***UPDATE: In an effort to give Mr. Ebert a chance to reply to my article, I posted a link to it in the comment section of his blog. To his credit, he published it. Regrettably, his entire reply was, “Yeah, that’s big regular assignment”. Mr. Ebert chose to respond to my rebuttal with a petty personal insult (with poor grammar, at that). It’s typical Liberal elitism, of course, and not entirely unexpected. It’s also the hallmark of Liberal argumentation strategy: when called out, change the subject. — LM

It breaks my heart to write this article.  Roger Ebert has been a part of my love for cinema since I was eleven years old.  When I was in the hospital for two months at age 19, I devoured his entire book of movie reviews.  I even met him at the 2002 Conference on World Affairs when he dissected David Lynch’s masterpiece Mulholland Drive (though I thought he needlessly threw in the towel regarding the film’s meaning).   I don’t need to expound on his contributions to film education and his championing of truly great movies.

Nevertheless, I don’t know the man. I only know his words. Yet I have to wonder if the physical and mental trauma Roger has endured has taken a toll on his mind.  He always seemed apolitical to me.  He just wrote great movie reviews.  However, he started a political journal on his website in the past year.  It’s full of the same clap-trap expected from those on the Left: false premises, poorly constructed arguments, and replies to comments which dodge legitimate challenges.

What really concerns me, though, is that it actually makes less sense than the normal clap-trap.  It’s nonsense.   Suddenly, all the great analysis directed at thousands of films — obviously pouring forth from a great intellect — has vanished.  Is it because Mr. Ebert shuts his mind off when discussing politics?  Is it because the anger he must have concerning his condition is being projected onto the Right? After all, the journal started after all the physical damage had been done to his appearance.

Or has Roger Ebert actually lost his mind?

His bizarre screed from September 1 stems entirely from, “a Harris poll in which 57 percent of [GOP] party members believe he is a Muslim, 22% believe he “wants the terrorists to win,” and 24% believe he is the Antichrist”. (more…)

No, it’s not any of those celebrities we’re told are stars. DiCaprio and George Clooney didn’t even make the top 10. Neither did Ashton Kutcher, Sean Penn, Brad Pitt, Seth Rogen, Matt Damon, Will Farrell, or Tom Cruise.

Every year for about 15 years now, Harris Interactive has conducted a nationwide poll and asked a very simple question: “Who is your favorite movie star?” And every year since the taking of the poll one particular individual has placed in the top ten — 13 of those years in the top 3.

This year, 2,388 U.S. adults were surveyed and this star rose three places to tie Will Smith for third. Only Denzel Washington and Clint Eastwood rank as more popular.

One last hint before the reveal: This star is the only actor in the history of the poll to rank posthumously: (more…)