R.I.P. Roger Ebert

Yesterday, April 4th, 2013, Roger Ebert died at the age of 70. Though well known to me and other film freaks, I expect that most people have never heard of him, and those who do know his name will react to his death with a shrug. In my eyes he was the most important film critic ever. His reviews were worth reading. He could be both informative and entertaining at the same time. He was everything that I aspire to be, but can never hope to achieve.

He has been criticised by some for his film ratings being inconsistent and changing over the years. So what? That's normal. Whether or not I enjoy a film depends largely on my mood when I watch it. He has also been faulted for his ratings being subjective. As far as I'm concerned, film reviews must be subjective. A film isn't a masterpiece because the director follows a checklist that he learnt in film school, it's a masterpiece if it can touch the hearts, minds or souls of the viewers. And not all viewers are susceptible in the same way.

Roger Ebert was also responsible for co-writing the screenplays of various films with Russ Meyer, including "Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens", one of my favorite films.

Russ Meyer and Roger Ebert

For those who are interested, Roger Ebert made a list of the "Best film of the year"  from 1967 till 2012. Even though I don't agree with all of his selections, this is a good list of must-watch films, many of which are already in my DVD collection.

1967: Bonnie and Clyde 1968: The Battle of Algiers 1969: Z 1970: Five Easy Pieces 1971: The Last Picture Show 1972: The Godfather 1973: Cries and Whispers 1974: Scenes from a Marriage 1975: Nashville 1976: Small Change 1977: 3 Women 1978: An Unmarried Woman 1979: Apocalypse Now 1980: The Black Stallion 1981: My Dinner with Andre 1982: Sophie's Choice 1983: The Right Stuff 1984: Amadeus 1985: The Color Purple 1986: Platoon 1987: House of Games 1988: Mississippi Burning 1989: Do the Right Thing

1990: Goodfellas 1991: JFK 1992: Malcolm X 1993: Schindler's List 1994: Hoop Dreams 1995: Leaving Las Vegas 1996: Fargo 1997: Eve's Bayou 1998: Dark City 1999: Being John Malkovich 2000: Almost Famous 2001: Monster's Ball 2002: Minority Report 2003: Monster 2004: Million Dollar Baby 2005: Crash 2006: Pan's Labyrinth 2007: Juno 2008: Synecdoche, New York 2009: The Hurt Locker 2010: The Social Network 2011: A Separation 2012: Argo

Let me finish by quoting something from today's Daily Telegraph:

A good critic is more than someone who happens to have an opinion. He’s more than someone who happens to have an expert knowledge of his field. He’s a performer. A good piece of criticism isn’t a buyers’ guide. It isn’t facts and specifications and pros and cons, on the one hand, on the other hand, three out of five. It isn’t best ever, worst ever, all-time top 10. Instead it is, in itself, a form of entertainment. The critic’s opinion isn’t necessarily better than anyone else’s. But his writing should be.