Roger Ebert is dead...

[Admiral Buzzkill]

The all-around best, bar none.

Critic Roger Ebert Dies at 70

In fact I can't think of a living movie critic, now, whose opinion I'd take seriously about whether a film is worth seeing or not.

Ebert was not only an enthusiast who'd seen a lot of movies - a dime a dozen on the Internet these days, thankyouverymuchHarryKnowles - but understood film as an art and knew its history. He actually wrote a rather, um, unique Hollywood film. He had no deep biases for or against particular genres and didn't, in his reviews, privilege either popular or artistic cinema. Above all else he was an excellent writer with a sharp, dry sense of humor.

 

[Amaris]

Dammit!

 

[doubleohfive]

Thumbs down to this news.

Rest in peace, good sir.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

Rest in peace Mr. Ebert.

 

[Takeru]

Wow, I did not expect this. Rest in Peace.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

I didn't always agree with his opinions, but I certainly respected him. He and Siskel practically invented the concept of film criticism as entertainment. Also, for him to go through the things that he had gone through and continue working shows enourmous strength of spirit. Rest in peace, Roger.

 

[Sky]

Such sad news.

 

[DonIago]

RIP Mr. Ebert

Whether or not I agreed with his reviews, it was always obvious that the man knew what he was talking about when it came to film. Listening to his commentaries on a couple of the movies I own was a treat.

 

[Gepard]

Just saw this on Reddit. Shit. Shit shit fuck. We all knew it had to happen eventually, but it's still a shock. After everything he'd been through with his cancer, where he kept on going, I kinda expected him to be immortal, you know?

RIP.

 

[tighr]

The reason that I valued his reviews over those of any other critic is that he knew his audience. If he was reviewing a kids movie, he critiqued it from the perspective of a kid; if he was reviewing a horror slasher, he critiqued it from the perspective of a fan of that genre. In this way, his reviews were always fair to the target audience of an individual film.

For this reason, I never disagreed with his opinions. To write his reviews, he walked a mile in the viewer's shoes, and crafted a criticism that was accessible to the modern film-going public. He was fair, and could be equally praiseworthy or harsh, but nearly every time the film deserved it. He will be missed.

 

[ITL]

Ebert's reviews were the only ones I bothered with. I may not have always agreed with his opinion, but he damn well knew his stuff.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I grew up watching "Siskel & Ebert At The Movies" on my local PBS station, so this is definitely sad news for me. Ebert truly loved films of all kinds, from quiet independent movies to over-the-top blockbusters.

He'll be missed, all right.

 

[ManOnTheWave]

Yes, he was something special. He could be a fan boy, or dispassionate, and he could view subjects in historical as well as current context. There was a lot to learn from this one about movies, about writing, and about passion for one's chosen subject and field.

Thumbs up, Roger. You are missed.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

He was a pretty active sf fan in his youth, which I always thought added a certain flavor to his reviews of skiffy movies.

 

[Aragorn]

With Ebert's reviews (not so much recently), you could tell if you'd like the movie or not even if he liked it or didn't like it.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I've learned so much from reading and watching his reviews over the years.

 

[lurok]

He was a pretty active sf fan in his youth, which I always thought added a certain flavor to his reviews of skiffy movies.

At least he got sf/genre movies, unlike some of our UK critics. The John Carpenter catalog reviews are interesting, even if disagree.

 

[auntiehill]

Oh God, how sad. I was such a fan of his. When I was a little kid, I stumbled across a PBS show where two men talked about movies---TALKED about them!---and got me to think about film in a completely different way. It helped spur a love of movies that has lasted my entire life.

I loved his reviews, even when I didn't necessarily agree with him. He promoted young filmmakers and actors, championed small films and never, ever talked down to his audience. He love films, passionately, and seemed to take an almost moral offense when any filmmaker or studio did a lazy, sloppy job and then tried to sell it to the public.

He loved and cared about the art of film making, which is more than you can say for a lot of people in the movie business.

He will be greatly, greatly missed.

 

[cardinal biggles]

Even when I disagreed with Ebert, he was always a damn good writer, and I not only respected his opinion, but also admired his writing. As great as it was to see him wax poetic over a four-star new release or one of his "Great Movies", it was even more awesome to watch him eviscerate the likes of Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo ("Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks.").

 

[Amaris]

I honestly thought he had beaten the cancer. I was hoping for many more years of his wonderful reviews. My favorite book, "Your Movie Sucks" sits on my shelf. I think I'll read a few pages tonight.

Rest in peace, Roger, and godspeed.