I always thought Ebert was the only really big defender of Color Purple as really being a “masterpiece,” but I guess I was wrong? It was widely regarded as toning down the lesbian/militant-feminist aspects of the book for audience mass consumption, but the book is no classic; the “narrative is a series of letters to God” gimmick becomes useless and ornamental well before the book is over, and the main character starts talking like a 1970s feminist by the end too when the book was set several decades earlier.

E. T. is okay, but I’ve never felt like rewatching it (and oddly enough, I never saw it as a kid, probably not until I was 24 years old or something like that.) Close Encounters is one I’ve always wavered on; TonyV claimed it’s more interesting than if it had a less meandering narrative, but I dunno. Needs a rewatch. I have also considered purchasing Minority Report and Munich.