I have been appreciating Ebert more and more, and not just from the Deuce Bigalow review. I saw Firestarter for the first time the other night-- couldn't sleep-- and I checked out his review:

FIRESTARTER contains a little girl who can start fires with her mind; her father, whose own ESP causes him to have brain hemorrhages; an Indian child molester who is a CIA killer; a black scientist; a kindly farmer; a government bureaucrat; and a brilliant scientist whose experiments kill 75 percent of his subjects but leave the others with powers beyond the imagination of mortal man. The most astonishing thing in the movie, however, is how boring it is.

His movies are all about the particular experience of huge myths, and while I'm baffled by P-C's boredom at Seven Samurai and Laga's feeling that they were homework

I liked Nashville, though! Do I get any points for that?

His movies are all about the particular experience of huge myths, and while I'm baffled by P-C's boredom at Seven Samurai and Laga's feeling that they were homework

I'm wondering if they saw them on a TV or a big screen. It can make all the difference. I had a friend who was a huge Kurosawa fan, and he absolutely insisted it was pointless to watch Ran unless you saw it on the big screen. I have to admit that I turned off Seven Samurai after only a few minutes, but I have ADD when it comes to watching things at home.

It was on TV.

Corwood, I can't help but notice Kurosawa's Dreams is not on your lists. Have you not seen it? Moving and powerful. Of course.

I am Corwood with regard to Kurosawa.

Me, too! Kurosawa and Mifune rock.

How Movies Could Help The Terrorists Win.

Okay, hyperbole.

High and Low: yeah, the police procedural. I liked how it was about classism in Japanese culture without the script mentioning it once (that I recall, at least). It sort of reminds me of The Battle of Algiers in how it allows you to throw your sympathy to the horrible criminal before the end.

Throne of Blood: I was torn between first list and second. I was trying to save the Massively Great list for those that filled me with indescribeable emotion, and I think Throne of Blood, while the best MacBeth on film, was more on the describeable side for me.

I liked Nashville, though! Do I get any points for that?

Sure, if I was giving out points! I gotta say, I used to love Nashville a lot, but the more really great Altmans I've seen, the less it stands among his best work for me. See McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Thieves Like Us (now on DVD!), California Split, The Long Goodbye for the best of early Altman.

it was pointless to watch Ran unless you saw it on the big screen

I don't think so, but I can see how the big screen would improve your experience. I mean, dig the color scheme and imagine a 40-ft tall version of this: [link] I mean, the scene that shot came from is really the best huge battle scene ever captured on film, hands down.

I can't help but notice Kurosawa's Dreams is not on your lists

Never seen it, but it's in my Netflix queue. I have to space out watching Kurosawa movies (like I have to space out the works of any great directors) to prevent sensory overload.

Thieves Like Us (now on DVD!)

ooh I've never seen that one!

It's up there with McCabe & Mrs. Miller in my not-at-all-humble opinion. I mean, Bonnie & Clyde wasn't a bad movie, right? But Thieves Like Us makes it seem like a crappy movie in retrospect. It's not just as sweet and light as Altman ever was, but it's also a realistic movie about desperate bank-robbing fugitives in Depression-era Mississippi. How could that possibly work? I've seen it 4-5 times and still don't know, but it somehow works overtime.