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Monday, July 21, 2008
Somebody & Someone: Ebert & Roeper leave TV
When I read this afternoon that both Roger Ebert AND Richard Roeper had left the show that bears their name, I was struck by how sad I didn’t feel.
The show hadn’t been relevant in a long time, and I can tell you the exact date it stopped being relevant: Feb. 20, 1999, the day Gene Siskel died.
I don’t want to come down too hard on Roeper, an eminently decent man and a good writer - but he was simply never a movie guy. He was always the eager young cadet to Ebert’s seasoned old pro, whereas Siskel and Ebert were equals. Once that chemistry was gone, there was no recapturing it, no matter who sat in those theater seats.
Quite frankly, since Ebert was laid low by health issues that left him unable to speak, I’m surprised the show has lasted this long.
There’s some speculation about what kind of show might take its place. I’ve heard more than one person suggest that film writers David Poland (Movie City News) and Jeffrey Wells (Hollywood Elsewhere) have a show. These two know their movies, and they have a long-standing rivalry, just like Siskel and Ebert had, particularly in their early days.
Still, I think the chances of getting those two together are not much better than a snowball’s in Hades. Poland, in particular, seems to have no love lost for Wells, recently remarking on his blog: “I have no idea what Jeff is up to. I don’t read him, don’t talk to him. Last time I heard about him, he was still banned by a bunch of studios for incredibly bad behavior.”
After Poland got married recently, Wells shot off this missive: “When I was sick with possible blood poisoning a year and a half or two years ago Poland left a ‘get well’ phone message, so it seemed okay and symmetrical to send him a ‘congratulations and good for you’ e-mail a few months ago when I heard he was moving in a marital direction. Poland being Poland, he ignored it.”
The more pressing question to me is, do we even NEED TV for critics? Who turns to TV for reviews anymore, especially when the Internet gives us instant access to everyone from a legend like Andrew Sarris to little guys like me? I would be willing to bet a lot of people didn’t even know an Ebert and Roeper show was still on the air. (For all intents and purposes, it wasn’t.)
What do you think?
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Ranking the Batman movies
Nice box-office opening for The Dark Knight, huh?
Now that the dust has settled and every interested party has seen the film at least once, it’s time to take stock of where the Batman films rank.
The Dark Knight: Yes, it really is that great. There’s some debate about whether the movie actually broke Spider-Man 3’s record at the box office , but that’s all academic, because unlike Spider-Man 3, The Dark Knight has not severely disappointed people.
Batman Begins: Watched it again over the weekend, and as you might expect, it holds up incredibly well. I was struck by just how different in tone and style Christopher Nolan’s two Batman films are, which makes the achievement of The Dark Knight all the more impressive. Still, this movie is almost as good.
Batman Returns: Some might be surprised to see me rank Tim Burton’s second Batman movie this high. It’s flawed to be sure. It suffers from the “too many villains” syndrome, and Danny DeVito’s Penguin is more gross than threatening. But Burton’s first Batman movie never came alive the way this one did when Michelle Pfeiffer said but one word: “Meow.”
Batman Forever: Contrary to popular belief, Joel Schumacher is not QUITE the devil incarnate when it comes to Batman movies. Yes, he sank the franchise with Batman and Robin, but people seem to forget he directed this movie too, and it’s one of his better efforts. Val Kilmer made a good Batman, Jim Carrey was a fun riddler, and Nicole Kidman ate Kim Basinger for breakfast. And who would have guessed that Carrey would come off better than Tommy Lee Jones’ Two-Face?
Batman (1989): Yes, it’s down this low. I never understood why everyone went SO nuts over this movie. I thought Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was the best movie that summer. Sure, Nicholson was fun, Keaton was better than people gave him credit for, and the movie looked great, but it felt awfully restrained compared to Tim Burton’s other work. Batman Returns had more of his distinct style. Kim Basinger was a washout, and the ending in the tower was a lumbering, badly staged mess.
Batman (1966): Hey, we can’t forget the Adam West movie! Besides, none of the other movies could get away with a line like “Robin- hand me the shark repellent bat spray!” - which, of course, was right next to the Manta-Ray repellent Bat spray.
Batman and Robin: In the immortal words of the screenplay for this movie: “BOMB!!!!! BOMB!!!!!!!”
So how would you rank the Batman movies? Feel free to use this space to talk more about The Dark Knight too.
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