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Film Critic Roger Ebert Dead at 70 Of Cancer
New submitter AndyKrish links to the BBC's report that just two days after penning a "leave of presence" in which he says "I am not going away," Roger Ebert — "arguably the world's most famous film critic" — has died of cancer. Ebert was a long-time film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, as well as (most famously along with Gene Siskel) for a string of television shows. In the course of dealing with persistent cancer that affected his thyroid and jaw, and which took away his voice, Ebert became a prolific blogger on movies as well as other topics, and drew on cutting edge technology to regain the power of speech.
I didn't agree with every review, but all in all he was damned good critic, and a significant part of his Great Movies list is a must-see for me.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
He worked with Russ Meyer.
These really opened up a lot more films to me, beyond the Hollywood pap. Miss them both. Massive, massive props to them both.
Never dreamed I'd ever converse with either of them, but did tweet a bit with Roger. Great guy.
RIP, Roger
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I never heard of Mr Ebert, may he rest in peace, until today. Maybe he is anglophone world famous, but not world's most famous film criti. I am very sure 1 chinese critic or indian critic will take his spot away easily. And I do know of Anglophone critics, one that I follow is Robbie Collin.
I had hoped to one day convince him that video games were art. I would have loved to see him write a review for something like Planescape: Torment. Instead, I will have to continue having this argument inside my head. Without Ebert's blessing, video games are still going to have to go a long way before anybody considers them art, and that is sad.
On a regular basis his reviews lept from discussion of the movie to discussion of life and the questions and problems that we face. His clarity of writing was combined with a clear and solid morality. He illuminated whatever corner of life he looked in to. He will be greatly missed.
Absolutely my favourite film critic, he will be missed heavily. I didn't always agree with his reviews but there were almost always more well thought out and articulated than any other critic I can think of. I trusted his evaluation of movies and I think the world is lessened with his loss.
"The first time I got drunk, I got married. The second time I bought a chimpanzee, after that I stayed sober" Arian Seid
There are maybe 5 or 6 modern writers whose ability to think and penetrate issues I am in awe of, since Mark Twain, and he is one of them.
Winston Churchill, George Will, and former radio talk host David Newman from WJR in Detroit.
I guess that's just 4. :(
All other reviewers are, to borrow one of Ebert's phrases, like little kids banging pots and pans on the floor of the kitchen.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Two Thumbs Up for Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
I blame Stephanie Meyer. Likely a suicide after that piece of Sci-Fi shart.
Speaking of Winston Churchill, Ebert is author of the biggest burn since Churchill. Rob Schneider took out an ad about a generic critic ragging on his Deuce Bigalow, or maybe that animal man movie, saying, "Who does his guy think he is, some Pulitzer Prize-winning movie critic?"
Ebert then writes, "Well, speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize-winning movie critic, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks."
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
I don't need someone else to decide if I'm going to like or not like something. I know critics serve a purpose but I take in a small enough quantity of prepackaged Hollywood slop that I tend to just find out for myself instead of looking to public opinion for approval.
It seems that http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/ is melting under the pressure of people trying to read one last Roger Ebert review. I spent over a decade at university in Urbana-Champaign, and the Roger Ebert film festival was a yearly pleasure. I have especially fond memories of Ebert interviewing Werner Herzog on stage after a showing of Invincible.
He had a great love for the Steak and Shake hamburger chain, and wrote a lengthy essay about their food, available here:
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2009/01/car_table_counter_or_takhomasa.html/
This was written after his first surgery, when he could no longer take food orally. He recommended having the burger with mustard, ketchup and onion only, to better savor the meat. Great essay by a wonderful writer. Great burgers too. I always order a modified Ebert, leaving off the ketchup :)
Why is all the good stuff already modded 5, when I have mod points?
Something of a lost art in every genre, from restaurants to sports radio. The critics have become hyperbolic bomb-throwers because vitriol sells more papers and attracts more eyeballs. Second, he was a film connoisseur and enjoyed the art AND the craft of film making. I remember one review where he slammed the director for being lazy with fake snow and just dropping it in front of the lens!
I worked my way through the AFI greatest list a few years back and I've gained a whole new appreciation for film and Ebert was one of the exemplars of how to watch and enjoy film. I believe this was his quote (paraphrased). You judge a movie by what it's trying to do and not against some universal standard.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Hopefully, he used vaseline on you, jerk.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Later in life he looked like Finbarr Saunders..
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/aug/19/wankh-awards-rude-titles
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
Ebert had a plain common-man love for the movies, but he was, at the same time, a sophisticated critic.
I'll miss him.
...I have to admit that was a pretty sick burn.
How many good journalists do we have to lose to cancer before we stop asking people to watch Hollywood carcinogens?
Unfortunate ad placement
His was one of two "thumbs up" worth more than *all* the thumbs on FaceBook.
actually wrote an open letter to him on his blog which after 2 weeks of not even his friends reading it, somehow landed on Ebert's desk leading to a twitter post about it and even an article on kotaku I believe it was. He still wasn't convinced videogames were art, but he did show respect for the points that were made regarding why it COULD be considered art.
I may not have always agreed with you, sir, but you did what you loved for the majority of your life. That's more that can be said for most of us.
RIP.
First Ian Banks has terminal cancer. Now Ebert dies.
Anybody remember the National Lampoon comic strip take on At the Movies? They violently dismember each other. Hilarious shit. "You don't deserve a thumb!" The Fat Guy kicking the bucket made me think of all those NL comics, Hercules Amongst the North Americans etc. Shame to have lost both him and The Other Guy now.
That's a great point. Form is separate from content. The point of a movie is not just its content, but also in the stylistic presentation form it uses to deliver that content. I've seen movies that had a nice "story" behind it but with poor execution of the plot by the actors or timing and editing of the scenes. I've also seen movies produced and directed by music video directors and by Michael Baye that are beautifully styled and paced and so well lit and with gorgeous sweeping camera movements that actually go with the underlying scene and with good music that punctuates and emphasizes the action but the content of the plot and the storyline is crap.
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When both form and content deliver something beautiful, it's a wonderful movie. I like Ebert's side commentaries and I also like that he was part of some schlocky movie writing in the 1960s.
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Ebert wrote the scripts for Who Killed Bambi?, a 1978 movie about the Sex Pistols that ultimately was not made because the financiers did not like what was in the script. Ebert's screenplay for the movie is on his blog. Bizarre.
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He also wrote the for "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls," a movie for which he wrote the screenplay in 1969.
When I first saw this I wondered what sort of demented hack could write such trash. Then I learned roger Ebert wrote it. So I decided that it was a work of genius.
I'm a little surprised to see the outpouring for Roger Ebert, frankly. I never wished the man ill, and I really enjoyed his work as a critic. Let's remember that this is the same guy who said that video games could never be art, which is fine as it's his opinion, but it's just a little more myopic than I'd expect to see Slashdotters ignore. Still, a matter of opinion. However, when he immediately made cracks about the death of Ryan Dunn following his death, he fell to a level of tastelessness and cruelty that was absolutely unacceptable. It's hard to feel an excess of sympathy for the passing of someone who went out of his way to cast aspersions on the recently deceased.
This unbiased moderation brought to you by the Porcine Aviation Group!
I will miss him. I always did enjoy his reviews. He was more of the common man reviewer than his partner was. I'm 59 now and see too many friends and familiar faces disappearing. Goodbye and thank you for all the years of your service. My condolences to your family.
I'm old, not dead. Well that's my 2 cents worth, your mileage may vary. I say what I think, not what you want to hear.
Not only did Mr. Ebert love movies, but he could WRITE. His reviews were not just excellent and insightful movie reviews, but generally good, to very good prose. This made reading his often lengthy reviews a delight, not a chore.
Did you know Mr. Ebert was also a great fan of written SF? I did not until he recently wrote a guest column for Asimov's Science fiction. It was a warm, charming essay that showed off his writing skills in a whole new light for me who had only ever read his movie reviews.
Anarchists never rule
...Gene Shalit does the eulogy.
Didn't he say yesterday something like: "Hey,I have cancer AGAIN... gonna take some time off, talk to ya soon."
Then BOOM! he kicked-off the next day!!?
This sig is not paradoxical or ironic.
This guy was a pompous idiot. Claiming books and movies were art, but videogames were not, and could never be. Dude had his head so far up his own ass that he couldnt accept any other form of media he didnt enjoy as artful. In what world does someone live that you can say that something like L.A Noire can never achieve the level of scary movie 4. Maybe im a cold hateful bastard, but i have no love with ignorant idiots so entrenched in their own ideals and times that they cannot accept new forms of media and entertainment. Let me know when Kojima dies, so i can devote 45 minutes to a cutscene of me shedding a single tear.
And he's been given a sequel.
Please, if we had cutting edge technology he wouldn't have gotten cancer in the first place.
If we make a video game about him, is it art?
(Disclaimer: I like the guy, I just have a sense of black humor. And he's had numerous long-winded arguments why video games aren't art -- I don't concur.)
-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
RIP, Ebert. You and Siskel were the one place I could go for honesty.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
This idea that USA = World is really getting old. Yes, he was a great guy. I am sad he is gone but "arguably the world's most famous film critic"! What does that even mean? In how many of the 200 countries was he known? Are you following the international scene of film critics really closely and keeping score? Would it be really horrible to just say something like "arguably the USA's most famous film critic"
two favorite movies for me.
I hadn't heard of either The Right Stuff or The Dark City, but I stumbled upon their review somewhere. Both Siskel and Ebert thought The Right Stuff was by far the best movie of 1983 and should've won the Best Picture Oscar. So I watched it, and I agreed... it became my favorite.
Then I saw the Dark City (much later), which Ebert thought was fantastic and his pick for the best picture of 1998. Siskel thought Ebert was out of his mind, he couldn't see what was so good about Dark City, but he was respectful in his rebuke. Anyways I saw it and I agreed with Ebert.
I haven't really seen much of Ebert since Siskel died and that other guy took his place... but Siskel & Ebert always comes to mind even today whenever I see a movie review.
Once again, which one was the fat one? I could never remember.
Bite me.
What? Too soon?
Roger Ebert was an asshole. He was a complete bastard towards Gene Siskel and there are many classic films in genre's we love that he slammed. Enough of this sycophantic ass kissing. The guy was a dick who slammed some absolutely classic movies despite his own rank incompetence at soft-porn screenwriting.
"'Ere this night does wane, you will drink the black sperm of my vengeance!" -- Ebert (with Russ Meyer) RIP
I'm not glad he's dead, but I'm glad he's gone.
hahaha, disregard both of my schizophrenic posts in this thread i suck cocks.