Roger Ebert 1942-2013

[Elladorine]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi- ... 2338.story

It's the end of an era.

[PatrickvD]

wow, that's quite a shock. Rest in Peace, Roger, I enjoyed your reviews.

[disneyboy20022]

WOW

It truly is the end of an era. Thanks Mr. Ebert for the review and the many great memories

[TheValentineBros]

Jesus Christ, that was fast! Rest in peace, and hopefully you'll have a great time watching movies in heaven, my friend.

[Kyle]

Jesus Christ, that was fast! Rest in peace, and hopefully you'll have a great time watching movies in heaven, my friend.

You kinda have to believe heaven exists for that to happen. At least according to most religions I know of.

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. I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same state.

What I am grateful for is the gift of intelligence, and for life, love, wonder, and laughter. You can't say it wasn't interesting. My lifetime's memories are what I have brought home from the trip. I will require them for eternity no more than that little souvenir of the Eiffel Tower I brought home from Paris.

- Roger Ebert.

[TheValentineBros]

Jesus Christ, that was fast! Rest in peace, and hopefully you'll have a great time watching movies in heaven, my friend.

You kinda have to believe heaven exists for that to happen. At least according to most religions I know of.

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. I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same state.

What I am grateful for is the gift of intelligence, and for life, love, wonder, and laughter. You can't say it wasn't interesting. My lifetime's memories are what I have brought home from the trip. I will require them for eternity no more than that little souvenir of the Eiffel Tower I brought home from Paris.

- Roger Ebert.

Heh, I only said it because Roger Ebert was the critic we go for.

[jazzflower92]

I have a feeling that Disney will be missing him especially because he was a big fan.I mean even though Ebert was never that interested in video games he still managed to give Wreck It Ralph a three out of four.

[UmbrellaFish]

That's a lovely quote from Ebert, Kyle. Thank you for posting it.

Mr. Ebert will be missed.

[Dr Frankenollie]

Good lord. Although I had a vague idea about Ebert's health problems, this is shocking. As I'm sure he was to many lovers of cinema, he was a figure to be revered and to learn from; moreover, I found his reviews...dependable, in a way, because so few critics had seen so many movies and also offer judgement on so many. After watching a film, it was always fun to look up what Ebert thought of it. And although it's a cliche to say to so, he evidently did battle long and hard near the end of his life. I will miss his words greatly.

[TheValentineBros]

Just a quick reminder, I am making a tribute to Roger Ebert in the Wiki User Wiki. It's a work in progress as of now, but here's what I got so far.

http://wuw.clamburger.org/wiki/TVB_Goes ... Rogerebert

[Disney's Divinity]

Rest in peace. I'm sorry I can't think of something better to say than that, but...

[disneyboy20022]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hI2Jh1KQ9k[/youtube]

[PatrickvD]

Doug spends 11 minutes saying things he could have said in 1 minute.

If only he had Eberts vocabulary depth and writing skills.

Anyway, I feel kind of bad that the final film Ebert saw was The Host. His last blog entry was really beautiful about how he would only want to review movies he's anticipating from now on. Makes it extra sad that he lost the battle.

[PixarFan2006]

Wow, that came out of nowhere. I know he had been ill for a while now, but wow.

At least he's now reunited with Gene Siskel.

R.I.P. Mr Ebert.

[Elladorine]

I grew up in the Chicagoland area and loved watching Siskel & Ebert (they got their television start on WTTW, the local PBS). Back in those early days we had like 5 whole channels(!), and of course we didn't have any internet to turn to for the latest movie reviews. Their compelling on-air chemistry was formed from the real-life friendship of two notable and very intelligent colleagues, far removed from any corporate-minded formula of pretty faces that we'd be more likely given today. These were the types of guys that came off as your uncles or your neighbors; they were just some regular joes that knew their stuff and would be totally fun to hang out with. That was a big part of their appeal and is what made them so iconic to their audience. It was especially exciting as a kid to watch them review Disney films in the same way they did every other film, and not just dismiss them as children's entertainment as the snobby adults often did.

As I got older I came to appreciate Ebert's writing and worldly point of view. A small example:

“Kindness” covers all of my political beliefs. No need to spell them out. I believe that if, at the end, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn’t always know this and am happy I lived long enough to find it out.

I personally believe that kindness is one of the most important things we can share, and that our own happiness is often rooted in what we can do for others. Despite all his extreme health issues and losing the ability to speak, Ebert continued to work, and right up until the very end, mused about how he looked forward to cutting back so he could focus on reviewing only the films he was really looking forward to. When asked why he didn't hide away after his surgeries, he stated, "We spend too much time hiding illness."

Regardless of one's beliefs (I'm fully aware and respectful of how Ebert described his views on religion), I feel the following cartoon is, at the very least, a comforting sentiment and fitting tribute to a couple of guys that indeed brought a lot joy to others in their time on earth:



The balcony is indeed closed, and the world is less bright because of it.

[Disney Guru]

Was just thinking the only movie critic from that time that is still alive and doing critic reviews is Rex Reed.

But back on topic RIP Mr. Ebert, I always enjoyed his opinions on films he was very intelligent and always nailed the subject at hand on the head.

[disneyboy20022]

Bill Hunt of The Digital Bits had this to say

No doubt you've all heard the news by now of the passing of veteran Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert yesterday, at the age of 70, due to a return of the cancer he'd been fighting for many years. I had a whole regular news post prepared to go up this morning, but somehow it just didn't seem appropriate anymore.

I think lot of us today - certainly many of us here at The Bits and I'm sure at other movie and DVD/Blu-ray news sites around the Net too - have been a little surprised by how hard the news has hit us, but it makes perfect sense when you think about it. So many of us who write about film and videodiscs online have fond memories of meeting Roger in person at film festivals and screenings or talking about our favorite movies and filmmakers with him via e-mail. What a thrill it was to discover that Ebert had Tweeted a link to a post you'd written or mentioned it on his blog! Somewhere in my digital archives are a goodly series of e-mails we shared during two videodisc format wars discussing the future of the medium we both cared about so deeply. When I first learned back in 1998 or 99 that Roger was a Bits reader... well, I'll tell you, I felt like I'd finally arrived. If your thoughts about film mattered to Roger, then they mattered period. I know that many others out there in the online film and videodisc community have felt similarly honored by him over the years.

Roger Ebert was someone who spent his whole life sharing his passion for cinema with others, and that made him one of us - family in real and important way. Plus he wrote a Russ Meyer film, dammit, and that made him cool. So I'll simply close today's post, which we dedicate to his life and memory, by saying this:

Thank you, Roger. Thumbs up, from all of us!

- Bill Hunt

http://thedigitalbits.com/columns/my-tw ... 40513_0010

[disneyboy20022]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArQRDYpUsuo[/youtube]

[bradhig]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfaKkNI7aaI


Ebert and Siskel were on a show called "Sneak Previews" which ran on PBS before they went on their own show "At The Movies. "

[ajmrowland]

Well, this is too bad. Wasn't much of a fan of him myself, but he was a really good critic.