In Memoriam: Roger Ebert, a Great Critic

Richard Ebert may have never made a film in his life, but was a quintessential voice as a film critic for the Chicago Sun Times from 1967 until his passing today.  Along with another critic Gene Siskel Roger Ebert coined the thumbs up/thumbs down with regard to films.  Throughout much of most of the recent decades you would see Siskel and Ebert give this film two thumbs up, a giant rubber stamp.

Ebert's work as a critic came early on before the internet bloggers flooded Rotten Tomatoes from having maybe 15 or 20 critics hundreds.  Throughout the last decade or so Ebert remained one of the more "old school" critics whose style was more traditional, and looked at movies from a larger perspective.  This man was giant in his industry and he will be missed.

 Here are some of my favorite quotes from his reviews, and writings:

“Every great film should seem new every time you see it.”

“To say that George Lucas cannot write a love scene is an understatement; greeting cards have expressed more passion.”

“Your intellect may be confused, but your emotions will never lie to you.”

"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." About Transformers Revenge of the Fall.

These are just a piece of the lexicon he left behind, his reviews, and words on film will be missed!