Roger Ebert -- The World's Best Critic

The world's best damn critic in any medium is dead.  Criticism is an underrated field  because so few do it well.  Ebert was a master.  I learned more about how to take apart stories, salvage what worked and throw out what didn't from watching PBS' At the Movies on Saturday afternoon than I did from all my years of studying English Lit.  I wonder how many Hollywood creators benefited more from his analyses than from his promotion of their works.

But just as valuable as his keen intelligence and depth of understanding was his sincerity.  Ebert sincerely and unabashedly loved the good parts of bad movies and just as sincerely panned the bad parts of good movies.  He also made it acceptable to love the good parts of genre movies and tv back when there weren't that many good parts to genre movies and tv.  In a field where for far too long improvement in the quality of the stories felt like it could be measured in milometers/decade, that was a thought many a geek held near to their hearts.

Many people have written wonderful pieces praising his life and courage, and celebrating the fact that we had him with us for so long in spite of the ravages of cancer.  I could try to write one of those pieces, but it wouldn't be sincere.  Instead, I'm going to go have a sincere and unabashed cry.

Roger Ebert would appreciate that.