A Horrible Experience of Unbearable Length: More Movies That Suck [Paperback]

I fear this book suffers from its own case of sequelitis. To sum it up, this is the 3rd & weakest publication of Roger Ebert's negative reviews. I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie was his first & best collection of scathing critiques spanning decades of reviews from Caligula to Patch Adams. Part 2, Your Movie Sucks, featured more contemporary reviews from the era of Deuce Bigelow.

For those seeking the bilious hatred, biting wit & schadenfreude of Ebert's most condemning prose, there is little to enjoy in A Horrible Experience... The title of this book is rather misleading, for the majority of reviews here are 2-star reviews. Very few are "movies that suck", this book is more "meh" than outright critical. Even in the most critical of them, such as Transformers 3 whose review provided this book's title, Ebert's lacking the piss & vinegar of prior efforts. Here, he seems resigned & fatalistic.

I can't really recommend this to starters or seasoned Ebert fans (who may very well disagree with me). Rather than this book, I highly suggest you pick up a used copy of Ebert's first & best I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie. This suggestion also applies to fans of the classic Siskel & Ebert reviews.

When Roger Ebert pens his final movie review some day in the near future, the world will be a sadder place. Over the years his insightful, witty and sometimes acerbic reviews have entertained and informed millions of movie-goers. A HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE OF UNBEARABLE LENGTH continues that tradition with Ebert skewering 200+ movies made from 2006 to 2011 that were so bad they rated two stars or less.

The sub-title of this 2012 Andrews McMeel Publishing release is MORE MOVIES THAT SUCK and, as revealed in the book, the reasons for that are many and varied. Some of the movies are just bargain-basement gore feasts. Others are plotless wastes of time or needless remakes that can't lay a finger on the original. A fair number suffer from bad acting/directing/writing. And still others are pretentious to the max or just plain brain-dead or arrival.

What we're talking here are cinematic gems like STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS, BAD TEACHER, JONAH HEX, THOR, G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA, QUANTUM OF SOLACE, LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, SEX AND THE CITY 2, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, JUST GO WITH IT, THE LOVELY BONES, ROBIN HOOD and so on.

Even if you don't agree with all of Ebert's ratings or comments, I think you'll find A HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE OF UNBEARABLE LENGTH a hoot. I know I did. Recommended.

I have been a loyal fan of Roger Ebert's since I was nine years old, actually before that, I was just nine when I was given my first Roger Ebert book, as a gift from my grandfather in Florida. I had already known Roger from TV, the beloved Siskel & Ebert, and found the movies he talked about and his opinions to be to intriguing, I wasn't able to see most of those movies that he (and Gene) spoke of, I was just a kid after all. However, later in life I could see the movies of my choosing, and I always consulted my pal Roger, after years of reading his reviews and seeing his shows, I feel almost as if we are close friends. Now, I can't say that I always agree with him, that does not make me wrong, or he right, what it does mean is that I take his criticism into account and then make up my own mind, as any grown man or woman should. I don't need to call him names or get angry, or stop consulting my trusted friend because we can't always agree, but we do agree more often than not.

This brings me to his lasted book "A HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE OF UNBEARABLE LENGTH: MORE MOVIES THAT SUCKED", first let me say, great title Rog, I saw that movie too and felt exactly the same. Here within lies scathing reviews of some of the worst movies of the last few years, and as it so happens, a few of the best, as I said we don't/can't always agree. I hate seeing movies panned like KICK-ASS, FAST & FURIOUS, BATTLE: LOS ANGELES, QUANTUM OF SOLACE, ROBIN HOOD, CASANDRA'S DREAM, what is a Woody Allen movie doing in a book of this title. I feel Roger is mistaken, misguided, just plain wrong sometimes, but what of the horrors that are CONAN THE BARBARIAN, JONAH HEX, DRIVE ANGRY, COP OUT, THE GREEN HORNET, G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA, THE LAST AIRBENDER, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, YOUR HIGHNESS, THE BOONDOCK SAINTS II: ALL SAINT'S DAY (and I loved the first one), these movies were all terrible and I saw them against Roger's advise. I suspect a lot of people are smarting than me and don't see these duds based on Roger's advise, and thus live richer and happier lives. Also a lot of these movies I choose not to see and that I can say I owe Roger for.

This is his third volume of negative reviews, notice he only has one volume of four star movies(?), I have read both previous volumes. These are not my favorite books by him because by there very nature they are unable to capture the real joy of seeing a truly great or even very good movie. A movie of a great caliber can inrich your life and well being, while a bad one does nothing but take away precious time in your life. Still, a bad review can be a lot of fun to read and most of these ones, even the ones to movies I sort of liked and those I really liked are fun to read. Three books in less than a year, know we all can have our own Ebertfest.