Posted on June 18, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Happy birthday wishes to my friend and the greatest movie critic of them all, Roger Ebert. Here’s to a year of great movies and great reviews of awful movies!
Be sure to check out his classic “glossary” of movie cliches and conventions. Read his moving profile and his response. And join us next year at Ebertfest!
Posted on May 3, 2010 at 5:04 pm
There have been many articles about the end of the era of the movie critic as print media cuts have led to the departure of many of the best-established and most widely-read commentators on film. But Roger Ebert says this is the golden age of film criticism.
Never before have more critics written more or better words for more readers about more films. But already you are ahead of me, and know this is because of the internet.
Twenty years ago a good-sized city might have contained a dozen people making a living from writing about films, and for half of them the salary might have been adequate to raise a family. Today that city might contain hundreds, although (the Catch-22) not more than one or two are making a living.
Film criticism is still a profession, but it’s no longer an occupation. You can’t make any money at it. This provides an opportunity for those who care about movies and enjoy expressing themselves.
I am honored to have my photo included among the critics he discusses. When people ask me how to become a movie critic I say, “I just waved my magic wand. You’re a movie critic! All you have to do is write reviews.” And if they ask me how to become a good movie critic, I say, “It takes more than loving movies. It takes more than having opinions. It takes more than knowing a lot about movies, though all of those things are important. You have to be a person with a full life, a vitally engaged head, and a heart that is open to experience and learning. I can’t bear talking to people who think they know movies because they can keep all the IMBD data in their heads.
A movie critic is first and foremost a writer. And if you ever want anyone to read your reviews they had better be lively, informative, and vivid. Most of the movies you see won’t be very entertaining or filled with insight, but your reviews have to be both, every time.” Watch a lot of movies, yes, but read a lot of books and live a lot of life because you will need all of that. The readers deserve it, and you know what? The movies and the people who make them do, too.
Posted on February 28, 2010 at 8:00 am
Be sure to read the stunning profile of Roger Ebert by Chris Jones in Esquire. Ebert, the country’s foremost movie critic, has been one of my great influences and inspirations since he first began reviewing movies for the Chicago Sun-Times and I first began reading him as a movie-mad teenager. I am honored to be returning to his annual film festival in April. This article describes Ebert’s life following a series of surgeries for cancer that have left him unable to eat, drink, or speak. I love the way the article conveys Ebert’s capacity for joy and connection, undiminished by his illness.
And I love even more Ebert’s gracious response, demonstrating that his compassionate engagement with life and art and his fierce dedication to truth are intact and that he is still one of the finest journalists writing today.
Roger, thumbs up!
Posted on November 19, 2009 at 10:00 am
My dear friend and fellow critic Tim Gordon starts a new weekly podcast about the movies tonight. He always has something interesting to say and it is always fun to listen to him say it, so be sure to tune in.
