Roger Ebert’s Best Film Review Lines
Date: April 10, 2013Category: Author: Infinity Dental Web
As most people know by now, the legendary film critic Rogert Ebert passed away last Thursday, April 4th. He had a long-standing struggle with thyroid cancer since 2002 and it eventually took his life at the age of 70.
Ebert began working for the Chicago-Sun Times in 1967 as their first film critic; in less than ten years, he was already a nationally recognized critic and Pulitzer Prize winner. Even while battling cancer, Ebert continued to produce film and television reviews while embracing the Internet publishing movement to reach the younger generation of moviegoers. In 2012 alone, Ebert published a total of 306 film reviews not including his blog posts and other essays.
It is indisputable that the man worked hard his entire life, through sickness and health. He is revered for his multiple television series including Opening Soon at a Theatre Near You and Sneak Previews, but most of all for his ever popular program Siskel and Ebert at the Movies with Gene Siskel.
People either loved or hated Ebert’s reviews. He wasn’t above reviewing any film — but if he didn’t like it, he made it apparent. Even though Ebert subjected trashy movies to the trash talk he felt they deserved, the films he found most distasteful or just terrible often made for the most entertaining reviews. At the same time, Ebert had the ability to discuss a film he liked in a way that made you want to rush to the theatre immediately and experience the film yourself.
Ebert wrote thousands of film reviews in his lifetime, though here are some of his best lines:
Almost Famous
“Oh, what a lovely film. I was almost hugging myself while I watched it.” —From Almost Famous review
A Christmas Story
“One of the details that “A Christmas Story” gets right is the threat of having your mouth washed out with Lifebuoy soap. Not any soap. Lifebuoy. Never Ivory or Palmolive. Lifebuoy, which apparently contained an ingredient able to nullify bad language. The only other soap ever mentioned for this task was Lava, but that was the nuclear weapon of mouth-washing soaps, so powerful it was used for words we still didn’t even know.” —From “A Christmas Story” review
Valentine’s Day
“Valentine’s Day is being marketed as a Date Movie. I think it’s more of a First-Date Movie. If your date likes it, do not date that person again. And if you like it, there may not be a second date.” —From Valentine’s Day review
Footloose (2011 remake)
“There’s one thing to be said for a remake of a 1984 movie that uses the original’s
screenplay. This 2011 version is so similar – sometimes song for song and line for line – that I was wickedly tempted to reprint my 1984 review, word for word. But That Would be Wrong.” —From Footloose review
I Know What You Did Last Summer
“The best shot in this film is the first one. Not a good sign… After the screening was over and the lights went up, I observed a couple of my colleagues in deep and earnest conversation, trying to resolve twists in the plot. They were applying more thought to the movie than the makers did. A critic’s mind is a terrible thing to waste.” —From I Know What You Did Last Summer review
Gone with the Wind
“(Rhett Butler) tells Scarlett in a key early scene, ‘You need kissing badly. That’s what’s wrong with you. You should be kissed, and often, and by someone who knows how.’ For ‘kissed,” substitute the word you’re thinking of.” —From “Gone With the Wind” review
And I’m sure Mr. Ebert had many more reviews left in him. Are you a fan of Roger Ebert? I have to say, I am a fan of Usual Suspects though he didn’t feel the same way…
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