Customer Reviews

Schlock Value: Hollywood at Its Worst

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been watching Roger Ebert's show since the early PBS days in the 70's. Have rarely missed a week. Agree or disagree with them, it is one of the only shows on TV with serious discussion about movies. So, I have been following Richard Roeper since he began on the show a few years ago. While I've watched him, I'll be honest, I've never read his column in the Sun Times.

While in a bookstore, I saw SCHLOCK VALUE on the shelf. After being plugged on the show for the past few months, I decided to pick it up and look at it. I immediately brought it to the checkout counter to buy.

What a great book!

Among the topics covered in the book, an analysis of the top "movie stars" and what percentage of bad films they make, a look at the faulty obsession with box office grosses, the Oscars, the Golden Globes and why they shouldn't be taken seriously, bloopers in films, how critical blurbs work (the quotes in movie ads), a behind the scenes look at the Ebert and Roeper show (including a sample schedule of screenings for the week), politics and film stars, and (in the best section of the book) a description of Lost films, films that never played theatres, playing on video or never released in any way.

The only problems with the book, at times, it seems a little disorganized. He bounces around from one topic to the next, even in the same chapter. Plus, a couple times he repeats himself, saying the same thing in different chapters. And, most of all, it is too short. The book is 210 pages, but it is the size of a TV Guide. I read it in one night. I wish the Lost Films section was an entire book on its own.

The book is a lot of fun. Roeper is more movie fan than film scholar and his writing shows that. He loves what he does.

Now, I'm going to have to read his columns more.

The first reviewer takes film far too seriously. Modern cinema is most decidedly not "our greatest art form." Sheesh! Most of what comes out of Hollywood these days is mindless pap. That's not to say that a lot of it is not entertaining. Even some of the stupid stuff entertains some Friday nights after a long week's work. There are still even a few great films out there, and Roeper acknowledges this.

Guess what, critics are supposed to be critical, not sycophantic. I enjoyed the sarcastic wit of this book a lot more than I enjoyed some of the movies I've seen.

The interesting part about Richard Roeper is that he seems to me to be a critic that speaks his mind, even at his angriest. While Roger Ebert would call a bad movie, well, a bad movie, Roeper opens up his insult box and would, at the very least, call it a disgusting piece of garbage, or something along those lines. The fact is, the world needs more critics like Richard Roeper. His accuracy is amazing to the point that it's insanely funny. Though he does not make his political views known on the show (he doesn't hide them either), he lets it all fly in Schlock Value. He takes aim at everyone from Joel Siegel (on his positive review of Cat in the Hat), to idiot liberal-hater Ann Coulter, to Wireless Magazine's Earl Dittman. Roeper leaves no holds barred and points out the idiocy of some of Hollywood's worst. One of my favorite sections in the book is Roeper's attack on "Quote Sl*ts" like Earl Dittman, the completely braindead Shawn Edwards (Fox-TV), and Mark S. Allen. The only critic that he left out that I wish he would have taken down was Jeffrey Lyons of NBC-TV. Find me an awful movie and I will show you that the only people to give it good reviews are these critics. Roeper also takes aim at the complications of the Academy Awards, especially regarding the long speeches of the lesser winners ("All due respect to these people, but nobody knows who you are and nobody has seen your work and nobody knows anyone you're thanking."). Roeper ranges from career "batting averages" to "Most Disappointing Careers After Winning the Academy Award," a list that includes F. Murry Abraham, Cher, Whoopi Goldberg, and Cuba Gooding Jr. Roeper is insanely funny, yet he is insanely accurate. Nobody points out the obvious better than he does.

I have always liked Richard Roeper's column. He is a normal, reasonable, sensible guy who is also one of the most influential critics in the country. In general I don't pay much attention to most critics because they are more full of themselves than politicians on average, and have no more real-world knowledge or sense than anyone else I come across in a typical day. Roeper is different because he grew up from centrist Midwestern, roots, and doesn't hide from that history as if it was a skeleton in the closet.

This book is wonderful at pointing out the wretched excesses and self-centeredness of Hollywood and much of the critical world. I am particularly amused by the observations from Aspen, and never tire of Roeper exposing self-serving, hypocritical talking heads for the shallow hacks they are. Don't get me wrong, neither Roeper or I believe in censoring anyone's right to free speech, but we both believe that if a celebrity says something absolutely asinine, it deserves to be exposed as surely as if someone else said it.

I actually prefer Roeper's daily columns to his books, but I found this book an entertaining expose that was fun to read, and was not a bit self-serving. Best of all, Roeper is still a normal guy with a normal ego, and I can't tell you how wonderful I find that to be.

I enjoyed reading this book as one would enjoy a medium-size bucket of popcorn at the movies. There is a lot of good information in the book, from someone who gives us a peek at Hollywood and its stars from a truly inside view. As with most folks involved with movies, the sometimes foul or crude language employed (whether quoted or not) takes away from the flow of the work--sort of like a dirty joke told at a party when one hopes to have a more mature conversation. For some reason, Hollywood folks seem to be stuck in adolescence and the "F-word," though ridiculously outdated, overused, inappropriate (especially when used by adults), and now even cliche always has to enter the dialogue somewhere--and often. Another glaring observation, while Roeper offers many instances of poor humor in movies, his own attempts at humor (one-liners) often fall flat. Perhaps some self-editing regarding his humor is necessary. And, to charge $16.95 for a 218-page, 5 1/2" by 7 3/4" book is high (almost like paying $10 for a movie ticket--or $42 for a couple's evening out--for a mediocre movie).

But I really enjoyed the anecdotes and tales of behind-the-scenes Hollywood and the people who work for the movie industry. This was a fun look into the world beyond the illusion. I do not have live television (not since 1998) so I have never seen a taped review by Richard Roeper. My only experience of his work is the writing in this book. He does have a nice conversational style which makes this a very easy and enjoyable read. And the ending was well-crafted, leaving us with a true example of Schlock Value as well as some fine Lost Movies to seek out. I would say this book is worth reading if you are a fan of movies, but it would be hard to give it more than three or three and a half stars.

There are plenty of laughs in this thin volume of columns and lists by film critic Richard Roeper. Roeper is best known as Roger Ebert's cohort on "Ebert & Roeper," and is also author of the book "Ten sure ways to know a movie character is doomed." He takes on the Golden Globe Awards, asking why they have taken on such importance, since they are bestowed by a handful of part-time reporters.

"Schlock Value" is just the book to take to a friend who needs a good laugh or on your next trip. It can be read in fits and starts, and almost any page will bring a chuckle.