"I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear." - Roger Ebert
On Tuesday Ebert announced on his blog that he was going to take a leave of presence, but he wasn't done. He had plans to release a revamped version of his website (which I assume will still happen), was going to fundraise for another season of At the Movies, and was ready to settle down and finally review only movies he wanted to review. Now he is gone, but his presence as a film critic will continue to permeate our culture as more and more people discover his reviews and the sharp wit, yet personal touch they each exhibited.
Ebert loved movies, and his gift was the ability to eloquently and intelligently write reviews about each and every film he saw. Whether you agreed with his overall assessment or not, you still had a blast reading what he thought anyways, and more often then not, you would see his point. Ebert's greatest contribution was his long running Great Movie series, where he would write an essay about any given film or series every other week. There are three books so far, and I suspect the final bunch will be cobbled together for a final Great Movies book.
That series, more then any other, has opened my eyes to many different films. Through that series I discovered rare gems such as The Apu Trilogy, The Decalogue, Detour, Woman in the Dunes, and Out of the Past, among countless others. Whenever I watch an old movie, I always check to see if they are among the Great Movies, not because all those movies are great, but because Ebert's essays make great companion pieces to better understand what makes this movie so special.
Of course there is his long, illustrious television career where he was co-host to a reviews show, first with Gene Siskel and then later with Richard Roeper. Before Ebert took ill in 2006 and had to leave the show, I would try and watch every show I could (they aired fairly late on Saturday), and later reveled in the huge library of reviews the At the Movies provided us. Sadly, after the show was cancelled the site shut down, and now you must search You Tube for any Siskel and Ebert reviews.
Ebert taught me the art of communicating my feelings and passions for a movie. I remember engaging in long arguments about various films with a good friend back in High School, and these were all inspired by watching Ebert banter on his show. Siskel and Ebert were a match made in heaven, and sadly none of the hosts brought in to replace them could ever quite measure up.
I knew this day was coming. It's been looming ever since Ebert took ill back in 2006. But that doesn't make it easier to realize and accept that one of the greatest critics who ever lived is gone. Critics are generally a reviled bunch, as they make their living off of measuring other people's work and judging it. And while Ebert had his share of scathing reviews, I know he enjoyed watching movies and discovering great ones more then reviewing bad ones. It's a pleasure to find a great movie and share it with a friend, and that's what Ebert did for all of us these past 46 years.
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