Ted Rall for April 10, 2013

So how are you on Pauline Kael? And next will you do Thatcher?

Well, at least you gave him a few days of rest before you stomped on him Ted.

Is this your way of applying for his job?

I was definitely not a fan of his politics, but I think he actually gave a lot of people a better understanding of movies and a more diverse selection of films they may never have been exposed to otherwise.

If you can’t watch Citizen Kane, just give up, Rall.

Saw this the moment he revealed he was incapable of seeing games, as having evolved to more than just things of entertainment, in line with movies.

Yes, we need good critics, the measure being whether they hate the same things Ted Rall hates. All of them. Not just some of them.

And Rex Reed was a genius? At least Ebert (and Siskel) didn’t give a rat’s ass about box office receipts, public opinion or star power. Sorry, Ted, this one hits below the belt.

Video games turned into movies suffer from the same problem as movies turned in to TV shows: Let’s make a buck now. Hopefully, someone will watch!

I’ve always thought Ted Rall was cruel.

Yes, because The Man has squelched every voice but Ebert’s.

Over the top this time. I’ve been increasingly bothered by the rising bile quotient in Rall’s comics and this was enough for me.

Why does the truth bother so many people, and not just in this instance? Ted, please keep telling the truth. Integrity is infinitely more important than popularity.

Cliff’s Notes for Citizen Kane:

“I sat here for two hours and Rosebud is a frickin’ sled ?”

Two thumbs up on this review, Ted!

WTF? You come out now and decide to bad mouth the guy now that he’s dead? That shows us just how classy Rall is.

Thoughtful and bold Ted. It takes balls to say what you mean instead of running with the rest of the lemmings.

Clark,I disagree. We need divergent opinions. As I said earlier, this one is below the belt, but Rall is an alternative voice that moves the conversation, and, hopefully, gives us pause to reflect. (Except for Ima)!

Ebert got a lot of things wrong… e.g. his script for Valley of the Dolls. But he got most things right, and was a fine writer and brave soul. Citizen Kane is a good story and a good movie and I’m still a Rall fan. Next case.

I like this perspective and I think it was fair. Ted did not piss on Ebert’s grave, he simply offered his opinion on Ebert’s career.

What’s misguided though, is Ted’s hope that the vacuum will be filled by anything smarter.

Like comics, newspapers, or the movie industry itself, our best hope for movie criticism is that a recognizable structure and voices emerge apart from ClearChannel, Fox, Warner, etc.

I had the same argument about “Citizen Kane” with a friend a couple decades ago (taking Ebert’s side). Today I’m completely convinced that Rall is right about this.

Awesome. I never would have stomped on him like this. Roger was certainly no Pauline Kael, and yes, he was middle with capital M, but he was a decent guy who spoke well to lots of people. For shame, Ted. For shame.

At least Ebert and I agreed on “North”. Thanks for the balance, Ted.

I quite often would disagree with Roger Eberts film reviews. How could he knock Best Picture winner Gladiator starring Russell Crowe ? While I may have disagreed with him I always respected his opinion to say how he feels about a movie. 1 thing we had in common is the love of film & his voice will be missed. I still miss Gene Siskel who died far too soon.

I think what is slightly disconcerting about this is not agreeing or disagreeing with the views of the person being discussed, it is the manner in which it is done. As the “respectful troll” often alludes, I think this is a matter of “civility,” or in the case here, the lack thereof.

I somehow don’t see the value in remarks like:“He had awful taste. Ebert wasn’t that smart. A lot of critics were sharper.”

I guess the important thing is to consider the source and ignore the rhetoric as more of Rall’s irreverent ranting about our culture, politics, economics, history and whatever else he can find fault with.

Next step: Remove this idiot from my daily comics list. How inappropriate can you get?

Don’t understand the level of invective, Ted. Did Roger kill a script you submitted?

It would be interesting to see the positive flip side of this comic, Mr. Rall. If Ebert had bad taste, then what film demonstrates good taste? If Citizen Kane is a bad film, what is a good one? Another implication of this strip is that Americans and their government do NOT try to do the best they can. Admittedly, they tend to behave more in a Randian self-interest manner, but your denial of any good motives strikes me as needlessly sour.

Ted Rall is the Ann Coulter of the Left. They both have to randomly spout hate-filled, arrogant, childish stupidity or otherwise no one pays attention to them. Why else would they? Over Coulter’s “wit” or Rall’s “art”?

Attacking a guy a week after he’s dead because you didn’t like the films that he did? Stay petty, Ted.

Ebert was smart enough and unconventional enough to like Sita Sings The Blues.

So true!

Why does any paper or syndicate carry Rall’s gall?

Of course there are people who are attributing positive characteristics to Ebert that simply were not true; Oliver Stone said even Ebert’s bad reviews had kindness, and I think we all remember plenty of At The Movies reviews where he and Siskel were smug, dismissive jerks because they knew it would make good TV.

And sometimes, frankly, a movie deserves a nasty review, Ebert certainly thought so, and saying otherwise after he died doesn’t honor him as much as it consoles the grieving. This sort of thing is just what happens when a beloved cultural icon dies. It sorts itself out after a while, when the emotions have cooled. Future discussions over Ebert’s criticism will add a lot to the field, just as discussions about Kael’s or Sarris’ or any of the other influential critics.

If you were hoping to start some of those discussions with this cartoon, it’s far too clumsy and ill-timed to be of any good. You’re asking people to believe that Ebert said nothing important during two hours of discussion on Citizen Kane? Even his haters won’t believe that.

And anyone can see you’re claiming Ebert wasn’t smart simply because you disagreed with him. That’s incredibly immature, and frankly laughable. Thousands of his reviews, TV appearances, blog posts and candid moments caught on video are available for anyone, and they all pointedly contradict your claim he “wasn’t that smart.”

I’m not sure what Ted’s beef is here. Ebert made his paycheck reviewing Hollywood blockbusters. I thought Siskel was much more insightful than Ebert back when they were together, too. Ebert made some efforts to give attention to films outside of the mainstream, but if he wanted to champion those films, he’d have written for the weekly alternative paper. Instead of going on to a popular TV show, he’d be blogging & struggling to get freelance articles published.Ah… I think I figured out what Ted’s beef is.BTW, Ebert finally came around on “Blade Runner” & included it in his ‘Great Films’ list.

Citizen Kane is overrated. I prefer The Third Man.

Ebert was entertaining to read…but he gave “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” a lukewarm review and then later got on the bandwagon. And yes, “Citizen Kane” is a bore-fest.

Wow, what a classy guy. Ted Rall…no thanks. You can stew in your own poison. What an ugly cartoon. What an ugly person. I’ve no time for Ted.

Two thumbs up there Doc!

Well, at least you met Ebert and came to this conclusion. But you have conclusively demonstrated the truth of the “Don’t speak ill of the dead” aphorism.

And then one day Raalph discovered that Bors ans Sorenson weren’t actually his friends but simply some of his less obnoxious, yet equally pathetic extra personalities. That day he ate his first Big Mac meal, supersized and watched 24 hours of an Andy Griffith Show fest. The temperature outside was 71 degrees.

Ouch! Sorry, just cut myself on the edginess of this comic strip

i can’t watch Citizen Kane. I can’t watch many Capra movies either. Granted, they all have historical importance, but so does Potemkin and Birth of a Nation.