It pains me that this is the very first writing contribution to this site, but I must ultimately write this. Roger Ebert was one of the most gifted and brilliant film critics of this past generation and many film writers owe a huge debt to his life and his legacy. From championing films at his own film festival, to his trademark “Thumbs Up”, that either helped a film or ruined its chances at the box office, Roger Ebert was a man that loved cinema more than anything else. Even when battling against cancer that was eating away at his body, the man still managed to watch and write about movies in his last few years, leading to his untimely death at age 70.
If it wasn't for Ebert, I would have never known about the great works of Kurosawa, Melville and plenty of other filmmakers that he would write about in the Chicago Sun-Times. His “Great Movies” sections in the Sunday editions were worth the price of the paper alone, speaking about films like Casablanca, The Killing and even stuff like The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. While I'm deeply saddened that he's no longer with us, his legacy and writings shall live on forever.
