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You Don’t Know Where that Thumb has Been
Here’s an interesting story that’s only tenuously related to the law, but what the hell: Roger Ebert is currently in contract negotiations with Disney over a renewal of his movie review show, “At the Movies.” While the show used to feature Gene Siskel and Ebert, because of Siskel’s passing and Ebert’s ill health. it’s now mostly Richard Roeper and an assortment of guest hosts who may or may not have their own agendas.
Anyway, negotiations are not going particularly well and Roger got all offended at the meager first-offer Disney made, so Ebert got all pissy and decided to withhold the thumbs up/thumbs down grades that the show gives. And who the hell knew that Ebert and Siskel’s estate owned the thumbs up? It’s trademarked. How about that? You’d think for sure that Henry Winkler owned that. Anyway, Ebert is withholding the designation for the time being, though it’s likely that he’ll never be back on the show and Roeper will have to go on being irrelevant with a permanent co-host. I mean, respect to Ebert and all, but movie criticism has moved on — unless you’re jamming those thumbs into your eye sockets and pulling out a bit of brain matter, no one is gonna be that interested in your opinion.
Man, I miss Fat Ebert.
Comments
I have to admit, as a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ebert's Overlooked Movie Festival is pretty much the only cool thing that happens in this cornfield-surrounded town. Other than the Sweet Corn Festival, of course. And you have to give him credit for showing up last year, when he wasn't even able to speak. Also for turning me on to Junebug.
Posted by antoinette jeanine | August 28, 2007 8:14 PM
Two thumbs up for the smart coverage and well-rounded writing!
Posted by Sam | August 29, 2007 3:31 PM
It's so much fun to bash icons, isn't it? Just learn english first, alright?
Posted by Kikkaninny | August 29, 2007 5:00 PM
Kikkaninny, alright is actually a grammatically incorrect (though frequently used) abbreviation of the much more correct "all right". All right?
It's so much fun to bash people for not knowing English (note the capitalisation of the word "English"), when you don't have a brilliant grasp of it yourself.
Posted by Layla | August 30, 2007 1:41 AM
You are insensitive, childish, soulless,
malevolent, passive aggressive, envious,
ignorant, disgraceful, foolish, and evil.
You are totally lacking empathy and a
a conscience. Your comment is disgusting
and revolting. You need to see a psychiatrist
because you are a sociopath.
Sincerely,
Bill Patterson
Posted by Bill Patterson | August 30, 2007 10:19 AM
I see someone has been making good use of that thesaurus he received for Christmas!
Posted by litelysalted | August 30, 2007 11:03 AM
Seriously, Bill is scary. I hope he gets some help with that misdirected rage issue pretty soon, or he just may end up being a cover story here.
Posted by pinkcheese | August 30, 2007 11:45 AM
I'm not even a regular reader of this blog, but after reading Kikkaninny's comment, I was compelled enough to type something:
Kikkaninny should learn English before criticizing someone else that writes it. Kikkaninny sucks!
Ebert is a blowhard, nobody watches that show anyways, I just get my reviews online. Thumbs up yours Ebert!
Posted by Perno | August 30, 2007 12:23 PM