Ebert dead, gamers get butthurt

[Mr. Freeze]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/movies/roger-ebert-film-critic-dies.html?_r=0

CliffyB said:
Something eerie about the timing of the loss of Roger Ebert and the release of a true game as art in Bioshock Infinite.

[Technician]

Yeah, there is quite a bit of hate for Ebert; to say the least, I didn't care much for the man, either. After Siskel died, I found him to be quite obsolete.

[schwerpunk]

I was quite fond of his reviews and other articles, actually. I think he showed some serious wit and attention to detail. So while I didn't always agree with him, I always found his writing informative and lucid.

Also, Cliff needs to STFU, like, forever. If Ebert didn't think Bioshock was art, he probably wouldn't have thought much more of its second sequel.

[Caffeine Freak]

Frankly, I've always been pretty astounded that gamers cared enough about Ebert's opinion towards games to even bother hating him. The guy was a movie critic, and gamers are insecure enough to attack him over his opinion about video games? Come ON people, try not to live up so much to the shrill, basement dweller stereotype that the likes of Hollywood has written you off as.

[Caffeine Freak]

schwerpunk said:

I was quite fond of his reviews and other articles, actually. I think he showed some serious wit and attention to detail. So while I didn't always agree with him, I always found his writing informative and lucid.

Seconded.

[mammajamma]

Roger Ebert was correct about video games. I'm serious.

[Woolie Wool]

Everyone had to know this was coming. The sort of intractable cancer Ebert had will get you sooner or later, it was only a matter of time.

Also everyone had to also know CliffyB is a humongous asshole and has been for a long time so that's no surprise either.

Now I kind of regret that I didn't read his blog more often. While I disagreed with him about video games he almost always had something interesting to say in his blog posts. RIP.

[Mr. Freeze]

mammajamma said:

Roger Ebert was correct about video games. I'm serious.

ding ding ding

Art / "Artfulness" is not a measure of quality.

[NiTROACTiVE]

It's a shame that Roger Ebert passed away, and he was a great critic. Even though he dissed Ryan Dunn and video games, he was still great with reviewing movies. There's also this article about the video game issue with him. My condolences go to his friends and family, and I bet him and Gene Siskel are together reviewing movies again.

Also, here's my favorite quote from Ebert:

[darknation]

yesss, another deadpool victory for me. Queen and harry knowles next. fo' realz.

[Urban Space Cowboy]

Welcome to the exciting world of television!

[Cupboard]

He was undeniably prolific (over 300 movie reviews in 2012), and somewhat humorous. Sometimes he didn't match up to my tastes, but he was a far better barometer than most film critics.

[Coopersville]

I wasn't a big fan. Any time something bad happened to him, I always said it was his just desserts for giving Labyrinth a bad review.

Unfortunately, though I'm a firm believer in video games being a medium of art, people like me unintentionally opened up a big can of worms by pushing the idea, and now we have to deal with a ton of overly critical bullshit like the current feminist gamer movement. Regardless, with him gone, we can safely say that era of bad opinions is officially over. Now we continue with a current era of paid-off opinions, but whatever, we least we art now. Yay.

[Carnevil]

While I might admire CliffyB's passion and devotion to the industry... good lord, a human being just died. Show some respect.

[scalliano]

While I mainly disagreed with Ebert's stance on video games, I still respected him as a film critic. Some of his comments were pure gold.

RIP

[schwerpunk]

TheCupboard said:

He was undeniably prolific (over 300 movie reviews in 2012), and somewhat humorous. Sometimes he didn't match up to my tastes, but he was a far better barometer than most film critics.

Structurally speaking, that's a big part of the reason he was my favourite mainstream movie reviewer: He had a way of writing that, even if he made it clear he thought a movie was rubbish, you knew if you'd like that movie anyway. Plus, I'm not averse to strong, differing opinions, as long as they're clearly explained. Ebert did this well.

Case-in-point, his review of "The One" with Jet Lee. He points out exactly how illogical the plot is, and lambasts the film from a critical standpoint, but also explains that the fighting scenes are many and well-done - which is precisely what I'm looking for in a Jet Lee movie. Put another way, his reviews were always useful for deciding whether I'd enjoy a movie, regardless of Ebert's opinion of it.

[Csonicgo]

scalliano said:

While I mainly disagreed with Ebert's stance on video games, I still respected him as a film critic. Some of his comments were pure gold.

RIP

In his defense, he said most movies weren't art either. Can you call "Meet the Spartans" art?

[schwerpunk]

The whole games as art -- or really anything as art -- discussion hinges upon semantics. But that's really a discussion for another thread.

[ComicMischief]

Carnevil said:

While I might admire CliffyB's passion and devotion to the industry... good lord, a human being just died. Show some respect.

Quoted for truth.

It's incredibly bad taste to cite this man's death when pushing your own agenda on a subjective-at-best matter.

Ebert was a good man. And like many good men, I didn't agree with all his words but I certainly liked where his heart was.

[DoomUK]

schwerpunk said:

Put another way, his reviews were always useful for deciding whether I'd enjoy a movie, regardless of Ebert's opinion of it.

This is what any reviewer of anything should be able to do. Sadly, it's not what usually happens, even among other seasoned and educated critics of things.

As much as Mark Kermode's ramblings and rantings about cinema never fail to be insightful, entertaining and eloquent, most of his analyses are blatantly biased. He's enlightened, but opinionated - not that he's oblivious to it, or denies it.

Yes, Roger Ebert was wholly inspirational. Honestly, I don't even care what he said about video games - I never expected him to share my opinions on music and other mediums, either. He will be missed.

[Enjay]

Can't really say that I'd heard much about Ebert but I've read-around and watched a few videos. I think if I'd met him or seen much of his work before he died I'd have thought he was a bit of a cock. Mind you, he'd probably have thought the same about me. At least he wasn't afraid to say what he thought and it doesn't seem like he sugar coated any unpleasant things that he had to say. As such I feel no guilt in being similarly honest about my first impressions of him. It's a shame that he had his long running health problems though and the loss of his jaw and all the complications therein must have been miserable.

Now, how about those other 150,000 or so people who died on the same day?

[Woolie Wool]

schwerpunk said:

The whole games as art -- or really anything as art -- discussion hinges upon semantics. But that's really a discussion for another thread.

There is no such thing as Art with a capital A. Apparently no one remembers why Dada existed.

[Clonehunter]

Never an Ebert fan, but I always saw that he at least spoke his mind and his true opinions. Other Critics seem paid sometimes. Granted I also feel that's only a few. Ebert is more or less just like any other critic... Except he was just more commercialized.