Filmed in Exile

Anyone still watching “At the Movies” (there are two or three of us) will understand why I miss Roger Ebert so much. Ebert, having suffered from thyroid cancer which has left him unable to speak, Ebert is no longer able to helm the most famous movie review show in history. He is still writing, and you can still read his reviews here, and they are still written with the same sharp wit and genuine love for movies that has made him the greatest movie critic of all time (yes, even better than Pauline Kael).

There is no replacement, and no matter how hard we look, we will only find pretenders to the throne.  The reason why I and others love Ebert so much is the same reason why every other critic pisses us off.  Ebert seems to be the only one who understood the vast purposes and functions movies can fulfill.  Not all movies need to be masterpieces of subtle artistry, and there is art in a popcorn movie.  Every other film critic seems too out of touch with the audience, too pretentious to really guide us to which movie to see.

The thing that separates Ebert from every other critic, including even his ex-partner, Gene Siskel, is his unpretentious love for movies.  He understood that you can not compare the latest comic book adaptation with Meryl Streep’s new movie.  Maybe the thing that separated him is that he actually wrote a movie, in fact, he wrote a classless, unpretentious Russ Meyer camp fest “Beyond The Valley of The Dolls”.  How the hell could the guy who wrote a transexual date-rape scene featuring a character that refers to herself as Superwoman while revealing her manbreasts, then going on a homicidal rampage, tell another filmmaker their film was too low brow?  This is a guy who can’t be too pretentious.

Ebert was not just a reviewer, he was a teacher.  I watched every review as a lecture from the best and most relavent film teacher around.  Ebert told you what worked, what did not, what made a great movie great and what made a mediocre movie  worth watching.  He championed small films to help them gain an audience.   He let you know when a movie might not be  a good movie, but you probably would like it anyway.  That is what makes him irreplaceable.   That does not mean I always agreed with him, (He loved Affleck’s “Daredevil” which I will someday forgive) but what I always agreed with was his clear love for the movies.

Reminder:  while I lament our loss of him on TV, I do not mean to suggest he is gone, he is alive and well and still writing great reviews at the Sun Times.  While I will continue to read his reviews, I miss the weekly Sunday school I have been watching since I made the horrible decision to become a filmmaker over thirty years ago.

He may no longer be on TV, but he can still rip to shreds a shitty movie with the best of them.  Here is a quote from his review for Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen:

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is a horrible experience of unbearable length, briefly punctuated by three or four amusing moments. One of these involves a dog-like robot humping the leg of the heroine. Such are the meager joys. If you want to save yourself the ticket price, go into the kitchen, cue up a male choir singing the music of hell, and get a kid to start banging pots and pans together. Then close your eyes and use your imagination.”

Roger, the TV misses you.  Please keep writing.