I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie

Roger Ebert

The question that kept going through my mind while I was reading this book was, "why did he choose these particular reviews?" I had assumed it was a complete listing of two-star-and-lower films until I re-read the back, which specifically says it's a selection. Why on earth didn't he bury some of these, or use this as a chance to apologize for some of the blunders here? He trashes some acknowledged classics here (Blue Velvet, for example, and Jarmusch's Dead Man), and his reiteration of those reviews, unchanged, seems to telegraph that he's standing his ground.

That said, the rest of them are great. Dave Barry blurbs on the back, "he makes some of these movies sound so bad that now I've got to see them." Indeed. Ebert takes no prisoners here, relentlessly exposing some of the worst films you are likely ever to see. (Oddly, from what I remember of Siskel and Ebert's show, though, there's not a single Dog of the Week in the book. I was quite looking forward to reading Ebert's print reviews of Motel Hell, Soup for One, and Pink Floyd: The Wall, all of which I greatly enjoyed, and all of which were Dogs of the Week.)

My main problem with the book (aside from not acknowledging the greatness of a few obvious films) is that there are some reviews where it seems obvious he wasn't paying much attention to the movie; the odd factual error here and there about what's going on, or not interpreting a piece of the film where the intended interpretation is so obvious a half-blind six-year-old could figure it out. After all, Hollywood is rarely known for its subtlety.

A good collection, though, and sure to add a few stinkers to Bad Movie Night.