R.I.P. Roger Ebert (1942 – 2013)

We’ve lost a good one. Sad to report that movie critic Roger Ebert has passed away after a prolonged battle with cancer. I’ll always remember Ebert best debating with Gene Siskel on Sneak Previews and later At the Movies, which was my introduction to film criticism. Gene Siskel passed away in 1999 (has it really been that long?), and now his former friend and confidant, who continued to give his thumbs up and thumbs down on movie reviews for more than 40 years, has passed away as well. It’s hard to imagine what modern film criticism and movie reviews would be like without the influence of Ebert and the thousands, and thousands of reviews he wrote over the years. Much like Siskel, he will be missed. For more on the man check out this piece from the Chicago Sun-Times where Ebert worked reviewing movies for 46 years.