Roger Ebert (1942 - 2013)

Film critic Roger Ebert dies at 70

I was unable to post this news yesterday, but this is too important for me to ignore it altogether. Roger Ebert, along with his late TV film critic partner Gene Siskel, had a profound impact on my love of movies, criticism, debate, and entertainment in general. Over the past several years on this blog, I've made an attempt at sharing my love and analysis of the films I've seen. With Roger's passing, I'm struck by a couple of thoughts. One is that being able to effectively evaluate a movie on its strengths and weaknesses is not as easy as it looks. That's why Roger was so special. He made it look so easy that he spawned a whole society of wannabe critics. Sites like Rotten Tomatoes would not exist without Roger making the art of movie criticism so appealing. But the other thought is that while I could never hold a flame to the writing ability of Roger, that's ok. Roger always said that one of the tips to being a critic is to review that movie through your voice. He can be proud of the fact that he pioneered a culture that could articulate what they did or did not like about their movie-going experience.

As much as Roger will be remembered for his writing, I will admit that I have a fonder appreciation for his TV show with Gene Siskel and then later on, Richard Roeper. Particularly with Gene, he had a remarkable chemistry that made you instantly interested in listening to whatever film they were reviewing. I recently saw a video (thanks courtesy of the great archival site siskelandebert.org) where they reviewed the film My Dinner With Andre. In his review, Roger said, "Although you see two people on the screen, in your mind you're also seeing these strange and wonderful scenes and experiences." I thought the same thing while watching those two review movies. They brought the movies to life as they reviewed them. Listening to them was never boring or a chore. We shared in their joy when they got to talk about a movie they loved. We also listened with glee as they would hilariously pan movies that were truly awful. All the while, they never robbed us of wanting to go see the movie itelf. Hearing their critiques always made me more invested in wanting to see the movie myself to see if I would agree or disagree with their assessment.

It will be tough not having a go-to voice anymore for a critique of a movie. Even if I didn't always share the same sentiment as Roger on a film, I wanted to hear what he had to say. With his passing, I hope that the love of movies and of movie criticism will continue on for many generations to come. I'll do my best to continue to share my thoughts on whatever I see and I'm thankful for the archives of Roger's work that will continue to inspire me to share my love with anyone else who wants to listen. Rest in peace Roger. Enjoy your balcony seat in the sky.