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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
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.
Well, Mail Order Monsters and Paradroid were clearly art and a helluva lot of fun to play.
I'll get me walker...
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Two Thumbs Up for Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
He addressed that very question in his last blog post. He was always one of us; a science fiction fan from the beginning, and an enthusiastic adopter of technology as it arrived. While he was on the wrong side of the question of video games as art, at least he cared enough to think about it and debate it.
From http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2013/04/a_leave_of_presense.html
"And gamers beware, I am even thinking about a movie version of a video game or mobile app. Once completed, you can engage me in debate on whether you think it is art."
I read in that good humour and an open mind, even at death's door.
And I do know of Anglophone critics, one that I follow is Robbie Collin.
If you know of Anglophone critics, then you know of Ebert. Instead, you just know a person that happens to be an Anglophone critic. Ebert was the giant of Anglophone critics. He was big enough to get his own TV show, and it was very popular! This is astounding when you consider other types of art criticism.
Really, all your post is doing is professing your ignorance. Yes, he was American and Americans are going to remember him the most, blah, blah, blah. But if you watch English language movies and you haven't heard of him, then you are sitting under a rock. If you own 100 good English language movies, his name and rating will probably be on at least 10 of them, if not more. Have you ever heard a movie referred to as "two thumbs up/down"? If so, then you've heard of Ebert.
I suspect if you talk to a Chinese or Indian film critic, they would know exactly who he was. In fact, he'd started to integrate foreign reviewers on his web site with his "Far Flung Correspondence", something I hope whoever takes over his job (I'm assuming Jim Emerson) will do.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
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 know this will come as a shock to many of you, but there once was a time before the Internets, when people had to decide, almost in a vacuum, whether a certain new movie was worth the money or not. Siskel and Ebert were one of the few reliable sources of decent information about new movies. And once you got to know them, you would know "Well, Gene liked it, but Roger didn't, (or whatever) so it probably is/isn't for me".
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 am very sure 1 chinese critic or indian critic will take his spot away easily.
. . . beautiful idea for a Saturday Night Live Sketch, with the Chinese critic and the Indian critic playing Siskel & Ebert . . .
Chinese Critic: "There was just too much missing from this plot. Take the hero, for example. His father didn't get killed by an evil tyrant. His son, our hero, didn't swear revenge against the evil tyrant. He didn't go to the Shaolin temple to learn Kung Fu. The Master there didn't tell him to learn sweeping the courtyard before learning Kung Fu. Just nothing of a plot was there."
Indian Critic: "I was waiting the whole time for half the state of Uttar Pradesh to sing and dance, but that scene never came. That bit with the Munchkins Ding Donging it was kinda sorta ok . . . but it just lacked the full gala of a real film."
Chinese Critic: "Yes, there is no reason for further discussing it . . . it is quite seldom that we agree, but we unanimously give two thumbs down to this 'Wizard of Oz' work . . . lest I dare call it a film."
Both Siskel and Ebert were good-humored enough to laugh at parodies of themselves.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
...I have to admit that was a pretty sick burn.
As far as I know, he's primarily known in the United States.
I had never heard of him while growing up in the UK.
He and partner pioneered the 'low information' form of review, that amounted to 3 states, where all reviews were members of the set {two thumbs down, 1 thumb up, 2 thumbs up}
That's all I know on this topic.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
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.
First Ian Banks has terminal cancer. Now Ebert dies.
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.
.
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.
The "thumbs" rating setup was just a gimmick. From what I remember of the show (and I'm old enough to have watched the earliest ones when they were new), they usually went in-depth into the movie at hand, often in ways that challenged the viewer to think it through. Also, their show began in the age before most of you even knew what an Internet was, and the only other way to get a sneak peek at the movie were the (incredibly over-hyped) TV ads or the (ditto) upcoming movie trailers at the local theater (when everyone was getting popcorn or whatever at the last minute).
Besides, the intelligent person would forget the whole thumbs up/down stuff at the end anyway, and listen to what they were actually saying about the movie before then.
Overall, it was hit-or-miss as to what they liked versus what I liked, but I appreciated the way they approached the subject, and in the way they explained how they reached their respective conclusions.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
I would have loved to see him write a review for something like Planescape: Torment.
Hell, I'd love to see just creative and competent un-paid-for review of a given video game. Between the thirst for ad money, and pressure from gaming companies? Damn, you know?
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
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!
Mail Order Monsters is now called "Pokemon" (same general idea).
Learn to love Alaska
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
The chief difference between the earlier shows and the later ones was more about the camaraderie that grew between Siskell and Ebert. In the early days they were a lot more sincerely combative, and my brother and I (who were just nine or ten at the time we started watching them) genuinely thought the two didn't like each other very much. As it progressed into the mid-80s, I think they had spent so much time around each other that the nastier aspects of their relationship fell by the wayside, and I gather in the last years of Siskel's life they in fact had become very close (btw. Ebert put Saturday Night Fever on his Great Movies list not so much because he thought it was a great movie but because it was Siskel's favorite film).
The two thumbs concept was what they would do at the end of the review, but the reviews themselves were usually pretty in depth, particularly considering the show was just a half an hour in length. If you wanted their in depth criticisms, you had to read their newspapers. Still, the show did a lot to shape my taste in films.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Both Siskel and Ebert were good-humored enough to laugh at parodies of themselves.
They were even willing to particpate in the parody as themselves.
He and partner pioneered the 'low information' form of review, that amounted to 3 states, where all reviews were members of the set {two thumbs down, 1 thumb up, 2 thumbs up}
The idea behind the "thumbs" was that all people really wanted to know is if they should go see a movie, and no other rating system really gives that sort of yes/no answer.
He was big enough to get his own TV show, and it was very popular! This is astounding when you consider other types of art criticism.
He was also the first writer to win a Pulitzer Prize ... for movie reviews. That achievement, in and of itself, deserves respect.
Breakfast served all day!
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 should help you understand his significance. I put the size at 500 so that you wouldn't have to constantly re-size it.
Note: if it is linked in a Wikipedia article, his reviews have been at least argued to be notable. And in case you are counting, his article is linked to nearly 5,000 other articles in the English edition.
And your use of Black Snake Moan is a shitty example. He was hospitalized during its review for his TV program, so he didn't give it a thumb ranking. It is also not a great film. Unless you get a great review from Ebert, you won't be putting his name on your product. He gave it 3 stars. I'm sure there is an obscure critic they can use that gave it 4 stars to replace Ebert's ranking. But if Ebert gives a 4 star ranking, nobody would replace that.
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.
Hell, I'd love to see just creative and competent un-paid-for review of a given video game. Between the thirst for ad money, and pressure from gaming companies? Damn, you know?
Definately wading into offtopic I know, but would you settle for creative, comedic, nostalgic, and un-paid-for-by-gaming-companies?
The closest I know of, and one of my personal favorites, is the angry video game nerd
Certainly not on the same level (or even game) as Siskell and Ebert, but entertaining in a different way none the less, and it is obviously a work of love and not money.
Just thought I'd share.
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.
At least you got positive points with your coment. I didn't fare too well doing a similar coment, and I think I was nicer than you. I should not have posted so early when is dark in the rest of the world.
Do you have any other candidates for "world's most famous film critic"?
imdb.com:
Black Snake Moan / Critic Reviews / #1 - Roger Ebert
Look Who's Talking / Critic Reviews / #1 - Roger Ebert
Wall Street / Critic Reviews / #1 - Roger Ebert
The Remains of the Day / Critic Reviews / #1 - Roger Ebert
Santa Sangre / Critic Reviews / #1 AND #2 - Roger Ebert
Battleship Potemkin / Critic Reviews / #1 - Roger Ebert
I'm not saying he's ranked as the #1 reviewer on the site. He's just, pretty much *always*, the first on the list.
My Other Computer Is A Data General Nova III.
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.
What is your favorite movie and where was it made?
List the last 10 movies you saw, sort by country of origin (descending), and note which one comes up first.
My favourite movie is Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. It was filmed in Spain and it was directed by the talian Sergio Leone. The USA title is The good, the bad and the ugly. I saw, Memoria de mis putas tristes form Mexico Heleno Brazil Frankenweenie USA The Hobit New Zealand Tengo ganas de ti Spain. Lincoln USA Masterplan argentina Tesis sobre un homicidio Argentina Ensayo de un crimen Mexico El secreto de sus ojos Argentina
That film's lead actors were all Americans. I'll agree it is one of the best movies ever made, but Leone clearly was making an international film. You're trying to make a movie starring Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef, filmed in Spain with a lot of Spanish extras sound like an Italian film.
Oh, and another Leone classic was Once Upon a Time in the West, again with most of the leads played by Americans.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Take the hero, for example. His father didn't get killed ...
two thumbs down to this 'Wizard of Oz'
His father? I think I spotted the problem.
You can't handle the truth.
Giantbomb doesn't take money for video game reviews. It was founded by a guy who was fired for giving a bad review, and the fellow reviewers who left with him.
They review games they think are interesting or their community is interested in, if they aren't sent a review copy, they'll just go buy one at retail after release. They know they can't cover everything, so if a gaming company wants to "pressure them", they'll just buy their own copy to review. They know that means they won't have a review on launch day, and they're explicitly ok with that.
I came across one "RIP Ebert" tweet yesterday from an ethnic palestinian living in UAE. Most of his followers are Muslims from that part of the world, and he didn't bother to try to explain who the guy was, just reported it.
Yes, I think that qualifies as "world famous". Your own ignorance is your personal problem.
Quite correct. You have to realise that they were the head film critics for the two competing daily newspapers in what was at the time the second largest city in the USA. To make matters worse, Gene Siskel grew up in elite boarding schools and graduated from Yale, while Roger Ebert was the son of an electrician who graduated from Illinois. They were set up to hate each other from the get-go, and at first they did.
A large part of what made the early shows entertaining and informative was the arguments they had over the movies they saw. It was almost like they wanted to fight. So if they both agreed on something, it was almost reluctantly, and meant they couldn't find anything to fight over. Thus a "two thumbs up" became a really big deal. If a movie got that, a promoters job was pretty much done. Rather than burying you under positive review verbiage full of suspicious elipses, they'd just say "Two thumbs up!" - Siskel and Ebert, in the promotional material, and go cash their checks.
Over the run of their partnership we got to watch them acquire grudging respect for each other, and slowly that transformed into something more. When Gene Siskel died, it was almost like watching a death in a long-running marriage. Now that Ebert is gone too, we all have to come to grips with the fact that the whole thing is really and truly gone. Its hard.
Ben Croshaw (aka Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation) also does an admirable job; to the point of questioning how video games can achieve the status of art when so many AAA producers refuse to break away from bad television cliches.
Back on topic, never having known the man (Roger Ebert, that is), I'm still saddened by his passing. He was a standard in his field -- and always appeared to approach his task with professionalism and genuine integrity. Regardless of whether I agreed or disagreed with his final view, I managed to respect him for his efforts.
#SickNotWeak
Only a fool trusts others to decide who is worthy of respect or not.
He disrespected me and my craft, and was always just a bit daft. Whatever happened to "respect is earned"?
It wasn't earned from me, nor would I award it to him on the whim of those who grant the Pulitzer Prize. Can you name these awarders? How can you say then that their award has merit?
Think and judge for yourself. Perhaps this is why I have little care for critics? It is the target audience who's opinions I value. Not out of touch pompous windbags.
"'Ere this night does wane, you will drink the black sperm of my vengeance!" -- Ebert (with Russ Meyer) RIP
The fucker doesn't even play games. Why the hell would you even listen to his opinion on them? At least he actually watched movies. IMO, he was just throwing his weight around being mean and grumpy, then devolved into "full damage control mode" when folks called him on his ignorance. He was a fool in this regard, and I'd say that same mentality carried over into other aspects of his professional life as well.
I'm not glad he's dead, but I'm glad he's gone.
True. But I've never seen it reported that way.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
On reflection, I've only every seen "Two Thumbs Up!" reported. Presumably they aren't interested in mentioned the S&E review if it isn't two thumbs up.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
Nice try.
However, it's not the same without a third character (as in: an Irish, an English and a French walked into a bar...).
Here, let me demonstrate (off-topic):
An Indian, a Malay and a Chinese waited outside the prime minister's office.
The prime minister summoned the Indian into his office and asked, "How much will it cost to send you to the moon?".
The Indian replied, "One million dollars because it is a risky job".
Taken aback, the prime minister next consulted with the Malay.
The Malay replied, "Two million dollars because I have two wives to feed should anything happen to me".
Disappointed with the answer, the prime minister called upon his last candidate, the Chinese.
The Chinese curtly replied, "Three million dollars".
Outraged, the prime minister demanded an explanation, to which the Chinese replied,
"You keep one million, I keep one million and we send the Indian to the moon for one million".
If you like this joke, you can thank my dad. Otherwise, sorry, no refund.
He disrespected me and my craft
What ... did he send you a letter or something? Let us see it.
If you're claiming that Roger Ebert disrespected the craft of movie-making, on the other hand, you're a fool.
Breakfast served all day!