Welcome To All That

I was already working on a blog post about what was next for Roger Ebert, when I read the news that he has died, at age 70. Just two days ago, he disclosed on his blog that he was once again stricken with cancer, but his tone remained upbeat, focusing on where he was going to take his community of dedicated film enthusiasts. The evocative phrase “a leave of presence”, which he used to describe the somewhat diminished workload he would be able to handle from now on, takes on a particular poignancy now. He will be missed by anyone who cares about film, and film criticism.

Though he was perhaps the best-known film critic writing in the English language, he was by no means a non-controversial one, still less universally admired. The force behind the “thumbs system” of film criticism on television, and one often caricatured as a slave of the star rating system, he had to struggle to get the recognition he deserved from some corners of the critical community, but even if his contribution to the art of film criticism could have been reduced to simply inspiring regular moviegoers to think critically about film, it would have to be considered a momentous feat. In reality, his did much more than that. The essays and reviews in his Great Movies collections betrayed the considered voice of a writer capable of nuance and wit far beyond the caricature. He remained readable to the very end, though his best work late in his career concerned things other than film criticism. Continue reading →