Film/TV Apr 4, 2013 at 12:41 pm

Comments

1
RIP. Cancer gets another one.
2
:(

Am I the only one off-put by this "fuck cancer" stuff? It just seems... not exactly right.
3
So sad to hear this. He was a class act and a great friend to his (and my) alma mater, returning for Ebertfest in Champaign IL year after year.

RIP, Roger.
4
Damn. He was one of my journalism inspirations. RIP, Mr. Ebert.
5
Despite everything, I was not yet ready for this.
6
Aw man..... Damnit Damnit Damnit... Yeah, I was not ready for this, either....

Rest in Peace, Mr Ebert, we will never forget you, and you work will stand....... Maybe Gene will be up there waiting for you when you arrive, saving you an aisle seat and a giant buttered popcorn...

:(
7
As a huge fan of films, I disagreed with Mr. Ebert so often I cannot tell you. Yet, his writing, his views and his love of film taught me so much...damn it cancer!

This guy was totally a class act who will be sorely missed - a great guy who allowed his actions and words show him who he really is.
8
Augh. I'm a longtime member of his Ebert Club, whose website is well and truly overwhelmed at the moment, as am I. Just yesterday-ish I read his email about his "leave of presence". Jesus, whatta guy.
9
Very sad. I didn't always love the movies he loved, but the one's he hated were always spot on. If Ebert hated a movie, then DO NOT GO SEE IT. It was more than you could ever get from the other critics.

But the biggest part was his support of progressive causes especially Gay Marriage. I'm sure Hollywood feared him, but not because he was a bastard, but because he did his job in a matter of fact way. He was one of the first film critics that you could actually like and respect.
10
Fuck. This one hit me harder than I thought it would, and we all knew this was coming sooner rather than later given his health problems.
11
Another link to my childhood, gone.

While this old word keeps spinning about, I think it's gonna feels a little... wobbly... for a while.

Thumbs up, Roger.
12
You will be missed, Roger.
13
Oh crap, this really sucks.
14
Love you, Roger.
15
Fuck, fuck, fuck!

I loved this man. I don't think I would learned to love cinema half as much without his criticism.
16
Guess I'll have to watch "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" again tonight.
17
I was about to mention Beyond the Valley of the Dolls as a Slog Netflix Streaming Club candidate. But alas, it is not streaming.
18
@8 That term, Leave of Presence, is an awesome parting gift from the man.
The title to his biopic, I'd guess.
19
SISKEL AVENGED
20
Fuck.

I didn't always agree with him, but I always liked his reviews. He has been part of my movie-going experience for decades; oddly, a tiny part of my life, really. I was impressed with the way he has dealt with his medical issues over the last many years. I will miss him.
21
back when i was in junior high almost 50 years ago ( or rather when i was in the 7th grade ..because i went to school before 'junior high' had been invented ) there wee 3 things i looked forward to reading in the daily newspaper, the chicago sun times. they were the obituaries, the advice columns - ann landers actually, and the movie reviews - namely roger ebert. mind you back then i read reviews about movies i wasn't old enough to see and ebert made me want to be old enough to see them. i think , through him, singlehandedly , i learned to love film - a love that has never disappointed me. he was a partner in life that i never met and always wanted to, a good friend to me , if only in my own head. as sad as i am that i never did get to meet him i can truly say that i'm grateful beyond years for his life and his influence in mine. i will miss him. i really really will. thanks mr ebert...
thanks..
22
"mind you back then i read reviews about movies i wasn't old enough to see and ebert made me want to be old enough to see them." That's exactly it. Exactly. Tearing up again.
23
Shit.
24
Will Leitch pinned it nicely when he rote a few years ago, "He trusts his readers not to be morons. He writes for who he imagines to be the ideal reader, which is actually the reader we all wish ourselves to be."
25
My best memory of Ebert is attending a film festival that he and Gene Siskel put on in San Francisco (this was the early '80s). I remember arguing with Siskel about Cotton Club (he liked it, I didn't) and then getting them both to sign the festival poster. I have it framed in my family room.

RIP and the balcony is now truly closed.
26
I saw him once in Wallingford, at the Kuan Yin in the 90s. Film festival. He came in with Chaz and some others. The people in the tea house merely nodded or smiled in acknowledgement of his celebrity .. except for the one guy who went off like a fannish bomb. "WOW, IT'S ROGER EBERT!" He raved and smarmed for ten minutes. Ebert smiled politely and let him wind down, then signed a menu for him and sent him on his way. I have always thought he was a class act.
27
Last one, from Louis Virtel: "R.I.P. Roger Ebert. He made you feel like being honest about something you love was the right way to matter."
28
He was the most thoughtful mainstream (or otherwise) film writer in the last 40 years. I've spent a lot of time reading his archives—I'm grateful for how comprehensive they are, and really sad they won't be any new entries.
30
So could he cook stroganoff or not? How did he find time to work and care for his family? Was he pretty? Did he get dolled up each day before coming into the office?

Also, if a white woman who only dated black men had just dide, right after her cooking and family duties, the NYT would sure as fuck have mentioned that she was into black dudes. Then they would have told you that she discovered an element or something.
31
RIP. He must have done something right to have so much love from so many. I'm sorry to say I never really paid him much attention. My fault, not his. Popular culture never much captured my imagination.
32
Jane Hensons, widow of Jim Henson, also died today.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/arts/t…
33
Hey Paul, I thought it was fitting you reported on this. Your writing style, especially your criticism, has always reminded me of Ebert.
34
Ebert (unlike Siskel) always had the cachet of "I've written a couple of crap movies and I'm therefore going to be a bit generous in my reviews." Bonus.
35
@27 !!!!!!
36
The followers of his blog are the best (no offense, guys). I don't know how he did it. It was great getting to know him through that more personal dialogue.

Even when we were way off on movie opinions, I loved hearing/reading his stuff. The enthusiasm was so apparent and infectious.

Good guy.

37
@36, Yes I too loved his blog and was moved by his post about his recovering alcoholism http://bit.ly/DJBJx . Reading that post helped me when I was going through tough times with a family members alcoholism.
38
@30.. and this has to do with ebert how ?
39
@30 - so edgy, brah.

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