This is a Mouth Agape Movie, during which your mouth hangs open in astonishment at one preposterous event after another. This movie's plot doesn't play tennis without a net, but also without a ball and a racket. It spins in its own blowback. And, no, I don't know what that means, but this is the kind of movie that makes you think of writing it.
I don't always agree with Ebert's likes and dislikes, but there are very few reviewers around who can write like him. Trust me, I've checked.
Peter Travers? Anthony Lane/David Denby??
ReplyDeletePeter Travers from Rolling Stone? I find him quite opinionated and he can't write nearly as well as Ebert.
ReplyDeleteAnthony Lane's language is brilliant, of course. However, what I've found is that you enjoy him the most when you read about movies that he's disliked, those which he cuts to pieces. You don't really learn anything new or even get an idea of why he liked a certain movie, when you read some of his more positive reviews.
I confess I haven't read much of Denby, apart from a stray review or two while browsing The New Yorker pages online.