Thank You Roger Ebert
Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca: The First of Roger Ebert’s ‘Great Movies’
Great movies belong to everyone really, but for the better part of 10 years film critic Roger Ebert has been making it his business to ensure we know about them. In 1996, in addition to his duties as a film critic reviewing roughly 250 new releases each year, he began writing a new review of a classic film every couple of weeks or so.
He said at the time, “One of the gifts one movie lover can give another is the title of a wonderful film they have not yet discovered…When I meet someone who has never seen The Third Man or Singin’ in the Rain, I envy them the experience they are about to have.” These are the words of a man for whom movies are not just a job, they are a passion and it’s in a little of that spirit that the blog you are reading right now was begun.
Ebert’s first Great Movies review was Casablanca which was having a 50th anniversary at the time and to which he also provided an excellent DVD commentary track. Few movies have been talked about as much as Casablanca. It’s impossible really to say anything new about it I suppose, but every now and then I like to watch it again and to reread Ebert’s review. ”It plays like a favorite musical album,” he says. ”The more I know it, the more I like it.” In thsese words he’s described the one thing all great movies have in common: you can watch them over and over and they get better every time.
On May 28, 2000, just before his 100th Great Movies review (Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2), Ebert observed:
I believe we are born with our minds open to wonderful experiences, and only slowly learn to limit ourselves to narrow tastes. We are taught to lose our curiosity by the bludgeon-blows of mass marketing, which brainwash us to see “hits,” and discourage exploration.
He also called for enjoying movies not as witnesses, but as collaborators with the artists. Ask questions, he urged. Talk about what you’ve seen. Be an active movie goer not a passive one. I wasn’t fully conscious of it at the time, but this was something of a rallying cry for me and it would forever change how I absorbed and felt about movies. I’d always been a fan, but suddenly I was a fan with a mission.
It started in 2002 with a goal to watch or rewatch every film on Ebert’s list which at the time numbered around 140. It also helped inspire me to branch out in my tastes. To try new and unexpected things, especially in the realm of old foreign films. A also started diligently keeping a list of everything I watched just to have a sense of where I’d been and where I was going.
In the years since, I’ve frequently strayed from Ebert’s list, but I always return to it from time to time when I don’t know what I’m in the mood for. Since 2002 I’ve watched exactly 181 of the 272 movies he’s written about. Of course I’d already seen a bunch of the others, but I’m only counting the ones I’ve watched with a purpose. I’ve also seen scores of other movies I never would’ve known about if Ebert hadn’t opened me up and gotten me to looking for something old yet something new.
There’s more to it than a list of old movies I’ve seen, of course. Right now you’re reading the most recent fruit of the inspiration Ebert provided. In many ways, I owe Living in Cinema to Roger Ebert. I’m merely taking his idea of being an active movie watcher and I’m running with it. I’m doing my best to spread the word about the joy of movies and to inspire conversation with anyone who will listen. I’m glad some of you have listened. It’s the conversations I’ve had with you, relative strangers but movie lovers all, that have been the best reward of all.
The shortest days of the year are perfect not only for watching movies, but for introspection and reflection. They are days for taking stock, for counting your blessings and for saying your thank yous. As the year draws to a close, so it is I find myself in a thoughtful state of mind and in that spirit, I’d like to thank Roger Ebert for making me a better movie lover and I’d also like to thank the readers he’s inspired me to seek out for making Living in Cinema what it is.
You can return the favor by spending a few hours with one of Ebert’s Great Movies.
I think you’ll be glad you did.
Filed under: Essays
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What a fantastic salute to this passionate champion of great films, Craig.
I never get tired of watching Casablanca. This film will forever be one of my all-time favorites.
Thanks. My original intention was to simply remind people that Ebert is doing the Great Movies reviews again (and has been since July but it missed my radar somehow), but then I went and got all sentimental and forgot about my point.
I also treasure Casablanca. When you look at all the individual components, it doesn’t seem like anything very special, but it’s a perfect example of a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Of course I’m a big Bogart fan, but my favorite part of the film is Claude Rains.
Claude Rains is awesome in that movie.
And even the individual components are special to me. But put together into a whole it’s incredible.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with the individual parts, but compared to any other movie from that time, they seem pretty typical. In context, they’re special
Plus, some of the greatest lines of all time come from it. And there are a lot of them.
Renault: Carl, see that Major Strasser gets a good table, one close to the ladies.
Carl: I have already given him the best, knowing he is German and would take it anyway.
…and you know how much ‘the average’ movie fan would think ebert was a weiro for saying the things you mention if he wasn’t ‘ebert’
oh i forget the general public doesn’t need nor like movie critics. oh yeah…..
craig would you consider changing your blogs name to the bucket list ????
that would be great and great name for a movie blog.
ok you’re very likely saying hell. but i still think that name would be a gem…..
“I’m shocked, shocked to find there is gambling going on here.”
“Here are your winnings from tonight, sir.”
“Oh, thank you.” (shoves money in his pocket)
alison, the gambling going on here/ is on award winning.place your bet now… ;)
anyway you do know that the oscar thing does get vegas type/sports style betting.and ah you can really bet if you’re inclined…
Sorry Glimmer, the name Bucket List has forever been soiled for me. Perhaps you could start your own blog about the awful state of moviegoing in the South…?
What a great tribute. And not just because, as you know, Casablanca is my favorite movie. Ebert might have become overly mellow lately, but in a way I love him for it: he truly is a movie enthusiast, willing to see the good in everything. I don’t read him much any more for advice on which movies to see, but when I love a film I almost always check out his take on it because I know he’ll articulate what I love more clearly than I ever could.
Rains does get the best lines…
“And remember, this gun is pointing straight at your heart”
“That is my least vulnerable spot”
Exactly Hedwig. There isn’t really a reviewer who I count on to steer me towards a movie…some share my opinion more than others, but they’re all different…but I love reading an Ebert review when we’re both excited about something.
Renault: I’ve often speculated why you don’t return to America. Did you abscond with the church funds? Run off with a senator’s wife? I like to think you killed a man. It’s the romantic in me.
“If I were a woman I think I should be in love with Rick.”
Oh, there needs to be a Claude Rains tribute one of these days.
You realize this means I’m watching Casablanca tonight.
Sadly, in the last week they demolished the old airplane hangar at Van Nuys Airport where they filmed parts of the movie. This town has no respect for history I tell ya.
Renault: I am making out the report now. We haven’t quite decided yet whether he committed suicide or died trying to escape.
We could go on and on with this game, couldn’t we?
“We musn’t underestimate American blundering. I was with them when they blundered into Berlin in 1918.”
It’s relentlessly quotable. Between Casablanca, Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski, I could amuse myself for days without ever even putting in a DVD.
I love those three films so much!!! Especially Casablanca.
I didn’t even know who Ebert was until I read his toughts on Juno after Toronto, *embarassing*, and now he is my favourite critic.
Great post, and I heartily applaud Ebert’s efforts to keep the old greats from getting lost in dust. The great “old movie” discovery for me in 2007 was “A Face in the Crowd” by Elia Kazan. Fifty years after being made it’s as relevant and stinging and entertaining as ever, and probably more so. I’d not seen it until this year, though, and it blew me away. Andy Griffith was mind-bogglingly good playing first on his folksy roots and then subversively against them, turning in a performance of terrifying intensity, humor, malevolence and subtlety all at once. Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau and a young Lee Remick were all perfectly cast as well, but it’s Griffith’s movie. Criminally overlooked at the time, and since then. I saw it in early 2007, and it hasn’t lost its force. Go rent it now if you haven’t. It’s a must see.
Claude Rains was such a tremendous actor. Casablanca. Notorious. The Unsuspected. So many others. Heck, I just saw The Greatest Story Ever Told again on TCM the other night (Christmas) and he is awesome as King Herod.
jennybee, I too saw A Face in the Crowd for the first time earlier this year (summertime, again from TCM) and thought it to be stellar. Great social commentary delivered in a sizzling narrative and fine character study. It’s downright scary, this fifty-year-old film, with its stunning sense of awareness seemingly before the fact (and yet obviously not). Like I say, when American filmmakers like Kazan, Minnelli, Mackendrick and others went dark in the 1950s, they went very dark.
Craig, that’s a great story about your evolution as a film lover. I must say, 2002 was the year in which I fell in love with cinema and was when I went searching for everything I could find. I’m still catching up, still trying to see everything I can see and always appreciating the intentions even if the experiences are not always wonderful. In the end, though, what can a bad film do to you? I’d much rather see a bad movie and suffer the fairly innocuous consequences than not even giving it a chance.
2007 is the first film year since 2002 where I kept thinking, “This year can’t get any better,” and, repeatedly, it did. I’m still giddy about it, and I’ll be sad in a few days when the year ends, though hopeful that 2008 can extend this likely brief mini golden age.
I should take a closer look at Ebert’s Greatest Movies list and see which ones I’ve seen and which ones have thus far escaped me. Yet another list for me to check off!
Thanks Jennybee, I’m putting it in my Netflix queue now. It’s one of those that I’d always meant to see but there are so many to choose from.
I believe you could spend a lifetime watching old movies and never see every one that ought to be seen. Forget about what’s new…
Alexander, TCM is the best. AMC used to be good back before they started having commercials.
You could definitely do worse than just watching whatever Ebert suggests. He sort of scratches the surface, but I love the way he covers all the bases. Many different countries and eras and genres.
Good stuff.
That’s right, Craig–you can’t beat TCM. It’s a shame to see AMC in such sorry shape these days.
You’re right about Ebert. He’s as mainstream as it gets, he scratches the surface but where he lacks in depth he makes up for in breadth, giving notice to films that could very well use a spotlight.
Claude Rains was so sexy. Even as an older man in his 60’s he was drop dead sexy! Always has been my favorite actor.
Way to dust off an old thread, Jamie! And thanks for stopping by. You’re among Rains fans around here for sure.
Now that the thread’s been dusted off, I’ll add my voice once more. Love Claude Rains. He definitely had a charm about him, whether he was playing a good guy, a villain or a guy with grey-area morals who had a good heart at the bottom of it all.
:-)
His small part in Lawrence of Arabia just popped into my head. Awesome.
You perfectly captured his appeal Alison.
“You know Rick, I have many a friend in Casablanca, but somehow just because you despise me, you are the only I trust.”
I do think this is the perfect Hollywood movie.
Thanks, sartre. :-)
christian, this is absolutely the perfect Hollywood movie. One of my all-time favorites.
Infinitely watchable.