Roger Ebert 1942-2013

[His Name Is Frank]

Film critic Roger Ebert was not only the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize, but one of the only critics known to the general public, thanks to his long-running movie review shows such as “Sneak Previews” and his thumbs-up or down movie reviews. He died Thursday in Chicago of complications from cancer, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. He was 70.

You will be missed, my friend. I grew up watching him and always looked forward to a new Siskel & Ebert episode. Now they're both gone. I didn't always agree with his reviews, but I respected them and his love for movies showed in each and every episode.

Here's hoping wherever he's at right now, that there are tons of new movies just waiting for him to watch. Rest in peace.

 

[alasdairm]

sad day for those interested in movies.

my favourite roger ebert work has to be his screenplay for 'beyond the valley of the dolls'.

alasdair

 

[MrGrunge]

Oh man, I just heard yesterday that he was taking a break from reviews...I didn't realize it was going to be permanent.

 

[HCandKROD]

I too grew up watching the Siskel & Ebert on Saturday? nights. RIP

 

[95Land]

Sucks. I also grew up watching Siskel and Ebert in the wee hours of Saturday night.
I know cancer had ravaged him pretty badly. RIP.

 

[Bardeaux]

Wow, this is sad news. I remember when Siskel went and I was wondering what would become of Ebert, not realizing that he would continue on with his famous reviews and appearances. Honestly, I don't remember a time when he wasn't giving us his reviews every week.

RIP

 

[Belisarius]

I always thought of him as a writer first, and a film critic second; as a writer, he was one my favorite. I got my hands on a secondhand copy of his 1987 Movie Home Companion when I was 12, and read it dog-eared on films I'd never seen and many more that I never will; he never ceased to make me laugh, think, or marvel on his wit and lucidity, even if I totally disagreed with his opinion. You can even see this on his blog posts, the worst of which are solid gold compared to 99% of the garbage that passes for opinion pieces on the Web.

A great loss to the film community, and a personal one, to me.

 

[L2R]

rip

 

[Carl Landrover]

Unfortunate and sad day for movie watchers and the industry. Like was already said, didn't always agree with his opinion, but respected him nevertheless. Plus, there will always be disagreements when talking about movies.
Wonder how many movies he had on his watch list? Or if there were any well-known movies that he never got around to watching? The amount of movie knowledge that suddenly ceased to exist with his passing is astounding; hundreds of hours of cinema, thousands of scenes, and just plain knowledge on anything movies. The sheer amount of films he must have watched throughout his lifetime is amazing in its own right.

A blurb about him said he "popularized the two thumbs up" when giving praise for a movie. What did people do before that? Would they give 2 index and 2 ring fingers for good ones? A pinky for good but lacking something and middle fingers for shitty movies? Then Ebert came in and changed everything with one smooth motion that even The Fonz would give up two thumbs up for.