From: Eric Baker
To: Adam Kempenaar; Sam Hallgren
Subject: Ebert's slide
Nate 'The Yapper' Yapp brings up a subject Adam and I have discussed before after reading some of Ebert's less than scintillating reviews on the web. It's unrealistic to expect gold from the man every single review, considering he does 4-5 every week of the year. But I think that's a part of the problem: the man simply reviews too many movies. The Sun Times obviously knows they've got a hot commodity in Ebert, perhaps the most recognized name in movie criticism nationwide, and I have no doubt he gets compensated as such. They might be thinking 'we pay this guy a ton of dough, plus everyone expects the movie reviews to be Ebert all the time and he likes to do them, so why should we give a few movies to anyone else?' Look, I don't give a damn about his star ratings, as Adam points out these are completely subjective. And I'm not talking about just disagreeing with the opinions in his reviews. Sometimes as often as once a week, there are reviews where it reads like he just phoned it in. The prose doesn't flow like honey as in his Pulitzer Prize salad days (which is probably good, because then he'd literally eat his words). He didn't have the time or energy to delve into what makes the movie great/assy, so he's going to sandbag it and concentrate on the other 4 reviews he has to write that week. This doesn't jive with what Adam has already told us: that Ebert sits down and churns reviews out faster than any writer at the Sun Times. Taking notes during the movie probably facilitates this alacrity. * Does 'Die Another Day' belong as our next Movie Club subject? I can understand your dilemma. You're not going to gain any new insight into the time-space continuum watching a Bond flick, and living in Chicago, you've got so many other choices to use your time and money on, each decision is subject for a relentless Kempenaarian internal dialogue. But, I don't think we should limit ourselves to movies that sound important. What's wrong with seeing a movie that's fun? Like you have said, there is something to walking out of a movie with a smile on your face. And who knows, as my biggest fan 'Rico' points out in the Feedback Forum, 'Punch-Drunk Love' is his favorite movie of the year, and it's merely a romantic comedy. Maybe 'Die Another Day' will push somebody's buttons on this panel.
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