Roger Ebert vs. Dan Schneider

Dan Schneider is a lightning rod.

When I interviewed him for my Critical Mass series, it sparked a firestorm that resulted in the following comments from readers:

“Is this guy for real?”

“Thankfully, he is only an Internet guy, meaning he is unimportant, and everything he says is irrelevant.”

“This guy’s a dweeb – a very punchable guy.”

Why all the controversy? Well, ‘ol Dan has plenty of opinions, and he’s not shy about sharing them. He’s trashed Spielberg and taken Roger Ebert to task for lacking the critical skills of others in the business. In fact, you could say that he’s relentless when it comes to getting his point across. On the other hand, every thought is backed up by sentence after sentence of explanation, and those looking for an in-depth movie review or film interview will have plenty to feast upon.

And he’s even got the respect of Roger Ebert.

In a recent (and incredibly lengthy) online journal post, Ebert tried to clear up a bet between two friends on whether or not Schneider was a fair-and-balanced critic or mean-spirited ogre. The verdict from America’s most famous thumb?

“What is remarkable about these many words is that Schneider keeps an open mind, approaches each film afresh, and doesn’t always repeat the same judgments. An ideal critic tries to start over again with every review.”

Click the link for the full Roger Ebert article on Dan Schneider. Not only is Ebert’s article a massive work, but the number of comments on the subject are staggering. Looks like Dan Schneider and his lightning rod have struck again.

And just in case you missed it the first time, here’s the link for the full interview with Dan Schneider on Critical Mass.

For more Schneider goodness, you can check out the following sites:

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 12th, 2009 at 1:34 pm and is filed under Movie Critic Interviews, Movie News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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One Response to “Roger Ebert vs. Dan Schneider”

  1. The 5 Best Blog Posts About Movies in 2009 says:
    January 22, 2010 at 5:18 pm

    [...] Who Do You Read? Good Roger, or Bad Roger? (by Roger Ebert) – Yet another Roger Ebert entry onto this list of the best blog posts of 2009. This time around, Roger responds to viewer mail, specifically from two buddies who argue about Ebert’s abilities as a critic and the scathing opinions of one Dan Schneider. Roger responds with a post far longer than it has to be, addressing everything point by point. If you’ve ever wanted to see movie critics comment on one another (and not always positively) then be sure to take a look at this post. As luck would have it, we interviewed Dan Schneider several months before the post was made. He’s certainly not afraid to express his opinions, and his candid viewpoint will leave many readers shaking in a rage. Click the following link to read the Dan Schneider interview. [...]

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