# Roger Ebert really hated these movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 8, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roger-ebert-really-hated-these-movies/655151 "2013-04-08T13:49:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roger-ebert-really-hated-these-movies/655151/41 "2013-04-11T21:19:57Z")
I’ve never understood why Ebert had such contempt for **Harold and Maude**. I can understand not loving it, not liking it, saying years later that it hasn’t aged well: people have said all that and I’m not going to argue with them. But Ebert [reviewed it when it was new,](http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/harold-and-maude-1972) and seemed to regard it as a complete waste of time. Really? I mean, he didn’t like **Zabriskie Point** either (I think the challenge there is finding someone who did!) but he did analyze the reasons why ZP didn’t work. With H&M, his attitude was that it didn’t bear discussion; he was only reviewing it out of obligation. I’unno. A while back, Ebert reevaluated **The Graduate**. I wonder if he ever gave a second thought to H&M. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roger-ebert-really-hated-these-movies/655151/42 "2013-04-11T21:44:37Z")
Napoleon Dynamite was popular with many critics and has a cult following. Ebert gave it [1.5 stars](http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/napoleon-dynamite-2004) due to unlikable characters and because “I do not much like laughing down at people”. (I recently saw it for the first time- I’d probably give it 2.0 stars, but don’t understand the raves at all- too contrived- though I love _Harold & Maude_.) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2013, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roger-ebert-really-hated-these-movies/655151/43 "2013-04-11T23:03:45Z")
I clicked through to Ebert’s full review of [“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”](http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen-2009) and found this: > [@](#): > > The movie has been signed by Michael Bay. This is the same woman who directed “The Rock” in 1996. Now she has made “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” What the heck? I could see one of these as a typo, but two in a row? Am I missing something? Did he mix Bay up with a Farrelly? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roger-ebert-really-hated-these-movies/655151/44 "2013-04-12T00:12:59Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I clicked through to Ebert’s full review of [“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”](http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen-2009) and found this: > What the heck? I could see one of these as a typo, but two in a row? Am I missing something? Did he mix Bay up with a Farrelly? I don’t remember that error in the review. I wonder if something got mixed up in the site transition they just went through. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roger-ebert-really-hated-these-movies/655151/45 "2013-04-12T00:21:54Z")
I looked up the original article on the Internet Wayback Machine ([link here](http://web.archive.org/web/20130216130400/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090623/REVIEWS/906239997)) and it doesn’t include the error. It correctly references Michael Bay as a man. What a strange error, though. ---
**Author:** ![pricciar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@pricciar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pricciar)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roger-ebert-really-hated-these-movies/655151/46 "2013-04-12T00:25:57Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Did he mix Bay up with a Farrelly? Did you mix up a Farrelly with a Wachowski? Or am I missing something very obvious? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roger-ebert-really-hated-these-movies/655151/47 "2013-04-12T00:55:21Z")
> [@pricciar](#): > > Did you mix up a Farrelly with a Wachowski? Or am I missing something very obvious? Brain cramp. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roger-ebert-really-hated-these-movies/655151/48 "2013-04-12T01:01:06Z")
Ebert was really generous, to a fault, with his star ratings. If a film aspires to be a dumb-ass movie, and succeeds in being a dumb-ass movie, there is no point in praising it. That’s just setting the bar low. Some films can be more (or less) than they appear to be, but there still needs to be some kind of standard, IMHO–not one that’s always floating based on “intention.” He would often get fixated on stupid little details. I’m no fan of _Gladiator_, but he wouldn’t stop harping (ironically) on the Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down protocol in the Roman circus. Enough! Some films clearly got under his skin to the extent that he stopped feeling like he had to justify his opinion–it was enough to simply slam it (the aforementioned _Battle: LA_ is a good example, because there isn’t that much difference between it and _Black Hawk Down_) He obviously loved movies and was passionate about being an ambassador of worthwhile but obscure films. But in Film Critic Bingo, “Roger gets an obvious plot detail wrong” was practically a free space, it happened so often. His writing style was clean, simple, and prolific (the sheer volume of reviews is remarkable), but after Siskel shuffled off this mortal coil, Ebert lost something really essential, and became a pushover. I rarely consulted his reviews because he seemed to like everything, but his other writing was still fun and engaging. The _Dead Poets Society_ review is spot on and really shows how the Emperor has no Clothes in that film, but he didn’t do it often enough, for movies just as transparently (to these eyes at least) phony or pandering. But he was, by all accounts, a great guy and a fearless one toward the end. And in the long run, that’s what really counts. Chaz (his wife) has been filling in on his Twitter feed since his passing, and it’s been touching to see her small thanks and observations. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roger-ebert-really-hated-these-movies/655151/49 "2013-04-12T01:02:09Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Movie idea: An aspiring young critic is marked for death by his fellow critics after refusing to give a movie the review they ordered him to. Call it **The Four-Star Chamber** ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roger-ebert-really-hated-these-movies/655151/50 "2013-04-12T01:05:37Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I’d be more interested in reading a scathing Ebert review of a film that most other critics (and much of the public) absolutely LOVED. As it is, most of the reviews you linked to are just piling on. > [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Dream on. Ebert was a very easy marker. Critically acclaimed / publicy adored movies that Ebert disliked since 1980, based on a quick scan by me just now. I made my decision based on “huh - he didn’t like that” - not whether I did or not: 1 Star Ace Ventura: Pet Detective Blue Velvet Dirty Dancing Dune Fast Times at Ridgemont High 1.5 Stars Biloxi Blues Napoleon Dynamite Raising Arizona Splash The Usual Suspects 2 Stars 300 Airplane 2 Ali American Werewolf in London Army Of Darkness Basic Instinct The Basketball Diaries Beetlejuice Big Trouble In Little China Brazil Cider House Rules Die Hard Edward Scissorhands Erin Brockovich Fight Club Gladiator History of the World Part 1 The Russia House Snatch Throw Momma From The Train ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roger-ebert-really-hated-these-movies/655151/51 "2013-04-12T01:16:38Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Critically acclaimed / publicy adored movies that Ebert disliked since 1980, based on a quick scan by me just now. I made my decision based on “huh - he didn’t like that” - not whether I did or not: > > 1 Star > Ace Ventura: Pet Detective > Blue Velvet > Dirty Dancing > Dune > Fast Times at Ridgemont High > > 1.5 Stars > Biloxi Blues > Napoleon Dynamite > Raising Arizona > Splash > The Usual Suspects > > 2 Stars > 300 > Airplane 2 > Ali > American Werewolf in London > Army Of Darkness > Basic Instinct > The Basketball Diaries > Beetlejuice > Big Trouble In Little China > Brazil > Cider House Rules > Die Hard > Edward Scissorhands > Erin Brockovich > Fight Club > Gladiator > History of the World Part 1 > The Russia House > Snatch > Throw Momma From The Train That is an interesting list. The only movie on that list I’d give a definite 4 stars to is Die Hard. He must have really been in a bad mood when he saw Die Hard. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roger-ebert-really-hated-these-movies/655151/52 "2013-04-12T16:30:21Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > That is an interesting list. The only movie on that list I’d give a definite 4 stars to is Die Hard. He must have really been in a bad mood when he saw Die Hard. Reading the review, he mostly really hated the bumbling police chief character. Another one I missed was The Natrual. Two stars. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roger-ebert-really-hated-these-movies/655151/53 "2013-04-12T16:54:14Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Critically acclaimed / publicy adored movies that Ebert disliked since 1980, based on a quick scan by me just now. I made my decision based on “huh - he didn’t like that” - not whether I did or not: > > 1 Star > Ace Ventura: Pet Detective > Blue Velvet > Dirty Dancing > Dune > Fast Times at Ridgemont High > > 1.5 Stars > Biloxi Blues > Napoleon Dynamite > Raising Arizona > Splash > The Usual Suspects > > 2 Stars > 300 > Airplane 2 > Ali > American Werewolf in London > Army Of Darkness > Basic Instinct > The Basketball Diaries > Beetlejuice > Big Trouble In Little China > Brazil > Cider House Rules > Die Hard > Edward Scissorhands > Erin Brockovich > Fight Club > Gladiator > History of the World Part 1 > The Russia House > Snatch > Throw Momma From The Train Several of my favorite movies of all time are on this list… ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roger-ebert-really-hated-these-movies/655151/54 "2013-04-13T18:35:35Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > Grude, _I Spit on Your Grave_ really was a bad movie. I didn’t even enjoy it that much in my teens when I was a fan of low budget horror. Ebert frequently drew the line at exploitation films. I found two elements very interesting: 1.The rape scenes are not titillating, unless you really like brutal rape. This is the earliest film I can think of that deals so plainly with the subject, it needed to be in film. 2.One of the rapists is mentally retarded and only participates because his friends force him to, and the woman knows he is. You start wondering if he will be spared in her revenge rampage. It is a great bit of moral murkiness, that plays with your sympathies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roger-ebert-really-hated-these-movies/655151.md?page=2)