Requiem

During my high school years, I became fascinated with the filmmaking process.  I think I drove more than a few friends nuts with how much I had talked about movies, and which ones I had wanted to see or already seen.  I made a point to watch as many critic reviews shows to see which movies were supposed to be good, and which ones were disappointing and/or flat out awful.

One of the first movie critic shows I watched every week was Siskel & Ebert, which was arguably the most popular of all the critics' shows out there, and certainly the most iconic.  They had their individual tastes, but their friendship and chemistry showed through every week.  I never had a preference for one versus the other, though I got the sense Ebert knew when to stop taking summer blockbusters seriously more often than Siskel did.

When Gene Siskel had passed away in 1999, there was a great void in the world of movie critics.  Ebert eventually found a new partner in Richard Roeper every week on his show, and even though they were clearly friends as well, things weren't quite the same once the pair had permanently broken up.  I still watched the show as Ebert & Roeper, though not nearly with as much dedication as I did during those first few years.

Word eventually came out that Ebert had to leave his show after being diagnosed with cancer, and eventually had surgery on his jaw to remove the cancerous cells.  He wasn't able to speak at all after his surgery, though he still regularly posted his reviews on his website.  His style of humor was still as present as it was before his surgery, so I enjoyed reading his reviews of everything from superhero movies to small indie favorites.

However last week he posted an update that due to health issues he would no longer be able to post reviews on his website on a regular basis anymore.  He intended to continue posting on his blog news about his cancer and statuses on his health, until he sadly passed away only days after posting his final update.  He is survived by his wife, two stepchildren, and several grandchildren.

Roger Ebert was an inspiration to me in doing my own movie reviews, many of which I've posted on this blog.  I'll never be able to capture the nuances or subtle cues added in most films the way he did during his career, though that doesn't mean I won't keep doing them.  I certainly have learned a lot about directing styles, writing, inconsistent plots and/or characters, and editing through his works.  I still have one of his most well-known books that I enjoy reading to this day: "I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie!"  I've used that book as a model for how to write reviews, especially of movies that I didn't like.

There have been plenty of films that Ebert hated that I still enjoyed, and vice versa.  I've often wondered what purpose critics really serve nowadays with social media taking the place of many well-known movie critics.  With the likes of Gene Siskel, Joel Siegel, and now Roger Ebert gone, there aren't too many critics the mass public can easily recognize anymore.  Studios used to take brief quotes from some big name critics to help promote their releases, but there aren't too many critics the public really take seriously now.  I stopped relying on most of them a long time ago too, and the reviews I post on my blog are mostly for my own purpose.

Still, I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge someone who was a major influence on film critics and journalism in general.  Thumbs up, Roger.