Rule of Thumb: Ebert at the Movies

This book analyzes the style and influence of Roger Ebert's film criticism and aesthetics. Roger Ebert is one of a kind: the first critic to win a Pulitzer for film criticism and the only to be given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His ubiquitous and iconic 'thumbs up' is still a mark of distinction that movie publicists crave, and he's one of a handful of critics whose opinions actually shape a film's commercial prospects. With a critical eye worthy of his subject, Rendleman explores the values, temperament, and style that have made Ebert the most trusted and influential film critic in America. "Rule of Thumb" analyzes Ebert's point of view, illuminating his critical strengths and blind spots, while reintroducing the one critic that all moviegoers recognize, argue with, and love. In order to situate him critically, his writings are compared to colleagues like Pauline Kael and Andrew Sarris. While exploring their critical debates, the author offers fresh assessments of a host of movies, from modern classics like "Last Tango in Paris" and "Blue Velvet", to films that deserve another glance, like "Music Box" and "In Dreams".

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Preface by Roger Ebert Introduction Chapter 1: Godchild Chapter 2: Rule of Thumb Chapter 3: Close to Ebert Chapter 4: The Total Effect Chapter 5: Lit Crit Chapter 6: And I Still Can See Blue Velvet, Through My Tears Chapter 7: Cross References Chapter 8: Turned On Chapter 9: Misfires Chapter 10: I Ain't A Pretty Boy No More Epilogue: Heroes Notes Index

About the Author :
Todd Rendleman is Professor of Communication Studies at Seattle Pacific University, where he teaches film art, history, and criticism. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

Review :
Cheerfulness and generosity-even overgenerosity-aren't qualities we often associate with good film critics, but they characterize the long and productive career of Roger Ebert, and they also mark Todd Rendleman's ardent reading of his work. Rendleman pays Ebert the biggest compliment a moviegoer can give a critic: he can't get enough of him-and he wants to keep arguing with him, long after everybody else has gone to bed. --Craig Seligman, author of Sontag and Kael: Opposites Attract Me Todd Rendleman's is the first book to survey Roger Ebert's vast impact on how movies are made and watched in America. Flashing backward and forward through Ebert's life and writings, Rendleman traces how Ebert's Midwestern ethos positioned him between Hollywood flackery and the New York intelligentsia, giving him a distinctively personal voice. In the process Rendleman dramatizes how Ebert responded to trends in American media culture--the challenges of daily reviewing, the pressures of celebrity, and not least, the dominating role of Pauline Kael. The result is an energetic, highly personal tribute to our most versatile film critic. --David Bordwell, Jacques Ledoux Professor of Film Studies, Emeritus in the Department of Communication Arts, Unviersity of Wisconsin-Madison Todd Rendleman's book on Roger Ebert is a remarkable achievement—biography, cultural history, astute appreciation and analysis of the critic's methods and values, and on top of all that, a lovely read. Occasionally the author's tracing of the logic and references in an Ebert review takes on the narrative excitement and impulsion we encounter in the finest close readings of films. In one chapter, assessing their responses to the same movies, Rendleman's point-by-point comparisons of Ebert's critical persona and tone of mind with those of two other major voices, Pauline Kael and John Simon, yield fascinating working portraits of the strengths and limitations of all three. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the book is its gentle but fervent assertion of a uniquely Illinoisan perspective on life and art, enhanced by the author's uninsistent marking of key moments in his own personal and cinematic itinerary as they sometimes parallel, sometimes intersect with Ebert's. It's a journey delightful to join. —Richard T. Jameson, editor, Movietone News (1971-81) and Film Comment (1990-2000) magazines Sharp and multi-faceted in its analysis, Rule of Thumb is an honorable appreciation of Roger Ebert as plainspoken, longstanding arbiter of what's good and bad in the movies. Full of earned insights and refreshingly free of jargon, the book's illuminating reading, not least because Rendleman underscores his subject's influence by interweaving personal reminiscences about coming of age in Illinois moviehouses with his fellow Heartlander's rise as film critic and cultural game-changer.--Kathleen Murphy, Film Critic, MSN Movies Over the years, Ebert's reviews, both on television and in print, have proven enormously influential, and this book is a solid, richly detailed examination of Ebert's life and work in the world of cinema. Recommended. All readers.