I liked the guy a lot - not only for the childhood memories of Siskel & Ebert, but this was a man who really knew his craft and the purpose of the critic in a artistic medium. He really understood that it wasn't just about what you liked are disliked, but understanding a film in a historical context and conveying that to an lesser informed audience. And he was also willing, at times, to throw all that out when he was just having fun.
In the age of Twitter and blogs where every thinks their opinions are equal, it's a huge loss to the art of the educated film critic.
Not to mention, no one gave a bad review quite like Roger Ebert.
I just read an article yesterday on Yahoo where he was quoted that he was really looking forward to reviewing movies he WANTED to see, not HAD to see. This sucks. :(
Terrible news. I really do miss his reviews even if I didn't agree with them. I did admire his quest to get Spiderman 2, an is oscar nod. I like to think he was a bit of a nerd who got the gig a lot of nerds would want.
(edited by lotjx on 4.4.13 1526)
(edited by lotjx on 4.4.13 1527) The Wee Baby Sheamus.Twitter: @realjoecarfley its a bit more toned down there. A bit.
Crushing sadness and admiration. He was everything a critic should be: an advocate, an instructor, a thinker, and a fan. He would often defend a movie's premise (like Boogie Nights, let's say) by saying "it is not what a movie is about, but how it goes about it." That is and essential filter for everything we process.
I disagreed with his reviews at times. I wish he had gotten Fight Club. I really do. Many tried to convince him of the film's merit, and to his credit, he let them try.
He admonished the Godzilla remake filmmakers for not killing including the film's avatars for him and Siskel. I love that.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
I used to buy his big movie review books every couple of years before the internet. I didn't read him as much anymore, but he was still my go to guy when I wanted to know what he thought of a movie. I just looked him up the other night after watching The Master.
I didn't always agree with him, but he always backed up his opinions well enough.
My favorite Ebert moment was when he gave Pee Wee's Big Adventure a thumbs up and Siskel blasted him for not even seeing the movie, but he just really liked the clip.
Originally posted by BigDaddyLocoI used to buy his big movie review books every couple of years before the internet. I didn't read him as much anymore, but he was still my go to guy when I wanted to know what he thought of a movie. I just looked him up the other night after watching The Master.
Oh man, me too... I would always look up Ebert's review/opinions on a film after watching it. I'll miss being able to do that.
There's been such a wonderful outpouring of love for the guy online. The power of the written word...he was just so eloquent, about film and about life + death.
Since one of my kids was born in 2011, and the other was born in 2013, I can probably say my favorite thing in 2012 was getting a wonderful review from Roger Ebert. It was honestly one of my biggest goals to get him to review the movie, and we made a couple of steps specifically to make that happen. I'm extremely sad to hear that he has passed on. He seemed like such a positive, friendly person and it's completely unjust that he had such a difficult time these last years. Hopefully he's got his aisle seat back with Gene Siskel.
I grew up in the Chicago area, and I must admit I was always a Siskel guy, not an Ebert guy. Siskel was in the Trib, Ebert the Sun-Times and I read the Trib as a young man working in the City, probably because by the time I was working in the City, Mike Royko had moved to the Trib. And Siskel was in there.
But "coming soon to a theater near you" had been on WTTW and Siskel and Ebert were instant gold as far as I was concerned. Kind of a wrestling movie revue show, Siskel mostly played the face and Ebert the Heel.
While I rarely if ever read Roger's columns, I never missed what eventually became Sneak Previews and then "At the movies".
But after Gene died and I had moved out of town, I didn't pay much attention to Ebert and Roeper. Until Twitter. Ebert was gold there too. I mean, he tweeted a review Saturday and posted something yesterday about how he was cutting back a bit.
hell. I will miss even his radical liberal rants.
you should read this from his wife. The guy went out well too.
We'll be back right after order has been restored here in the Omni Center.
That the universe was formed by a fortuitous concourse of atoms, I will no more believe than that the accidental jumbling of the alphabet would fall into a most ingenious treatise of philosophy - Swift
“Kindness” covers all of my political beliefs. No need to spell them out. I believe that if, at the end, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn’t always know this and am happy I lived long enough to find it out.
Really sad to hear about this. I loved to watch Siskel and Ebert, and I go onto a website often nowadays that has many of the Siskel and Ebert shows. I can't believe they are both gone.
Oh, and I can't even count the number of times that I have gone back to the episode where Ebert (and Siskel as well) just eviscerates the movie North. It is by far my favorite "bad" review of all time.
"Put on your helmets, we'll be reaching speeds of 3!" "It was nice of you to give that dead woman another chance." "All right, look alive everybody...oh sorry Susan."- MST3K: Space Mutiny Click Here (facebook.com)
Damn. I remember when he and Siskel made a cameo on The Simpsons several years back. I would check back onto Ebert's review blog/website when a movie I particularly liked came out, specifically comic book ones. I seemed to really have an admiration for well done comic book movies, specifically The Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2.
I kind of disagreed with his whole "Videogames aren't a art medium" argument, but I believe his polarizing view was necessary for the advancement of Video games as a social medium. I like to think that he was really saying to game developers "You think games can rival literature, movies, music, etc as far as plot and character exploration and development? Prove it."
As has been the case all-too-often these days, it's up to American Dad to save another mediocre Sunday night. Sharri: And get this fakakta ghoul off the car! Buckle: That's your navigation system, hon. Ghoul: At the corner, take a fright. Sharri: