Ebert gives Texas Chainsaw remake 0 stars

[takyris]

I didn't understand the geek-show reference when Ebert made it, but I understand it now as the sideshow thing -- my memory had to be joegged a bit. As for not finding many references to it on Google, um, duh? The guy eating live chickens and shoving nails up his nose doesn't usually have time to work on that website. We normal-geeks have pretty much taken the geek term for our own in perpetuity, online at least.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Yes, the thread where people trashed Underworld until I set everyone straight on what a sweet movie it was. The same applies for Texas Chainsaw; I saw it, I'm saying it kicks ass, and I recommend it.

BTW, for all of you hanging on Roger Ebert's every word, check out what he considers to be a sweet, THREE STAR movie, and pay careful attention to the very first thing he says he looks forward to seeing on the big screen as he enjoys his popcorn....

http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1997/06/062701.html

Just shows what a jaded depraved person you are to think something this utterly putrid is anything but filth.

 

[Kai Lord]

Just shows what a jaded depraved person you are to think something this utterly putrid is anything but filth.

Ah, my adoring public.

 

[gregweller]

For anyone who needs more clarification of what 'geek' means in the context that Ebert was using, I suggest the novel 'Geek Love' , by Katherine Dunn, Here's the Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...2-6622907-6039345?v=glance&s=books&vi=reviews

 

[jdavis]

THM: Texas Handsaw Massacre?

As for Kai Lord, I'm backing slowly away. There's a difference between being a geeks and belonging in a geek show, and watching folks who'd be more suited to biting the heads off chickens just ain't my thing.

Daniel

all I can say is oops. it's not like those two letters are even close to each other on the keyboard, I must have Cabin Fever making my brain go crazy.

Geek Show is a carnaval act thing, it isn't common anymore, probably because freak shows are really not Politically Correct anymore. Try goggle searching "circus geek", I did and I found this on page two: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=geek
n. Slang

1.
a) A person regarded as foolish, inept, or clumsy.
b) A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept.



2. carnival performer whose show consists of bizarre acts, such as biting the head off a live chicken.

Our Living Language Our word geek is now chiefly associated with student and computer slang; one probably thinks first of a computer geek. In origin, however, it is one of the words American English borrowed from the vocabulary of the circus, which was a much more significant source of entertainment in the United States in the 19th and early 20th century than it is now. Large numbers of traveling circuses left a cultural legacy in various and sometimes unexpected ways. For example, Superman and other comic book superheroes owe much of their look to circus acrobats, who were similarly costumed in capes and tights. The circus sideshow is the source of the word geek, “a performer who engaged in bizarre acts, such as biting the head off a live chicken.” We also owe the word ballyhoo to the circus; its ultimate origin is unknown, but in the late 1800s it referred to a flamboyant free musical performance conducted outside a circus with the goal of luring customers to buy tickets to the inside shows. Other words and expressions with circus origins include bandwagon (coined by P.T. Barnum in 1855) and Siamese twin.​

 

[Pielorinho]

Geek Show is a carnaval act thing, it isn't common anymore, probably because freak shows are really not Politically Correct anymore.

To be fair, my understanding is that geeks often had serious mental problems -- retardation, schizophrenia, alcohol and/or drug addiction, or other problems -- and were often kept in conditions that would nowadays be considered felony cruelty for animals. They might be transported around the country in a cage, be beaten until they performed, or worse.

It's not so much that they're no longer politically correct; it's that we've got stronger sanctions versus slavery these days, and we've got better understandings of, and treatment for, mental illness.

Daniel

 

[jdavis]

Well bad news on Movie night, my wife decided she rather clean the house than go see the movie (and here I thought she was excited to see it). One of her friends told her it was nothing but a gorefest, to which I replied "well of course, what part of Chainsaw Massacre was confusing you?"

 

[Welverin]

Well bad news on Movie night, my wife decided she rather clean the house than go see the movie (and here I thought she was excited to see it). One of her friends told her it was nothing but a gorefest, to which I replied "well of course, what part of Chainsaw Massacre was confusing you?"

Sounds like good news to me.

 

[jdavis]

Sounds like good news to me.

You should of seen all the cleaning I got dragged into helping with, what a mess.

 

[Oni]

You should of seen all the cleaning I got dragged into helping with, what a mess.

Well at least you've set a scale of sorts now. The prospect of seeing Texas Chainsaw Massacre is better than doing lots of cleaning.