R.I.P. Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert, long-time film critic for the Chicago Sun Times and the first in his profession to win a Pulitzer Prize, died Thursday following a long battle with cancer. He was 70.

Rather than recap Ebert’s long and prestigious career, I’ll share some brief personal thoughts on his work.

It was Ebert who first inspired me to think about film critically by reading his volumes of Movie Yearbooks dating back to the mid-1980s. It was through those books that I stumbled across reviews of works by filmmakers who I would go on to count among my favorites.

Even when I didn’t agree with Ebert’s take on a movie, I always appreciated the amount of thought he put into each of his essays. He championed filmmakers he loved and had no problem going against the grain by praising overlooked pictures. His pans are among the funniest I’ve read.

Several years back, Ebert began blogging on his website about not only movies, but about everything from aging to the political landscape. He brought the same level of thoughtful prose to the varied subjects on which he blogged as he did in his film reviews.

Here are links to three of Ebert’s reviews, including two of films he loved and one of his best takedowns. I tried to provide more links to some of his best reviews - if you ever get a chance, check out his hilarious pan of the 1972 horror movie "Stanley" - but had difficulty opening links to many of the reviews on his site.

Armageddon

Fargo

Hoop Dreams