Oh Ebert, you contrary little man. All the other other critics in the world are falling over themselves to declare Return of the King the greatest movie ever made, yet you give it a mere 3.5 stars out of 4. And that is why I love you.
Oh Ebert, you contrary little man. All the other other critics in the world are falling over themselves to declare Return of the King the greatest movie ever made, yet you give it a mere 3.5 stars out of 4. And that is why I love you.
John
December 18, 2003 — 9:22 am
Trust me: it’s worth at least 4.5 out of 4.
I’m inclined to take the film on its’ own terms, rather than criticise it for not speaking to the state of the world today. It’s not the best film ever made, but it’s most assuredly the finest epic fantasy ever made.
Max
December 18, 2003 — 2:50 pm
I’m with John–the fact that Ebert made no mention of Sam and the emotional response the audience will have to his character shows that he need to go back and watch it again.
Max
December 18, 2003 — 2:51 pm
Or “needs” to go back–I’m still so torn up from the movie that my subject/verb agreement is shot. 🙂
Kris
December 18, 2003 — 10:28 pm
Well, Ebert has been known to miss the ball every now and then. (I think I remember him giving Phantom Menace four stars, for god’s sake.) It just amused me that his was the first less-than-perfect review I’d seen, and consequently I was actually tempted to read it. All the rest of the breathless adulation just kinda runs together. I couldn’t tell you what any other critic in American specifically said about the movie, but it’ll be forever ingrained into my memory that Ebert gave it 3.5. That takes balls. 🙂
Kevin
December 20, 2003 — 11:06 am
Not really. Ebert’s been down on all three films (he gave the first two 3 stars), and it’s always for some penny ante reason that makes no sense. Ebert’s been phoning it in since poor Gene Siskel took the ship to Valinor, as evidenced by his choice of the even lamer Richard Roeper as his new sidekick. He gets nothing but the back of my hand.
Kris
December 20, 2003 — 9:32 pm
I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that, Kevin. 🙂
(Although, “took the ship to Valinor” is the best metaphor I’ve heard in a long, long time…)