The Village/Thunderbirds/She Hate Me/Garden State

Roger Ebert - Host: Spike Lee's new movie combines office politics, sexual politics, and politics politics. It's titled "She Hate Me", and it's all over the map. It has enough imagination and material for three movies, and that becomes a problem, since it can't decide which of the three movies it wants to be.

[...]

Roger Ebert - Host: "She Hate Me" is preposterous. Critics are likely to hate it. But I give Spike Lee credit for being provocative, outrageous, and daring. In a world of timid, conventional movies, he swings for the fences. I went back and forth and back and forth on this, I'm gonna give it thumbs up because...

Richard Roeper - Host: Wow!

Roger Ebert - Host: ...It was never...

Richard Roeper - Host: Wow!

Roger Ebert - Host: ...Never boring, it was always intelligent, in its... film ideas, even if the plot absolutely fell to pieces.

Richard Roeper - Host: Roger, this movie was NEVER intelligent, from the get-go. I give this movie a BIG thumbs down. I think it may be the worst movie of the year.

Roger Ebert - Host: No, it isn't, even.

Richard Roeper - Host: I mean, first of all, if anybody else made a movie about this black male stud, Spike Lee would be ripping him for trafficking in such obvious stereotypes. Is this supposed to be a parody of stereotypes?

Roger Ebert - Host: I think so.

Richard Roeper - Host: It's just insanely outlandish, none of that stuff has any connection to any real world possibilities that you could ever have...

Roger Ebert - Host: Were you ever bored during this movie?

Richard Roeper - Host: I was amazed...

Roger Ebert - Host: Yes, okay.

Richard Roeper - Host: I was astonished that I was seeing such GARBAGE on the screen. The acting is horrible, the music is intrusive...

Roger Ebert - Host: Y'know, this is interesting...

Richard Roeper - Host: ...And y'know, this whole, there's this whole plot where he's getting in trouble, this movie knows nothing about the way there'd be an investigation into financial misdeeds, the stuff with the mafia is third rate stereotypes with Italians.

Roger Ebert - Host: You know, it's funny, this kind of movie is a real test for a film critic, and it was a real test for me, because intellectually, I know everything you say is true. You're right. It's preposterous, I know that. Yet at the same time, he keeps... doin' stuff. I mean the whole side thing...

Richard Roeper - Host: He keeps "doin' stuff", all right.

Roger Ebert - Host: ...About the Watergate guard, for example. I mean, this movie is, is, is really trying to do something in many different ways at the same time, and even though it doesn't work...

Richard Roeper - Host: No. It doesn't. You're right about that.

Roger Ebert - Host: ...It fails in a very very interesting and stimulating way. And I didn't feel as if I resented losing my two hours.

Richard Roeper - Host: Well, I guess on one level, I understand what you're saying, because I would say to some people, "Ya GOTTA see this, because it's SUCH a train wreck that you won't believe it", but I would say, maybe people could wait to rent it and see what I mean. I think it's one of the worst movies of the year.