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. Ah, what is DB? I feel so ignorant. A family member; all though, its meaning can be derived of other origins too...just as is in the means that one uses it. I am humbled, yet proud. Wish I were stoned, too.
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THIS IS THE MOST GLORIOUS THREAD TO EVER BE...umm...GLORIOUS! It is a fine thread. Pax out, Brother Man!
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Just remember to revive it every Friday the 13th.
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I wish The Shining would stop tarnishing the Friday the 13th thread!
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Posted: |
Sep 27, 2010 - 5:45 PM
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By: |
DeputyRiley
(Member)
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I hate to speak ill of the deceased, but I've never had a lower opinion of Gene Siskel than I do now. According to Peter M. Bracke, author of Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th: "The most vocal of the film's detractors was the late Gene Siskel, then still a local critic for the Chicago Tribune who, in his May 8th, 1980 review, took the unprecedented step of not only revealing the identity of the film's killer to potential moviegoers, but also calling Sean Cunningham "one of the most despicable creatures ever to infest the movie business." Siskel's review went on to urge those just as outraged as he was by Friday the 13th to write letters to both Paramount Pictures and Besty Palmer to express their contempt and disgust for them and their film. Perhaps as further incentive to get his readers on his anti-Friday the 13th bandwagon, Siskel even went so far as to publish Ms. Palmer's home address. Siskel, along with his co-critic Roger Ebert, then devoted the entire October 23, 1980 episode of the pair's weekly, nationally syndicated television program Sneak Previews to what they called the "gruesome and despicable" new genre of the "splatter" film. During the show's twenty-four minutes, a disgusted and disgruntled Ebert accused Friday the 13th and its ilk of "expressing a hatred of women," and decried the phenomenon of "audiences cheering the killers on." The pair concluded with an outright call for censorship, with a smug Siskel remarking, "After all, bullfights were outlawed, too!"" Wow. Not thinking too highly of Ebert right now, either. This display is extraordinarily pathetic, especially for a "respected" film critic. The idiocy and controlling demeanor of these two fellas is astounding. You didn't like the movie? Move on. Calling for censorship? What the hell??? No problem if you have a strong negative reaction to a movie, I've certainly had mine, but I'm not going to try to get it banned, prevent others from seeing it, or violate an actors' privacy. Utterly and completely ridiculous. Reminds me of Siskel's laughable review of Aliens in which he severely disliked the movie because...it featured "a child in jeopardy." Based on his thought processes for reviewing a film and the childish antics he resorts to upon having a negative reaction makes me wonder how he was such a popular and respected film critic. I am fully in support of opposing tastes and opinions, but I just fail to fathom Siskel's alleged "professionalism." If someone could explain to me why Ebert felt the film was "expressing a hatred of women," I'm all ears. Why? Because women are murdered? There are an equal number of men murdered in the film as there are women. I could go on about how much I despise their embarrassing response tactics, but I'll just end on the note that their outrage only served to draw more crowds to see the film. Bracke goes on to write: "...critical brickbats did little to quell audience interest. By the time the Catholic League of Decency officially added Friday the 13th to its list of condemned motion pictures on June 12, 1980, such publicity only guaranteed its status as the sleeper hit of the year. The film that had been proclaimed the most dangerous of the summer by moral watchdogs was now the one every kid in America wanted to see." Friday the 13th was the summer's second highest earner, behind The Empire Strikes Back. I thought director Sean Cunningham had a very intelligent and respectable response: "It wasn't like I was creatively invested in Friday the 13th and then misunderstood. My personal delights lie with stories that are well told. Friday the 13th is just not a story. It seems like a story, but it's not. It doesn't have that integrity and elevation that good stories have. I was just trying to create a fun horror film, and people called me names because of it. Horror films don't get good reviews. Horror films, like several other genres but more than any of them, speak to your subconscious. And they are meant to be manipulative -- if they aren't, they don't work. And people who write critical evaluations of movies characteristically resist anything that is not cerebral. They want the information to come in through the brain -- more often than not, verbally -- and they want to be able to filter it, and only then maybe it feels good. But if it comes through the eyes and goes to the guts and then bubbles up to the brain, then its dangerous. ... I knew that then, so I didn't need vindication. I was amused. When critics said the film was manipulative, it was a pejorative word, and one I considered a huge compliment." Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th is a very interesting book...if you're into this kind of thing (which I am)...
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Thankfully, I've never held any critic in high regard. I mean, they're critics. They get paid to tear down what someone else accomplishes. On these boards, we do that for free!
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I hate to speak ill of the deceased, but I've never had a lower opinion of Gene Siskel than I do now. According to Peter M. Bracke, author of Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th: "The most vocal of the film's detractors was the late Gene Siskel, then still a local critic for the Chicago Tribune who, in his May 8th, 1980 review, took the unprecedented step of not only revealing the identity of the film's killer to potential moviegoers, but also calling Sean Cunningham "one of the most despicable creatures ever to infest the movie business." Siskel's review went on to urge those just as outraged as he was by Friday the 13th to write letters to both Paramount Pictures and Besty Palmer to express their contempt and disgust for them and their film. Perhaps as further incentive to get his readers on his anti-Friday the 13th bandwagon, Siskel even went so far as to publish Ms. Palmer's home address. Siskel, along with his co-critic Roger Ebert, then devoted the entire October 23, 1980 episode of the pair's weekly, nationally syndicated television program Sneak Previews to what they called the "gruesome and despicable" new genre of the "splatter" film. During the show's twenty-four minutes, a disgusted and disgruntled Ebert accused Friday the 13th and its ilk of "expressing a hatred of women," and decried the phenomenon of "audiences cheering the killers on." The pair concluded with an outright call for censorship, with a smug Siskel remarking, "After all, bullfights were outlawed, too!"" Well Siskel is dead now (maybee Jason took his revenge atlast) and i DO HATE both him and Ebert as they are morons when reviewing (if that is what they call it) one down , one more too go ;(
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