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Friday, January 18, 2008

Reviewing's Secret Ingredient

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This is from Roger Ebert's Weekly Answer Man Column:

Q. How is it you can throw one star and a bedpan at a movie like "The Bucket List," and yet after reading your darn review, I wanna see it? Carl Finch, Medford, Ore.

Ebert: I have succeeded. Any review, whether positive or negative, should give the reader a fair idea of what it would be like to see it themselves. I refer you to an actual conversation I once had on the phone:

Caller: "We live near the Wilmette Theatre, which is showing 'Cries and Whispers.' What can you tell us about it?"

Self: "I think it is the best film of the year."

Caller: "Oh, that doesn't sound like anything we'd want to see!"

Posted by Art at 9:26 AM
Labels: Criticism, Reviewing, Roger Ebert

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About Me.

Art Hennessey is an actor, director and playwright. He was the co-founder of Essayons Theater Company.

Art has also portrayed, very realistically, a Division I college football player, a soldier for the United States Army and an intelligence analyst.

www.arthennessey.com


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