Thumbs Up

My favorite movie reviewer, Roger Ebert, recently published a notice on his website that he has begun his recovery from cancer of the salivary gland with only a final surgery remaining.

You'll notice from the photograph that the surgeries have disfigured the acclaimed critic's face, but as he mentions in his webpage update: "We spend too much time hiding illness."

When my father used to manage a Barnes and Noble bookstore, I used to visit him during his overnight inventory sessions and more often than not, I would spend those nights with one of Ebert's many review compliations open next to me (he's reviewed more than 5,500 movies). I loved reading his thoughts and opinions on film; it didn't matter if I recognized the film he was reviewing or not. His reviews gave me not only an appreciation of the film being discussed but of a clear, simple kind of criticism that is all too often ignored (I'm looking in your direction, Pitchfork).

In short, Ebert taught me that movies should do more than entertain, and encouraged me to analyze them as an art form. I'm grateful for that lesson.

For all his critical skill, Ebert never takes himself or his craft too seriously; I cite as evidence his review of Basic Instinct 2:

"Basic Instinct 2 is not good in any rational or defensible way, but not bad in irrational and indefensible ways. ...Here is a movie so outrageous and preposterous it is either (a) suicidal or (b) throbbing with a horrible fascination. I lean toward (b). It's a lot of things, but boring is not one of them. I cannot recommend the movie, but ... why the hell can't I? Just because it's godawful? What kind of reason is that for staying away from a movie?

"...I grinned at that absurd phallic skyscraper that really does exist in London. Of Sharon Stone, what can I say except that there is within most men a private place that responds to an aggressive sexual challenge, especially when it's delivered like a lurid torch song, and Stone plays those notes like she worked out her own fingering. ...My 1-1/2-star rating is like a cold shower, designed to take my mind away from giving it four stars."

You should read his update yourself, but in case you don't, you should know that he's able to get around on his own and should make a slow, if not full, recovery. Regarding the attraction his physical condition might garner, Roger says in his website update:

"I was told photos of me in this condition would attract the gossip papers. So what? I have been very sick, am getting better and this is how it looks. I still have my brain and my typing fingers."

And the world is a sight better for it.

Movie-making à l'africaine

Not even Hollywood is immune to the African corruption bug, nor, apparently is its Sexiest Man.

The LA Times recently ran this article talking about cost overruns for that silly explod-a-thon, Sahara. As one could imagine for a movie that cost nearly $200 million dollars while only pulling in half that in its box office run, producers broke the bank—but not in the way you'd imagine:

"Courtesy payments," "gratuities" and "local bribes" totaling $237,386 were passed out on locations in Morocco to expedite filming. A $40,688 payment to stop a river improvement project and $23,250 for "Political/Mayoral support" may have run afoul of U.S. law, experts say."

The former payment was made to delay construction of government sewage system that would have interrupted filming. Imagine that ministerial conversation:

Poor Local Civil Servant: "These people would like to be able to flush their toilets, sir."

Corrupt Moroccan Fat Cat: "No time for that, my good man, we're making movies!"

The corruption on Sahara ran as thick as its famed sands:

"Cold cash came in handy. ...16 "gratuity" or "courtesy" payments were made throughout Morocco. Six of the expenditures were "local bribes" in the amount of...$7,559."

Morocco has earned a favorable reputation among Hollywood producers in recent years as a haven of cheap labor and corrupt officials: Kingdom of Heaven, Babel, and Black Hawk Down, among others, were all filmed here.

Never mind the possible legal ramficiations of bribes, which constitute buying business advantages, a violation of U.S. law, listen to the Hollywood spin:

"It's a bad choice of words in a document, but it's a perfectly normal and cost-efficient way of getting a film made in a place like Morocco," said David A. Davis of FMV Opinions Inc., a Century City financial advisory firm. "

You've heard it here first: Corruption and graft—perfectly acceptable vices "in a place like Morocco" if the end result is motion picture magic; and, especially if the magician is that dreamy Matthew McConaughey.