At the Movies

My Facebook is lighting up with people reporting about Roger Ebert's death.  I feel possessive of Roger Ebert and feel kind of like I loved him best because I knew him first.  He was a newspaper movie critic for years before he was on tv though, and of course he had a huge tv audience - it was tv that launched him to national fame.

We lived in Brownlee in the late 70s when "At the Movies" started on PBS.  I have very specific memories of watching that show with my dad.  I remember the humor and intelligence that both Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert displayed and I know without a doubt that they both influenced me in those ways.  The show started with the two of them sneaking into the balcony and before long they would be arguing with each other in a very animated and serious way.  About MOVIES.  It was Roger that I loved more.  He gave more leeway to actors and directors.  His physique suggested he enjoyed popcorn and Milkduds as much as I did and he seemed less perfect and less prickly than Gene Siskel.

He was a wonderful writer and I have enjoyed his movie reviews and books, but also more recently his blogs and Twitter (his Twitter was one of the few I followed regularly - always great movie suggestions or updates about what new movies were out on Netflix or Fandor).

I don't often have visual thoughts about heaven, but I really do like to think that in some way Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert are arguing again.  Can't you just hear Gene Siskel goading each other?

"Seated to my left is Roger Ebert, the 1975 Pulitzer Prize–winning film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.  My God, what have you done lately?!"