He was one of my fav’s sad to see his health deteriorate to the point where he couldnt do his show and even had to have his jaw removed. He must have been suffering a lot. He and Siskel were THE celebrity critics. The TV show was great, even with Roeper, It was a sunday night staple when it was on.
Another good one gone. I never really listened to many of the movie reviews after the siskel and Ebert days, but those I remember being pretty cool back then. R.I.P.
-Starhammer-
I never understood why people follow professional critics, but RIP anyway.
Insight.
You might read something interesting.
I didn’t always agree with Ebert in terms of his verdict, but his reviews were entertaining. And if you can understand why there’s a movie thread here in SRKGD, you can understand why people would be interested in hearing someone else’s take on a movie.
Professional critics provide a better insight than most people who will simply tell you a movie was “good” “bad” “alright” “sick” “shitty” or “meh”. They watch countless movies. You dont have to use them as a bible. If you think a movie might be shitty and the majority of critics confirm it it is likely a turd and you can avoid it.
Why are you looking to others for guidance in the first place?
Watch a movie yourself and if you don’t like it, walk the fuck out.
Absolutely bewildered at how people need someone else’s approval on these matters.
we never need their approval, but it is interesting to see what their view is and why they think this way.
Must be an American thing. We have barely any professional critics here other than what’s in the local paper.
I disapprove of his craft, but definitely respect the guy for calling it as he saw it.
But a critic’s role is to offer an expert measure to separate the better from the worse so that you won’t have to go through every movie ever made and waste your time and money. Same for purchasing a new washing machine or a new fighting game. If you can’t even TRUST a specific reviewer that’s a different issue but that’s what he is there for. And in any case tastes tend to change over time so even if you don’t agree with someone, just hearing his informative, experienced opinion is enough to enrich you.
It’s less about getting “guidance” and more about seeing what a professional’s opinion is. You don’t have to agree with it, but you read it to see what someone else has to say about it.
RIP in peace.
Rest in peace in peace? Because that’s what you just said.
I’m really going to miss Roger. I don’t think that anyone can replace him.
Except…movies are not washing machines or fighting games. There are no professional design standards a movie must adhere to, unlike a washing machine. A movie is not an electrical appliance.
Waste my time and money on what? I’ll be the judge of what is a waste of my money, not some random hack sitting at his laptop (no reference to Ebert here). Way too many films I’ve enjoyed that the critics have panned, all because they don’t match their high standards of professionalism and how they think a film should be made. Way too many other films I’ve enjoyed that are definitely bad, but I’ve found something in them that kept me going and made me enjoy.
Watching the movie itself is the enriching experience, not reading what some fuck you don’t know has to say about it.
I guess if your opinion just happens to fall in line with the critics, so be it, but think for yourself.
You badly misunderstand why film fans read criticism. In a conversation of ideas, the only way you learn something is by listening to opinions besides your own. Whether you agree or disagree, you gain a more well-rounded understanding of what you’ve seen.
That’s assuming the critic is any damn good, which Ebert was.
I’d go even further and say that any exchange of ideas, as long as it’s not influenced, is important to understanding an art form. Yes, it’s all subjective, and all opinions must be taken as such, but what one person sees, another may not and in that, discussion and understanding are born. I wouldn’t say I always agreed with Ebert, but what he did, he did with excellence and he worked very hard during his lifetime to share that knowledge and insight with others. I doubt most of us movie nerds can say Ebert didn’t have any influence on us. We study the art form because it is subjective. Subjectivity leads to discussion, and nerds love talking about shit. That’s why criticism, and discussion is important. I’m probably not going to not see a film I’m interested in because of a critic, but i may discover something I would have otherwise ignored because of a critic.
Your mistake is assuming we are looking for someone elses approval.
Who does “you” refer to exactly, because it’s true that his endorsement was marketed as part of those Oscar season movies. Casual movie goers might have paid attention to the raspy-voiced narrator saying “Academy award winner” and “Two Thumbs Up!”, but that doesn’t apply to avid fans of Ebert’s writing and knowledge of the broad category of movies.