“I’ll see you at the movies” was the last line that Roger Ebert wrote before he passed away one year ago. And in the year since he wrote those words, that’s exactly where I’ve found him.
I remember the news of Roger Ebert’s death very vividly. A year ago today I was having a fantastic day, the kind of day that just can’t be messed up. Not only was it my 21st birthday, not only was I celebrating my first anniversary of writing for Hypable, but seemingly everything that day was going perfectly.
Then Ebert died, and I was struck to the core.
I never got to meet Ebert, to shake his hand, to have a conversation with him. But I knew him.
Ebert had a way about his writing that was very personal. Almost everything he ever wrote felt like it was written with the intent that I, I would read it, and I’m willing to guess I’m not the only one to have felt this connection. Ebert’s writing felt very much like a conversation between he and his readers.
When I first began reading his reviews, I knew nothing about movies. I began reading him when I wanted to get an expert’s opinion on movies I saw. I wanted to know if the movies were good or bad as, at that young age, I thought art was black and white like that. Ebert taught me to see color.
I could have still fallen in love with film without Ebert, but there’s no way that I would have ever pursued writing about it. I knew from very early on that I wanted to work as a critic.
Now that I’m beginning to realize that dream, Ebert’s influence on me has not waned. Almost every time I watch a movie for the first time (and there are a lot of them), I instantly find and read Ebert’s review. It’s become ritual.
I’ll never get to have my routine conversations with Ebert about any of the films released in the rest of my life, and I find that extremely haunting. I’ve read the following words above his review of Terrence Malick’s To The Wonder countless times, but I won’t read on further. “This was the last movie review Roger Ebert filed.” That last review has to remain.
“What would Roger Ebert think of this movie?” That’s a thought that has come to mind after almost every movie I’ve seen in the past year. He was able to find and pinpoint the best in film, in art, and of course, in life. Her and The Lego Movie are two movies in particular that I wish I could read his review of. He’d no doubt see them differently.
Ebert won’t ever be able to give his opinions again, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this has opened the gates for more opinions to be heard. The number of people who only read Ebert were probably numerous, and if his colleagues are getting read more because of it, I think he would have been happy.
Thanks, Roger.
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