Wha-wha-what? That was my first thought upon reading the latest news involving Roger Ebert today. No, it has nothing to do with the curious events surrounding his new movie review show. I am referring to his review of Tron: Legacy, in which he writes "the plot...is a catastrophe, short-changing the characters and befuddling the audience." So he gave it one star, right? **? Zero stars? Nope. This movie merited three stars. Now, I'm trying to think of a movie whose visuals were so good that they overcame immense shortcomings in other areas. I give up. Maybe I'm just overcritical, but there is not a movie worth recommending that can be that bad in the story department. Maybe this Tron sequel is different? It currently has a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so it's not like Ebert is by himself on this one. And it looks like a real winner compared to the other movies opening this week.
Speaking of Ebert, I've heard of feuding newspapers, but this is almost beyond belief. You know it's going bad at newspapers when they can't get a story straight, even when focused on the most famous contributor for the same newspaper. Is anyone editing this stuff? Anyway, here's the story. Ebert responded with the following tweet: "To set the goddamn record straight: Elvis and Christy had great chemistry, as anyone could see who bothered to watch the pilot we posted." Other newspapers (like the Tribune) posted the news, only without the rumor and innuendo.
