Awesome Deuce Bigalow 2 Review
From my friend Bill Graziano's blog, I learned of this awesome Robert Ebert review of Duece Bigalow 2: European Gigalo. Ebert's initial zero star rating for this movie sets the tone for this review, which culminates in Ebert calling out star Rob Schneider who insulted a film critic who wasn't looking forward to Rob's sequel. Ebert sets this entire scene up quite well:
According to a story by Larry Carroll of MTV News, Rob Schneider took offense when Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times listed this year's Best Picture Nominees and wrote that they were "ignored, unloved and turned down flat by most of the same studios that ... bankroll hundreds of sequels, including a follow-up to 'Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo,' a film that was sadly overlooked at Oscar time because apparently nobody had the foresight to invent a category for Best Running Penis Joke Delivered by a Third-Rate Comic."
Schneider retaliated by attacking Goldstein in full-page ads in Daily Variety and the Hollywood Reporter. In an open letter to Goldstein, Schneider wrote: "Well, Mr. Goldstein, I decided to do some research to find out what awards you have won. I went online and found that you have won nothing. Absolutely nothing. No journalistic awards of any kind ... Maybe you didn't win a Pulitzer Prize because they haven't invented a category for Best Third-Rate, Unfunny Pompous Reporter Who's Never Been Acknowledged by His Peers."
Sounds like a pretty good smack down from Schneider to Goldstein. Problem is, Schneider didn't take much time checking the facts, as Goldstein has won a number of awards (although, as Ebert points out, not the Pulitzer). Ebert though, who has indeed won the Pulitzer, wraps up his review with the following:
Patrick Goldstein has not yet won a Pulitzer Prize. Therefore, Goldstein is not qualified to complain that Columbia financed "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo" while passing on the opportunity to participate in "Million Dollar Baby," "Ray," "The Aviator," "Sideways" and "Finding Neverland." As chance would have it, I have won the Pulitzer Prize, and so I am qualified. Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks.
Sweet. I've never seen a movie review from Ebert that ended with, “your movie sucks,” but this is perhaps a movie that deserved such a distinction.
Speaking of movies, there are two movies out that I'm itching to see:
The Murderball movie especially interests me because my dad was quite active in disabled sports. (He lost about half of his right leg in a motorcycle accident in his mid-20s, a handful of years before I entered the world.) Anyway, my dad participated in the disabled olympics (swimming) and other disabled sports - football, softball, etc. - but was most passionate about basketball, playing several years for the Chicago Wheelchair Bulls. I went to many wheelchair basketball games, practices, and tournaments growing up. I'm curious how similar Murderball is to my dad's previous sport (very dissimilar, I'm willing to bet).
As far as the penguin movie, that looked interesting seeing as I know virtually nothing about penguins, except that they waddle and live in the Antarctic. So it might be a chance to learn more about these cute, waddling birds that can't fly. And will likely be more entertaining than Wedding Crashers, which I saw a couple weeks ago. (The first 1/3 of the movie was pretty funny and fresh, but after that the movie got a bit too formulaic and boring, IMO.)