Friday, April 05, 2013

She blinded him with grammar

I was sad to read about Roger Ebert losing his battle with cancer. That man was such an inspiration! Even when he lost his physical ability to speak, he had an acid tongue.
Who else could write a book with this title?

Check out 13 of his most hilarious comments here; this is my personal favorite:

On Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: "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."

Would you have had the personal strength to keep this up if you had to be fed via IV tube four times a day? I am humbled.

What was really interesting to me is that one of things that attracted him to his wife, Chaz, an attorney who was his partner for 26 years, was that her love letters to him were not only poetic, but that "As a newspaperman, I observed she never, ever, made a copy-reading error."

If this is what it takes to have a lasting partnership (writes the journalism major), I am golden. 

But seriously, I remember my friend Lynn posting this great quote from an interview with Ebert in 2010 - she posted it again today and I thought it was worth sharing.


"I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do.  To make others less happy is a crime.  To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts.  We must try to contribute joy to the world.  That is true to matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances.  We must try.  I didn't always know this, and am happy I lived long enough to find it out." 

Amen to that.

20 comments:

DWei said...

I didn't agree with his opinions of video games not being art. Once upon a time, movies and tv were not considered art, so he sounded like an old man stuck in a begone era.

He will be missed, I wish he lived long enough to have changed his opinion.

Kathleen said...

This article right here showed what a class act this man was:

http://deadspin.com/5482198/my-roger-ebert-story

Birdie said...

On Seven Days in Utopia: "I would rather eat a golf ball than see this movie again."

Now that is funny!

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Yeah, grammar and good spelling don't get enough respect, dammit! RIP, Roger Ebert.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

He was a true Hero! And one of our Great Great Film Critics! Such a brave person....I'm glad he had such a wonderful partner by his side and in his heart! RIP Roger E,

Riot Kitty said...

DW: He will be missed, and that is more than we can say of most people! I doubt the debate about art will ever die, though.
Kathleen: Wow! How gracious. More gracious than I would have been. That was an awesome story about him giving Will the exclusive, too!
B: And enough to scare me off of the movie!
Debra: True!
Naomi: It was neat to read about her, I hadn't before.

Lynn said...

He was indeed a class act. I will miss him - movie reviews will never quite be the same...

G. B. Miller said...

I remember in days gone by that watching Siskel & Ebert (probably still doing the movie review thing now that they're back together again) was one of the few family things that we used to do.

Charles Gramlich said...

Although I seldom listened to critics, Ebert was one who did pay some attention to SF/fantasy movies and didn't just unilaterally pan them.

Darth Weasel said...

last movie reviewer worth reading. Even when i did not agree with his reviews, would get an idea of whether I would like the movie.

Whereas most movie critics are eay...if they like it, I will hate it. If they hated it, it is probably entertaining and fun and i will like it. He actually gave reviews that gave a sense of whether the flick was woth seeing for normal people.

Riot Kitty said...

Lynn and Darth: You're on the money. He was really thorough.
GB: I like that idea :)
CG: He did seem pretty open to different genres, which is extremely rare, but fair.

Abby said...

Hi, I linked over here from Rock Chef's.
I was also saddened at the news of Roger Ebert's death. A very observant and witty mind - and I felt that way before reading his Transformers: RotF review.
But really, I confess that I initially came here because of the porno DVD story...

Claire said...

What a guy - he will be sorely missed. I love that quote!

Rock Chef said...

That is a great way to live life - shame that more don't aspire to it!

A Beer for the Shower said...

I'm sad he didn't live to see just how mediocre my acting skills are.

Kidding aside, he's the only movie critic I really listened to. The rest of them... well, their opinion just doesn't hold the same merit with me.

Riot Kitty said...

Abby: Cheers!
Claire: Me too.
RC: I agree.
ABTFS: Hey, I can't wait to see it!

CraveCute said...

I never knew he had such a tender heart until hearing all these stories after his death. What a great guy!

Riot Kitty said...

CC: Me neither! A nice compliment to his snark, which I really enjoyed.

Betty Manousos said...

what a great guy!
he will be missed...i really love his brilliant movie reviews.

big hugs~

Riot Kitty said...

Betty: Me too.