything under the sun. I'd go more for something like Roger Ebert's Four-Star Reviews for something like that. But if you're interested in reading well-written and insightful film-criticism, I'd go ahead and search Ebert's online archives for reviews of movies you watch. I've found it to almost always enrich the viewing experience, pointing out things that, as a more novice viewer (something I consider myself as well), you won't always pick up the first time around.

Also, check out some of Pauline Kael's books. She has a hyper-critical style that takes a bit to get used to (at first it almost seems like she hates everything), but she's an amazing and super insightful. I've been reading 5001 Nights At the Movies and it's wonderful.
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post #7 of 8
11/3/10 at 2:15am
Thanks, Patrick.

I'm gonna start referencing some of his reviews online then for a start.

Every discipline has a language associated with it, and it takes a while to be able to understand and speak that language to get enough out of it. Hell, I have an art background, and people talk about "painting language", how so and so's and so and so's paint strokes and mark-making are like so and so's or belong to a certain era, and if you haven't been looking at art in books and in person and reading about art for at least a few years, a lot of the good stuff's gonna go over your head. And... that's how I feel about film right now.

Hearing about how someone else gained their body of knowledge helps a lot.
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post #8 of 8
11/3/10 at 3:21am
Well... Ripoll just said everything I was about to. Even dropped the exact same book I was going to, and gave a link to boot (I wouldn't have been that helpful). Even though the Net has largely made owning such books pointless, nothing beats holding something in your hands, I say.

Definitely recommend reading some Kael at some point. Though, as Ripoll notes, she isn't necessarily someone to get recommendations from, as she didn't champion a ton of films. But even when shitting on a great film (like DR. STRANGELOVE) she had interesting things to say. She also said probably my all-time favorite film related quote: “Movies are so rarely great art that if we cannot appreciate great trash we have very little reason to be interested in them."

Truth.
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