American journalist, screenwriter and influential film critic Roger Ebert passed away on Thursday. He was seventy years old. He was best known as a film critic for the Chicago Sun Times from 1967 until his death. In 1975, he became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. As of 2010 his columns were syndicated to more than 200 newspapers in the United States and abroad. During his lifetime, Ebert published more than twenty books and dozens of collections of reviews.

Born as an only child in Urbana, Illinois to parents Annabel and Walter H. Ebert, he was raised Roman Catholic and attending St. Mary’s Elementary school while serving as an altar boy in Urbana. Ebert’s interest in journalism began at the age of fifteen where he was a sports writer for The News-Gazette in Champaign, Illinois. His writing career however began with letters to the science fiction fanzines of the era. Ebert became involved in science fiction fandom as he wrote articles for fanzines which included Richard A. Lupoff’s Xero. During his senior year, he was class president and editor-in-chief of his high school newspaper The Echo and in 1958, he won the Illinois High School Association state speech championship in “radio speaking,” an event simulating radio newscasts.

Reminiscing about his early influences in film criticism, Ebert wrote in the 1998 parody collection Mad About the Movies:

“I learned to be a movie critic by reading Mad magazine… Mad’s parodies made me aware of the machine inside the skin – of the way a movie might look original on the outside, while inside it was just recycling the same old dumb formulas. I did not read the magazine, I plundered it for clues to the universe. Pauline Kaellost it at the movies; I lost it at Mad magazine.”

Ebert completed his high school courses while also taking his first university class at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as an early entrance student. He graduated from high School in 1960 and continued to take classes at the university where he also worked as a reporter for the The Daily Illini and then served as its editor during his senior year while also continuing to work as a reporter for the News-Gazette. As an undergraduate, he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity and president of the U.S. Student Press Association at Illinois. One of the first movie reviews he ever wrote was a review of La Dolce Vita, published in The Daily Illini in October 1961.

After graduating from the university in 1964, Ebert spent a semester as a master’s student in the department of English there before attending the University of Cape Town on a Rotary fellowship for a year and then returned from Cape Town to his graduate studies at Illinois for two more semesters. After being accepted as a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago, he prepared to move. Needing a job to support himself while he worked on his doctorate, he applied to the Chicago Daily News, hoping that, as he had already sold freelance pieces to the newspaper-including an article on the death of writer Brendan Behan-he would be hired by editor Herman Kogan. Instead Kogan referred Ebert to the city editor at the Chicago Sun-Times, Jim Hoge, who hired Ebert as a reporter and feature writer in 1966. While working as a general reporter at the Sun-Times for a year, Ebert attended doctoral classes at the University of Chicago. After movie critic Eleanor Keane left the Sun-Times in April 1967, editor Robert Zonk gave the job to Ebert. Because the load of graduate school and being a film critic proved too much, he left the University of Chicago to focus his energies on reporting.

With Ebert becoming the movie critic for the Sun-Times in 1967, his film critic career began. That same year his first book Illini Century: One Hundred Years of Campus Life was published by the University of Illinois’ press. In 1969, his review of Night of the Living Dead was published in Reader’s Digest.

In 1975, Ebert began a co-hosting a weekly film review television show called Sneak Previews which was locally produced. Three years later Gene Siskel became a co-host when the show was picked up by PBS for national distribution and the rest was history. Going through variations of At the Movies programs, Siskel and Ebert debated and traded humourous barbs while discussing films. They created and trademarked the phrase “Two Thumbs Up” when both hosts gave the same film a positive review. After Siskel’s passing in 1999, Ebert continued the show with Richard Roeper as co-host. In 2005, Ebert became the first film critic to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and on January 31, 2009, he was made an honorary life member of the Directors Guild of America.

As far as his critical approach to films, Ebert described it as “relative, not absolute”; he reviewed a film for what he felt would be its prospective audience, but always with at least some consideration as to its value as a whole. He awarded four stars to films of the highest quality, and generally a half star to those of the lowest, unless he considered the film to be “artistically inept” or “morally repugnant”, in which case it received no stars. Ebert often made heavy use of mocking sarcasm, especially when reviewing movies he considered bad. Ebert’s reviews were also characterized by what has been called “dry wit” At other times he was direct. Ebert commented on films using his Roman Catholic upbringing as a point of reference, and was critical of films he believed were grossly ignorant of or insulting to Catholicism. He often included personal anecdotes in his reviews when he considered them relevant. He occasionally wrote reviews in the forms of stories, poems, songs,scripts, open letters, or imagined conversations. He also wrote many essays and articles exploring in depth the field of film criticism.

Ebert lived with thyroid cancer from 2002, and in 2006, surgical complications left him unable to speak, but he continued writing in print and online. On April 4th, 2013, Roger Ebert died. According to his wife Chaz, “We were getting ready to go home today for hospice care, when he [Ebert] looked at us, smiled, and passed away.” The closing sentence on his final blog post, two days before his death, said, “So on this day of reflection I say again, thank you for going on this journey with me. I’ll see you at the movies.

Ebert’s death prompted wide reaction from celebrities both in and out of the entertainment industry. President Barack Obama wrote, “Roger was the movies … [he could capture] the unique power of the movies to take us somewhere magical … The movies won’t be the same without Roger.”

Robert Redford called Ebert “one of the great champions of freedom of artistic expression” and said “His personal passion for cinema was boundless, and that is sure to be his legacy for generations to come.”

Oprah Winfrey called Ebert’s death the “end of an era,” as did Steven Spielberg, who also said that Ebert’s “reviews went far deeper than simply thumbs up or thumbs down. He wrote with passion through a real knowledge of film and film history, and in doing so, helped many movies find their audiences… [he] put television criticism on the map.”

Neil Steinberg of the Chicago Sun-Times said Ebert “was without question the nation’s most prominent and influential film critic,” Tom Van Riper of Forbes described him as “the most powerful pundit in America,” and Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called him “the best known film critic in America.”

Image credit: Kanaka Menehune via Flickr.com

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Thursday night, the Republican Convention culminated with the much anticipated acceptance speech of Mitt Romney. His speech will be dissected backwards and forwards. The plan he laid out will be analyzed and fact checked. The attacks on the President will be evaluated for their impact and truth. All of these items will happen over the course of the next week. But the thing many will be talking about more is the speech made by American Icon Clint Eastwood.

In a surprise visit, Eastwood stepped to the stage to a rousing standing ovation. What followed was an explosion of real time panning and praise across the social media universe. Traditional media and pundits soon followed suit after Romney completed his speech. If you are a Conservative partisan, then you found the speech funny, and a breath of fresh air from a Hollywood actor. Liberals and Obama supporters found it offensive, and rambling. The truth is somewhere in between.

In deference to the Eastwood here is the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (in reverse).

The Ugly

All actors share one trait that is maddening to groups that have them speak or support their causes: they cannot be controlled. Eastwood was scheduled for a five minute, scripted speech. He went over time and off script. He added an off color joke about an imaginary President Obama telling him (Eastwood) to tell Romney to “go do something he can’t do to himself.” The remark was NOT appreciated by the Romney camp. We are, after all, talking about a Presidential candidate for whom saying the word “hell” is noteworthy. It is not something that anyone would have signed off on. But what is there to do, walk him off the stage like they do at the Oscars? Once Eastwood is on stage, you just have to accept whatever happens next.

There is wide acceptance among the political class that President Obama has a disdain for Romney. There is little doubt, however, that he would not actually ask Romney a question or make a comment about Romney in that manner. He is not Rahm Emmanuel, after all.

The Bad

The schtick Eastwood used regarding interviewing the President, but having an empty seat, has been mocked across Hollywood. Roger Ebert remarked, “Clint, my hero, is coming across as sad and pathetic.” Fellow film critic Richard Roeper tweeted, “Clint has now eclipsed the total word count of his last three films.” Star Jones had this too say, ”I can’t believe I just watched Clint Eastwood turn into somebody’s DRUNK UNCLE HARRY on the stage of the GOP RNC. He humiliated himself.”

What is interesting here is that even the film critics do not have a sense of entertainment history. The empty chair technique is an old comedic routine. Clint was around when it was used, but his age may have something to do why he performed it so haltingly. It did not translate, and probably would not have if he had delivered it in a smooth manner.

At 82, there is a legitimate question as to whether Eastwood is mentally agile enough for what he was attempting. As it turned out, all it did was take attention from Romney’s speech. It won’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but in a campaign where the President is searching for distractions, no one on the conservative side should be providing them. 

The Good

Lost in the reaction to the off-color jokes, and a comedic routine that failed because of how it was delivered, is the substance of what Eastwood said.

Liberals are quick to ignore this, because in their world you do not criticize Democrats, and not this President. It is disrespectful, it is wrong, and to many it is racist. It is not surprising they ignore the numerous jokes and just plain nasty remarks (Bill Maher) made toward republicans.

To them it is fair game: it is just jokes, it is free speech. In reality it is evidence of how thin skinned liberals really are. When they make fun of you, you should be able to take a joke. Make fun of them, and you’re crazy, kookie, or a bad person.

Clint made the very real analogy that when you have someone that is not doing the job, you have to let them go. You just do not tell Obama he should be fired or replaced in the liberal world. It is nuts to point out that he, and all politicians work for us. It is just not done to point out the pain of 23 million people out of work.

On substance Eastwood was as on target as any of the gun toting heroes he played in those old spaghetti westerns.  

Image Courtesy of  Randy Miramontez / Shutterstock.com

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Back in early 2010 after a huge media backlash, John Mayer seemed to disappear. Now, after almost two years, Mayer has returned in an unexpected way.

John Mayer first came on the music scene with the success of his first album Room for Squares in 2001. Songs such as “No Such Thing,” and “Your Body is a Wonderland” gained popularity and even resulted in a Grammy Award win for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Since then, Mayer has been nominated for 18 Grammys and has won seven. He has collaborated with Herbie Hancock, Norah Jones, B.B. King, Kanye West and other notable celebrities.

Mayer’s accomplishments, however, have often been looked past by his relationships with famous women such as Minka Kelly and Jessica Simpson, among many others. As a result, Hollywood has dubbed him a “womanizer.”

In February 2010, John Mayer’s infamous Playboy interview became a heated topic as he discussed his controversial feelings on race, past relationships with Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Anniston, and homosexuality.  Readers and fans of Mayer found more information than they wanted whereas his toughest critics found more ammunition.

Almost immediately, numerous groups such as GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) called on Mayer to apologize after he used anti-gay slurs. Notable movie critic, Roger Ebert called Mayer out on his twitter,  ”To John Mayer regarding black women: What’s not to like?”, as the musician said he said he wouldn’t open up himself to dating black women.

Many people were offended by Mayer’s remarks and he expressed regret concerning the interview. “Maybe I need to take a break from trying to be clever… I quit the media game. I quit the sound byte game,” Mayer said to a Nashville, TN crowd as he took an emotional break during his concert shortly after the interview was released.

Mayer also took to his Twitter account to apologize for the interview and the actions he has taken in the past few years to his 3.7 million followers. Since then, he has deleted his account and moved to Tumblr. His last tweet, “What does this button do?” was posted in September of 2010.

Since then, Youtube videos have surfaced of Mayer performing surprise concerts at small cafés. His hair is grown out with plenty of facial hair and wearing a fedora, a look that resembles Johnny Depp. Even at the 2011 Grammy Awards where the musician performed a short version of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” with Norah Jones and Keith Urban, Kanye West tweeted,“I didn’t know Johnny Depp played guitar.”

Despite all of the heartache, Mayer seems to be coming back in the spotlight. Rollin’ With Zach is a new television show on Oprah Winfrey’s Network, OWN, where John Mayer lends his talents for the show’s opening theme song. Zach Anner, the host of the show, is a stand up comedian with cerebral palsy who travels across the United States to historic cities.

Anner won Winfrey’s competition, Your OWN Show in early 2011 with the help of Mayer. People were able to go online and vote for their favorite contestant. However, Anner was lacking in votes until his favorite musician posted a video encouraging fans to vote for the aspiring television host. A day after the video was posted, Anner was well into the lead and won by a large gap this past January.

Rollin’ With Zach airs every Monday on OWN at 8pm.

“Let the Boy,” the title song for the show’s theme, is the first official song John Mayer has released in over two years.

After the song was recorded, Mayer was diagnosed with granuloma, a serious throat condition in which an enlarged nodule sits just above the vocal cords. The granuloma was taken out in late October, but it hindered his upcoming album being released. “I am now on complete vocal rest for a month or more,” Mayer wrote on his Tumblr and also added, “I stay in at night…dreaming of playing on the big stage.”

The Grammy-winner’s fifth studio album, Born and Raised, is set to be released in early 2012.

Gustavo Miguel Fernandes / Shutterstock.com

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Many people become upset when Hollywood sets out to remake beloved, classic movies. Right now, Hollywood is in a remake frenzy as Fright Night, Let the Right One In, Conan The Barbarian, Footloose, Arthur, and many more are being or have been remade. Hollywood has stepped on too many toes with their ever-growing remake list as The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is to be remade.

David Fincher is set to direct the film but many believe this is not going to save the film’s image as being “just another remake.” In the first filming of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Noomi Rapace plays the role of main character Lisbeth Salander and earned many awards and nominations around the world.

Along with her nominations and wins, came the critical acclaim of the job she did in the movie. Before shooing the movie, Rapace had sat down with Charlie Rose to discuss her preparation plans for playing the role of Slander. “I wanna go all the way, I wanna do my stunts, I wanna change my body, do the piercings, i want to get my license for motorcycles,” Rapace said.

Even though she did a great job as Salander the first time around, and many critics — including Roger Ebert — wanted Rapace to reprise the role in the remake. Rapace turned down the idea of returning. With Rapace now out of the spotlight, eyes turned to young 21-year old actor, Rooney Mara, who had big shoes to fill.

Mara is most well known for her role as Erica Albright in The Social Network and as Taggarty in Youth in Revolt. Even with her previous work with Fincher, many people are skeptical that she can live up to Rapace’s take on the character of Salander. However, Mara has been taking steps that Rapace took in order to get into character such as dying her hair and piercing her nipples.

Alongside Mara will be Daniel Craig, playing the journalist Mikael Blomkvist who tries to track down a missing girl related to a big business tycoon, Henrik Vanger. Craig told Esquire that the movie would be an extremely graphic film.“[David] Fincher, he’s not holding back. They’ve given him free rein. He showed me some scenes recently, and my hand was over my mouth,” Craig said.

David Fincher has directed gritty, dirty thrillers before; Fight Club, Seven and Panic Room are just a few. So with a good amount of experience in the mystery thriller genre, many would expect the hype to go through the roof. Yet, more people are jumping on the pessimistic bandwagon as the release date creeps closer and closer.

Many believe that Rapace cannot be replaced and that Hollywood should not remake a movie that was done so well the first time. However, Fincher’s spin on the tale would seem to prick the ears up on some who are willing to oversee the lack of Noomi Rapace and watch Mara’s take on Salander’s dark character.

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