While my respect for the man knows no bounds, I cannot say that I have much love for Roger Ebert. My bitterness was born out of the one and a half star rating he had bestowed on The 13th Warrior. This guy gave Anaconda three and a half stars! Even Ice Cube punching a snake in the face and calling it bitch doesn’t warrant two full stars over solid John McTiernan action. I’ve continued to take issue with many, many things the man has said since but Rog and I will always agree on one thing. Dark City is awesome. Alex Proyas’ sci-fi fever dream was Mr. Ebert’s film of the year in 1998 and remains one of my own all-time favorites. More accessible than City of Lost Children yet more cerebral and surreal than The Matrix – its closest cousins in subject matter - Dark City’s story of physically/spiritually manipulated humanity is as good today as it was ten years ago. Come July 29th, it might get even better. The flick will be getting a long rumored director’s cut release on both DVD and Bluray, a version that will feature updated special effects, a new score, and fifteen minutes of reintegrated footage according to co-writer David Goyer. Get psyched!
A big hug for our friends at Cinematical for bringing us this most glorious news.
