For the first question of the new year, I’d like to ask a question about film critics. One thing I love almost as much as watching movies is reading about them, and I follow many critics’ reviews.
Roger Ebert, the most acclaimed of contemporary film critics, is my favorite
My favorite movie critic is without a doubt Roger Ebert, though I have come to disagree with him before. Some of my others include Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune, A. O. Scott of the New York Times, and J. Hoberman.
But who is your favorite critic?
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Can I say myself?? 🙂 LOL
I like Ebert too, but disagree with him a lot! But thats good, and he is always fun to read. Although he scored Home Alone down because of the plot…….. 🙂
By: Tyson Carter on January 6, 2013
at 8:05 am
Yeah, I do disagree with Ebert a lot as well. Other than Home Alone, I can’t believe he gave A Clockwork Orange a two star review but gave Zookeeper a three star one. Thanks for commenting.
By: ckckred on January 6, 2013
at 1:07 pm
I Liked It Best When It Was “Siskel And Ebert” Honestly. They Had Some Amazing Arguments, And Some Grand Agreements. They Were Hella Fun To Watch, Fo SHO. RIP Gene Siskel 😦
By: youjivinmeturkey on January 6, 2013
at 8:17 am
I love Siskel and Ebert and watch plenty of their arguments online. I especially love the one where Roger defends Cop and a Half. Thanks for commenting.
By: ckckred on January 6, 2013
at 1:08 pm
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky is thoughtful – though I don’t think that came across to well when he was on Ebert’s show. Otherwise, I like reading Manohla Dargis (New York Times) and Ed Gonzalez (from Slant Magazine)
By: Daniel Nava on January 6, 2013
at 9:53 am
Glad you’re a Manohla Dargis fan as well. I love reading her work.
By: ckckred on January 6, 2013
at 1:26 pm
Back in the day, Siskel.
Today the only one I follow consistently, outside of bloggers, is Rene Rodriguez from “The Miami Herald”. Sometimes I think he is about jaded due to the shear number of films he has watched, but I usually agree with his sensibility.
By: VictorsMovieReviews on January 6, 2013
at 10:05 am
Yeah, Siskel’s great.
I enjoy reading Rodriguez’s work as well. Thanks for commenting.
By: ckckred on January 6, 2013
at 1:27 pm
My favorite working critic is Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune. He has a studious yet playful way of breaking down films and I just love it.
I like Ebert when he sticks to movie reviews. But even with his reviews I like old Ebert better than new Ebert. Today he is so radically (not a tad moderately) leftist that it sometimes seeps into his reviews. He’s still a good read though.
By: keith7198 on January 6, 2013
at 10:15 am
Glad to see you’re a fellow Michael Phillips fan. He’s great at analyzing films.
Yeah, I feel that Roger talks too much about politics in his reviews. I prefer it when he talks about only movies. Thanks for commenting.
By: ckckred on January 6, 2013
at 1:28 pm
But I don’t want to seem like I’m diminishing Ebert’s contribution to movies. He has such a wealth of knowledge about movies and movie history and he’s done a lot for the industry.
By: keith7198 on January 6, 2013
at 4:11 pm
I like Roger Ebert, feature some of his reviews in my favourite reviews section 😀
By: Tim The Film Guy on January 6, 2013
at 10:34 am
Yeah, Roger’s great.
By: ckckred on January 6, 2013
at 1:29 pm
I’ve learned about a lot of incredible movies through Ebert’s Great Movies series. I know most everybody said Ebert, but I actually agree with him on most occasions and he can give great insight.
By: Garrett on January 6, 2013
at 10:37 am
I often use Roger’s Great Movie section to find movies as well. He does give great analysis on movies. Thanks for commenting.
By: ckckred on January 6, 2013
at 1:30 pm
I don’t mind Ebert. I think he misses the point a lot, but you can only admire his career and achievements.
My favourite critics are Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton who host the Australian ‘At the Movies’. They have been working together for 25 years and have a wonderful rapport. Plus the show is extremely popular so exposes a lot of people to fantastic films. Stratton is also a very good newspaper critic.
Aside from that, most of what I read about film is by bloggers. I have started listening to podcasts as well recently, so get some cool opinions from them.
By: Beer Movie on January 7, 2013
at 6:27 am
Yeah, I’ve had disagreements with Roger in the past, but I love is writing.
I haven’t seen the Australian version of “At The Movies.” I’ll have to check that out.
Bloggers’ opinions are always helpful. I’ve found a great selection of movies from reading others’ reviews. Thanks for commenting.
By: ckckred on January 7, 2013
at 8:44 pm
I don’t really check out reviews of the “celebrity” reviewers. Very occasionally I might see what Ebert has to say, but I mainly check out the opinions of other bloggers.
By: Nostra on January 7, 2013
at 7:13 am
I like looking up critics’ reviews, but bloggers’ ones are equally helpful. Thanks for commenting.
By: ckckred on January 7, 2013
at 8:44 pm
I was just writing a blog post about my favourites when I stumbled upon this. :L
There are only two critics I have any interest in reading, and they are Anthony Lane of the New Yorker and Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Tribune. Lane because of his Pauline Kael-like prose, and Rosenbaum because he sees cinema for what it truly is – an integral part of life.
I tend not to care about critics’ views, especially because when differ from almost every critic; I just read them for their writing abilities.
Armond White is another, although most hate his guts.
By: Thomas Priday on January 7, 2013
at 7:33 am
I like both Lane and Rosenbaum. Now that I’m just thinking about it, Lane does remind me of Kael. I’m not familiar with White’s work.
I’ve disagreed with critical opinion plenty of times. I agree that the writing matters more than the views. Thanks for commenting.
By: ckckred on January 7, 2013
at 8:46 pm
Ebert isn’t really that much of a big name here in the UK, certainly not as much as in the US anyway. I don’t pay a huge amount of attention to critics, although I do enjoy listening to the rants of Mark Kermode. I remember reading loads of stuff at uni from those who have written proper academical papers on movies but I can’t remember anything except Laura Mulvey and her feminist warblings!
By: Terry Malloy's Pigeon Coop on January 7, 2013
at 7:48 am
I don’t think I’ve read any of Mark Kermode’s work. I’ll have to check that out. Thanks for commenting.
By: ckckred on January 7, 2013
at 8:47 pm
I agree with Roger Ebert a lot. However, one can only read his reviews AFTER seeing the movie. He completely dissects the entire plot in his column spoiling the fun in discovering the movie for yourself.
Kyle Smith of New York Post seems to go against the grain in a way that I find appealing. Back when Cloud Atlas first came out, it seemed everyone was praising it. Things have changed since (welcome to the party Time and Rolling Stone) He wasn’t afraid to disagree in the beginning and did so in an intelligent way.
By: Mark Hobin on January 8, 2013
at 3:38 am
Yeah, Roger has spoiled quite a few movies for me. I usually just briefly look at his reviews and once I see the movie read them fully. I haven’t read too much of Smith’s work, but I’ve liked what I’ve seen. Thanks for commenting.
By: ckckred on January 8, 2013
at 6:58 am
I think Ebert is my favourite as well. I used to love watching Siskel & Ebert, especially when they got a little rude with each other.
By: filmhipster on January 9, 2013
at 12:49 pm
I love the Siskel and Ebert arguments, especially the Cop and a Half one.
By: ckckred on January 9, 2013
at 5:26 pm
I really enjoyed that old School Siskel and Ebert format. Yeah I realize a few people already mentioned that. Now I really don’t read any reviews until we review the film so as not to prejudice myself. Once I view something its all blog reading for me at this point.
good topic
By: sanclementejedi on January 9, 2013
at 6:15 pm
Thanks! Yeah, I loved watching Siskel and Ebert. I still look up their clips online.
By: ckckred on January 9, 2013
at 7:36 pm
duh why didn’t I think of that lol
By: sanclementejedi on January 9, 2013
at 8:03 pm