It’s weird seeing Roger Ebert, who was such a keen observer of movies, misunderstand Starship Troopers so badly. The satire wasn’t a sly element…it practically beats you over the head.
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Ebert, for all his perspicacity, had some real blind spots. I remember him writing a bunch in his final years about how video games could never be art (something I disagree with, personally).
His take on Blue Velvet was always so strange to me. He just could not wrap his head around what was going on in that film. I love Ebert and his film guides were a huge part of my youth, but for a guy who made a career of writing about movies, there were some that he really, really misunderstood.
I'll use this opportunity to share my favorite Roger Ebert quote from his review of the 2001 Tom Green film Freddy Got Fingered:
I think about this quote weirdly often.
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