Roger Ebert Passes

[palitoy]

http://variety.com/2013/film/news/roger-ebert-dies-at-70-1200333136/

Always liked the guy, I sometimes didn't agree with his opinion but it was rare. As a critic, he knew how to have fun.

[Nostalgiabuff]

sad news. the poor guy went through a lot in recent years with the cancer and having parts of his body removed. i give him a lot of credit for continuing to do the TV appearances after they removed part of his face/jaw.

RIP Mr. Ebert!

[Figuremod73]

I had just read a day or two ago his cancer had returned. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2...richard-roeper
Good reviewer and I miss watching At the Movies from years ago.

[madmarva]

Very sad. Learned a lot about movies from His and Gene Siskel's show. Was lucky enough to hear him lecture once in college and shake his hand afterward. I reviewed movies for five years for the newspaper, which I served as sports editor, and Ebert was the critic I looked to most in my ham-fisted attempt to develop my own style.

His love story with his wife Chaz was touching, just as his battles with cancer was courageous. Through it all he had that same twinkle in his eyes and his brilliant touch with words, which allowed him to connect with so many other film lovers.

While there are many films he panned that I liked, he did not disregard genre films just because of their topics. He gave them an even chance to earn his praise, which not all critics did in the 70s and early 80s.

No doubt his work will be missed. Friday's won't be the same without his reviews.

http://my.chicagotribune.com/#sectio.../p2p-75212100/

[pmwasson]

End of an era. I've been watching/reading his reviews for most of my life.

[boss]

Bummer. A fellow graduate of the University of Illinois. He also worked at the student newspaper there (the Daily Illini) 20+ years before I did. Sad news.

[Sideshow Spock]

So sad what he's had to endure the past few years. I also grew up watching Siskel and Ebert, starting with Sneak Previews on PBS, and then later the syndicated At the Movies. More recently, I'll miss his twitter feed..

[Bionicfanboy66]

Didn't always agree with his opinions, but condolences to his family, friends, and fans. Siskel & Ebert are once again reunited somewhere and bickering over which movies are best.

[mego73]

...and the balcony is truly closed :(

[Operation:Mego]

I just read about this, it's quite a shock and bummer. I read that his cancer had returned, but I never expected this. R.I.P.

[Donkey Hoatie]

Was talking about this on Facebook with some friends and I shared my experience of meeting him once at U of I when he was back in town for an Ebertfest in 96. Here's what I wrote:

"It's not often in my life that I'm star-struck, mostly because I rarely ever meet any stars. But he was visiting the U of I campus in the spring of '96 and was inside Gregory Hall as I was heading to my office. I saw the Dean of the College of Communications standing outside the library talking to someone. He called me over and said, "Kirk, I want you to meet someone." I looked over, and there was Roger Ebert, looking much shorter in real life than I would have imagined. "This is Roger Ebert." (As if I needed to be told that). I shook his hand (again, smaller than I would have imagined), and said I was pleased to meet him. I'm pretty sure I was grinning like a deranged lunatic. "Roger," the Dean said, "Kirk is a really good writer and is also one of our TAs here." Now, I don't remember exactly what he said to me, but it was something along the lines of "Write a lot. Then write some more. It's the only way to get better at it. And, you can always get better at it." I don't think I said much more than "Thanks" because, honestly, I couldn't find any other words. I probably cracked a joke, because that's what I do when I'm nervous. But, I couldn't even begin to remember what it was. I mean, at that point in my life, I'd read a good number of his reviews. But, most of my knowledge of him came from watching him on TV. Over the years, I always regretted not knowing more about his writing style at that time and really how good he was at chasing words. I wish I'd been prepared to meet him, so that I could have tried to pick his brain for a while. Instead of being curious, I was simply dumbfounded, and all I can do is chalk that up to being a dumb kid at the time. But yeah, when you meet someone famous, and that person is really nice to you, that's the kind of stuff that sticks with you for a lifetime. Thanks for that gift, Roger."

[Hector]

He was one of the few likeable movie critics, he went through a lot, may he finally rest in peace.

[Donkey Hoatie]

Bummer. A fellow graduate of the University of Illinois. He also worked at the student newspaper there (the Daily Illini) 20+ years before I did. Sad news.

Good to know I'm not the only U of I grad here. When were you there? I got my B.A. in 93 and my M.S. in 96.

[Brazoo]

It's very sad news. I was a huge fan.

[SeattleEd]

So sad what he's had to endure the past few years. I also grew up watching Siskel and Ebert, starting with Sneak Previews on PBS, and then later the syndicated At the Movies. More recently, I'll miss his twitter feed..

Ditto,
As a little kid I would stay up late and watch Sneak Previews. Grew to admire them both. RIP.