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Very sad indeed. I have seen and met Mr. Ebert during several Sundance Film Festivals and it was always startling for me to see that while he commanded a lot of respect (and glances and side conversations when he entered a screening), he seemed always uncomfortable being thrust into the spotlight and usually avoided the attention by leaving the impression of a "Do not approach" look. While others appeared to be primarly going to Sundance to circulate the parties and to be seen, Mr. Ebert was attending every movie screening possible. And when you did get to talk to him, his passion and incredible knowledge of the movie and cast and crew at hand and movies in general was undeniable.
He will be sorely missed!

Huffington Post reminds us of some of his funniest moments.

Doesn't feature his bit on Gamera so it's incomplete. I'd show it, but there doesn't seem to be a single clip available.

The Onion chimes in.

Did anyone here listen to Jonathan Rosenbaum talk about Ebert's passing on WBEZ?

Can't find that on the site, but here's audio from the same station of Werner Herzog who seems pretty broken up and unusually at a loss for words.

One of my favorite episodes of The Critic was with Siskel and Ebert. I loved that both of them had an incredible sense of humor and truly loved their jobs.

Obama, Scorsese, Winfrey lead tributes to Roger Ebert

A statement from Chaz Ebert

Fittingly, considering how much he adored The Tree of Life, the last review Ebert filed was for To The Wonder.

His recent auto-biography got a slagging in the Sight & Sound, not there's anything wrong with that, though they'll probably hope readers forget that when they print a note about his passing.

Kane remained his favorite. I had a little blog post on Borges and Welles waiting when I heard the news and dedicated it to Ebert.

Ever since I discovered his reviews on the old MS Cinemania he was the one person who really opened my mind and changed the way I approached film. His Great Movies essays (first online, then the books) have always been like a point of departure for me, whether to explore new horizons or to check back once I'd seen something that he'd written on.

I've also spent significant time reading his blog postings on a wide variety of subjects, going through his hated films' reviews for the witty putdowns, and using his reviews in general as a starter point to decide whether it was worth my while to see a film or not. And yes, though I found myself in disagreement with him at times, his opinion will be sorely missed.

A giant has fallen.

stwrt wrote:His recent auto-biography got a slagging in the Sight & Sound, not there's anything wrong with that, though they'll probably hope readers forget that when they print a note about his passing.

Ebert would have known better than anyone that a single contributor's opinion ≠ the magazine's editorial position as a whole.

MichaelB wrote:

stwrt wrote:His recent auto-biography got a slagging in the Sight & Sound, not there's anything wrong with that, though they'll probably hope readers forget that when they print a note about his passing.

Ebert would have known better than anyone that a single contributor's opinion ≠ the magazine's editorial position as a whole.

Yes and I'm sure Mr Ebert would say it's a big enough magazine to do that (and one which I notice is getting a lot better).

Rosenbaum interview on WBEZ.

Fresh Air remembers film critic and bon vivant Roger Ebert

2011 video interview with Jian Ghomeshi

Roger's passing really hit me hard. A kid growing up in Northern Michigan in the 70s and 80s didn't have much exposure to movies - we only had a single screen old movie house (it was split for two in 1983), but my folks made sure we watched Siskel and Ebert every weekend on PBS and I came to love them as I grew into adulthood. I was hit hard by Siskel's passing, but Roger filled a void admirably with his own unflagging optimism and love of film and willingness to give just about anything a chance and view it on its own merits. After losing his speaking voice, his writing voice seem to come alive in a way that was truly profound at times (and a bit too preach at others to be sure). I loved his willingness to reach back to his own childhood and to really lay himself bare for his audience. but above all, the simple fact that he really truly LOVED movies remains an inspiration to me.

He isn't the greatest critic in history, not by a long shot. But what he did for film criticism is unparalleled. He made it okay to debate a movie and agree to disagree about them. And above all, he never stopped pushing people to see them for themselves and form their own opinions and to seek out the hidden gems that too often got overlooked. His "Great Movies" essays were my introduction to a lot of classic and foreign greats, and he will forever hold a near and dear place in my heart for helping to awaken my curiosity, wonder, and love of movies. He was a uniquely genuine human being who overcame many of his own personal failings to become an iconic figure for so many people. I will miss him greatly. Just as i still miss Gene. I occasionally watch old episodes of their show - the older the better - to reminisce with Gene...I suspect that will become an even more regular habit now that Roger is gone too. Goddammit all.

I actually enjoyed his political op-eds a lot more than his film criticism in recent years. Siskel & Ebert was probably my first exposure to film criticism as well - almost a given since I grew up in Illinois and both of their papers were pretty much the only ones anyone read in my town - but I stopped watching the show after Siskel died, it just wasn't same. Those guys were funny. (Favorite line: "Protestants - people who 'sort of' want a religion."

The remembrances I've appreciated most so far have been from Ebert's fellow critics and scholars. I recommend the Rosenbaum link above. And these three, from Jim Emerson, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky and David Bordwell.

And then there's Errol Morris talking about Ebert's early encouragement:

"Here I had someone writing about my work who was a true enthusiast. His enthusiasm has kept me going over the years, and the memory of his enthusiasm will keep me going for as long as I make movies."

Thank God it was Malick and not "The Host" or some awful lowest common denominator comedy.

Yeah, going out on Tyler Perry's Temptation would be unfortunate. Siskel wasn't so lucky.

hearthesilence wrote:Yeah, going out on Tyler Perry's Temptation would be unfortunate. Siskel wasn't so lucky.

I thought his last review was Pretty Woman @ 7:55

Here's The Cinema Snob's review of Beyond The Valley of the Dolls/tribute to Roger Ebert, which is kind of fitting since Brad Jones was apparently inspired to base his critic character for his series of reviews of exploitation films on Ebert's disgusted and shocked reactionary review of Friday The 13th Part V!