Do you think Roger Ebert was easily the most influential and and also famous..

Yeah, easily, followed by Siskel. I'm not sure why, but no one else in that world has managed to make as much of a name for themselves. There's no living equivalent of Ebert.

Yeah, easily, followed by Siskel. I'm not sure why, but no one else in that world has managed to make as much of a name for themselves. There's no living equivalent of Ebert.

Because of sites like Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. Individual reviews matter much less.

Are those 2 sites still huge ? I never really used them.

Yeah, easily, followed by Siskel. I'm not sure why, but no one else in that world has managed to make as much of a name for themselves. There's no living equivalent of Ebert.

If you haven't read his essay about the Predator and the Terminator as the incomprehensible Other, you haven't seen those films

"I remain convinced that in principle, video games cannot be art. Perhaps it is foolish of me to say never, because never, as Rick Wakeman informs us, is a long, long time. Let me just say that no video gamer now living will survive long enough to experience the medium as an art form."

-Roger Ebert Dec. 2012

He was influential and famous in his field, but that doesn't mean he was right about everything. He was always wrong to make this statement, especially with the unbridled confidence with which he made it, despite having no experience with videogames.

Makes you call into question if he was even worth listening to back then.

"I remain convinced that in principle, video games cannot be art. Perhaps it is foolish of me to say never, because never, as Rick Wakeman informs us, is a long, long time. Let me just say that no video gamer now living will survive long enough to experience the medium as an art form."

-Roger Ebert Dec. 2012

Myst (1993) on PC
LImbo (2010) on 360
Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Remastered Collection (2011) on PS3**
Journey (2012) on PS3

All of them released before Ebert made that statement. So, he was proven wrong in his own lifetime.

** Ico (2001) on PS2 and Shadow of the Colossus (2005) on PS2 had frame-rate issues. Such technical intrusions are immersion breaking and support Ebert's point. The collection remasters (2011) resolved those problems, but they might not be allowed (movie director's cuts and restored releases are separate things that most professional movie reviewers tended to not write about).

Edit : The collection is a "go": https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/star-wars-special-edition-1999

"I remain convinced that in principle, video games cannot be art. Perhaps it is foolish of me to say never, because never, as Rick Wakeman informs us, is a long, long time. Let me just say that no video gamer now living will survive long enough to experience the medium as an art form."

-Roger Ebert Dec. 2012

Myst (1993) on PC
LImbo (2010) on 360
Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Remastered Collection (2011) on PS3**
Journey (2012) on PS3

All of them released before Ebert made that statement. So, he was proven wrong in his own lifetime.

** Ico (2001) on PS2 and Shadow of the Colossus (2005) on PS2 had frame-rate issues. Such technical intrusions are immersion breaking and support Ebert's point. The collection remasters (2011) resolved those problems, but they might not be allowed (movie director's cuts and restored releases are separate things that most professional movie reviewers tended to not write about).

Edit : The collection is a "go": https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/star-wars-special-edition-1999

Either all videogames are art, or none of them are.

Are all movies creative works? Yes. Are all movies works of art? No.

So, why should video games be considered any different [than movies]?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/677f23cc.jpg

Are all movies creative works? Yes. Are all movies works of art? No.

So, why should video games be considered any different [than movies]?

I do wonder where the "games are art" discourse originated.

Like, wherever one stands on the issue, I don't recall there being much of a push to say toys are or are not art, or board games are or are not art. But at some point, video games specifically had their artistic validity called into public question and it became a sticking point. >_>

I enjoyed Ebert though. I don't really care about movies but it was fun to hear his takes.

Yeah, it was when she was trying to play the intellectual for (Derek? Darren? I think his name was) the other rich black kid who appeared in a single episode

The Date Auction episode, where Zack lacks the guts to tell a big girl he doesn't want to go with her

He'll always get a pass from me for basically saying Driving Miss Daisy was mid, and that Do the Right Thing was the race relations film that deserved more attention.

Were you like a huge fan of that show? I only thought it was ok but thought it was much better than that fresh prince show, for instance.

Bad art is still art

Good art and bad art are both still art.