Customer Reviews

Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2004

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Every time I see Roger Ebert on the red carpet at the Academy Awards, sticking a microphone in people's faces and sometimes asking questions or making observations that are either gushing or rude, I have a hard time taking him seriously as a critic. Like Rex Reed, he's becoming too much of a showbiz figure himself. But when I read his reviews, my respect for him is restored. He gives equal time to both big-budget box-office hits and tiny independant films, and never comes across as a snob.

Reading the reviews of some critics makes me suspect there's a hidden network through which they make secret contact and agree that film A should be praised and film B should be panned. How else to explain the resoundingly hateful and negative reviews for "15 Minutes," an okay movie with Robert DeNiro and Ed Burns that everyone but Ebert carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey? Ebert did not fall in line, and saw the merits of that film.

But Roger, be a little more civil on the red carpet at the Oscars. I remember in 1994 when you told Holly Hunter that you thought her nomination as best supporting actress for "The Firm" was the worst nomination that year. It's okay to say that in print or on TV, but to say it to her face as she's entering the ceremony was distasteful. It's not her fault she was nominated. Her peers nominated her. Tell THEM, not her, and don't spoil her night with such a negative statement, even if you're just being honest.