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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/roger_ebert_portrait.jpeg]]
2[[caption-width-right:300:Mr. Ebert, seen deliberating as to whether his thumb should go up or down.]]
3
4->''"As chance would have it, I have won the UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize, and so I am qualified. Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, [[Creator/RobSchneider Mr. Schneider]], your movie sucks."''
5-->-- '''Roger Ebert''' on ''Film/DeuceBigalow: European Gigolo,'' a movie on his most hated film list.
6
7[[WroteTheBook The First Troper.]]
8
9[[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/ Roger Joseph Ebert]] (June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was a {{film}} critic who in his later life was probably the most famous film critic in the United States. He was the {{review}}er-in-chief at the ''UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} Sun-Times'' from [[TheSixties 1967]] until his death in 2013.
10
11Born and raised in Urbana, Illinois, Ebert [[WiseBeyondTheirYears began his writing career as a teen]], both as a sportswriter for the local newspaper, and as the proprietor of his own self-published ScienceFiction fanzine. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in English from the nearby University of Illinois, he harbored ambitions of becoming a professor and maybe a novelist, before taking the job with the ''Sun-Times'' (ostensibly to help pay for graduate school, but he ended up dropping out). His informal reviewing style (in which he frankly discussed his personal reactions to film) and wide-ranging knowledge of film made him a fast-rising star in the world of film reviewing. He even made a jump to television, hosting ''The World of Creator/IngmarBergman'', a weekly presentation of the legendary director's films airing on Chicago Creator/{{PBS}} station WTTW in 1973. Ebert became the first film critic to win a MediaNotes/PulitzerPrize, in 1975.
12
13That same year, Ebert went back to WTTW, where he paired up with Creator/GeneSiskel, reviewer in chief at the ''Chicago Tribune'', to present a film review program called ''Opening Soon...at a Theater Near You,'' the [[UrExample great-grandfather]] of the VideoReviewShow. The program went to the full PBS network as ''Sneak Previews'' in 1978, and in 1982 the duo moved to UsefulNotes/{{syndication}} on commercial stations across America, with a new but very similar program called ''At the Movies with Siskel & Ebert'' (or vice versa), or ''Series/SiskelAndEbert'' as it was commonly known. Unexpectedly, this made Ebert one of the two most important movie critics in America. Because the show was televised, [[RuleOfPerception many more Americans saw it]] than read the reviews in the newspapers; because Ebert and Siskel had credentials in real newspapers in a major city first, and didn't review every movie favorably, they could be taken more seriously than most other movie reviewers on television. Films that received their signature "Two Thumbs Up" review (indicating that both of them had liked it) got a reliable boost at the box office.
14
15Siskel and Ebert's [[LikeAnOldMarriedCouple passive-aggressive chemistry]] was the stuff of legend. It was often thought, due to their occasionally hostile on-screen presence when they disagreed, that the two hated each other in RealLife. However, [[VitriolicBestBuds each man actually regarded the other as a close friend,]] even if their professional relationship was inherently a competitive one. In 2009, on the tenth anniversary of Siskel's death, Ebert posted a [[http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2009/02/i_remember_gene.html touching remembrance]] of his friend on his blog.
16
17When Siskel died in 1999, Ebert kept on the show with guest hosts until it was settled that it would be ''At the Movies with Ebert and Roeper,'' with Richard Roeper, another ''Chicago Sun-Times'' critic. This made him the most important living movie critic in America. The show ended in 2008 partially because his throat cancer (which he had first been diagnosed with in 2002) was preventing him from doing most of the episodes for over a year and a half (to do film reviews on television, you obviously have to be able to speak). Sadly, due to a few surgeries that successfully eradicated his cancer, [[TheSpeechless Ebert lost the ability to speak entirely]] and part of his lower jaw was removed. During the last few years of his life, he "spoke" through handwritten notes and a computer speech program. In 2010, a Scottish company created a voice similar to Ebert's own for him to use as his new "voice," using his DVD commentaries and other similar recordings.
18
19In 2011, to replace the new ''At the Movies'' which had been canceled by its distributor, Ebert and his wife Chaz started their own movie review show on Creator/{{PBS}} called ''Ebert Presents at the Movies'' hosted by Christy Lemire of the Associated Press and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of Mubi, which follows largely the same format as Ebert's other shows. Ebert himself appeared in a segment on the show called "Roger's Office" which features voice over narration (either with the help of either his new "voice," or a famous friend such as Creator/WernerHerzog or Bill Kurtis) of one of his recent reviews or musings. Ebert [[TheShowMustGoOn still wrote weekly review columns as well as a daily blog]] and maintained a very active Website/{{Twitter}} account, where he was still an influential force in movie criticism's new dominant medium. His last cancer "treatments" had been such tough going through that he vowed that if the cancer re-emerged, he would let it take its course; [[FaceDeathWithDignity this eventually transpired in 2013]]. His website continues to publish reviews, now written by a team of reviewers.
20
21Ebert loved movies, and this was shown in his reviews. He was a fairly lenient critic[[note]]On [[http://www.metacritic.com/critic/roger-ebert his Metacritic profile]], his average score for the 4,069 reviews that aggregator cites is around 71 percent, nearly twelve percentage points higher than the site's average.[[/note]] who liked a range of genres and was primarily concerned with whether or not a film was made with passion and craft. To him, even a "bad" movie was worthy of praise if those involved were sincere in their intent. Those who cynically ticked the necessary boxes earned his scorn, doubly so if they did a bad job ticking those boxes. He also tended to rate films compared to others of their genre, not "overall"; ''Film/{{Superman|TheMovie}}'', for example, was pretty much the best superhero film going, but it was not on the same level as, for example, ''Film/TheGodfather''. Any subsequent superhero film would, at some level, be compared to ''Superman'', and so on.
22
23[[CausticCritic His wrath, when deployed, was the stuff of legend.]] He published three compilations of bad reviews: ''[[Film/{{North}} I Hated, Hated, HATED This Movie!]]'' (reviews published in 1999 and earlier), ''[[Film/DeuceBigalow Your Movie Sucks]]'' (reviews published from 2000-2006) and ''[[Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen A Horrible Experience of Unbearable Length]]'' (reviews published from 2006-2011). He printed annual compilations of his movie reviews from TheEighties onward, and wrote three books of essays about his favorite movies entitled ''The Great Movies''. These essays are also available on his website in a condensed form. He also wrote ''Ebert's Glossary of Movie Terms'', ''Ebert's Little Movie Glossary'' and ''Ebert's Bigger Little Movie Glossary,'' which are books of FilmTropes in ''Literature/TheDevilsDictionary'' form. (An even bigger movie glossary is on his web page.) They could be considered a proto-Website/TVTropes in a sense (and the {{Trope Namer|s}} for many)[[note]]However, it is worth pointing out that these books treat their contents as hackneyed, worn-out {{Cliche}}s and throws a lot of pointless unconstructive snark their way, making them have more in common with the site's "Wild West" era and [[DarthWiki/ThisExists Darth Wiki]] than the modern main site[[/note]].
24
25He also maintained a column called ''The Movie Answer-Man,'' where he addressed various topics given to him by reader comments. Sometimes addressing fandom aspects like...
26* One reader comment said that a positive review of a certain film gave him HypeBacklash, while a negative review of another film [[BileFascination made him want to see it]]. Ebert's reply was that a critic's job is not to pass judgment on a particular movie, but to give the reader an impression as to whether or not they would want to see it themselves.
27* Another review [[InUniverse addressed the]] UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny where one comment said that [[ComicBook/XMen Wolverine would beat Storm]] in a fight because he could heal, whereas Storm would die once stabbed by Wolverine. His response was simply to question how someone whose power is [[GoodThingYouCanHeal healing]] could be more powerful than someone who can ''[[ElementalPowers control the elements]]''.
28
29Ebert was one of the great proponents of film preservation, letterboxing (back when most televisions were square and most movies in theaters weren't) and giving credit to directors and screenwriters; he probably helped make these issues important. He was also a proponent of seeing films ''in'' theaters, but he accepted modern viewing habits enough to write UsefulNotes/{{DVD}} reviews. He did a few [[DVDCommentary audio commentaries]] -- notably ones for two of his all-time favorite films, ''Film/CitizenKane'' and ''Film/DarkCity,'' which have appeared on most releases of those films on DVD. He was also a master at uncovering the FreezeFrameBonus -- for years, he would spend a week at the University of Colorado's World Affairs Conference dissecting a film frame-by-frame with an audience's help to reveal small details.
30
31He was one of the major opponents to colorization. He often liked DeliberatelyMonochrome films, and ones that were monochrome because of when they were made, because of the light and shadow effects. Ebert also protested censorship in the name of AvoidTheDreadedGRating or avoiding the dreaded X/NC-17 rating. He advocated for years for a properly trademarked '''A''' rating to replace X since that sounds more respectable, and basically called out the MPAA for trying to [[MediaWatchdog enforce American morality]] from behind the veneer of arbitrary letterings (he'd hoped NC-17 would become a respectable alternative, and was disappointed when it didn't, thanks in no small part to the failure of ''Film/{{Showgirls}}''). In the last few years of his life, he was critical of what he saw as an overuse of 3D technology in movies, though this was more because of how dim he felt the picture ended up in that format than because of the "gimmickiness" of it.
32
33He was also the screenwriter for a CultClassic film, ''Film/BeyondTheValleyOfTheDolls.'' Since that film was released in 1970, this hasn't affected his stature as a critic much. [[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19700101/REVIEWS/708110301/1023 He made fun of it himself, but said he was proud of it regardless.]]
34
35He gained a bit of flak from the gamer community when [[http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/04/video_games_can_never_be_art.html he declared video games not to be an art form,]] but [[https://web.archive.org/web/20130122081546/http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/07/okay_kids_play_on_my_lawn.html he eventually came around]] and at least decided he's not in a position to judge them (although, despite popular opinion to the contrary, he had been known to play them). Despite that episode, he was considered as the most JustForFun/OneOfUs of major critics, as he admired [[{{Anime}} Japanese animated film]] and had an incredible knowledge of science fiction, which was among his favorite genres. While he claimed ignorance to a lot of TV shows due to his heavy schedule of writing and watching films, he found time to become a fan of the Wrestling/{{WWE}} (having found a fascination with wrestling after viewing ''Film/BeyondTheMat''), ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark,'' and ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender.'' (During their 1979 review of ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture,'' Siskel suggested that he might not have cared about the characters since he wasn't a fan of the show. Ebert said that he ''was'' a fan and he didn't care about them as presented in this film.) Heck, he even gave WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic his due after seeing his tribute video to Siskel and him via [[https://i.redd.it/roger-ebert-tweeted-about-watching-nostalgia-critic-in-v0-em5p07we4gz91.jpg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0c0cce7d6bbd7a1eebf941e84a3c915e71fee6ba a Twitter message]] (Nostalgia Critic creator Creator/DougWalker was so thrilled, [[https://cdn.quotesgram.com/img/4/59/385164878-tumblr_l7ryu83SLU1qzoamfo1_500.png he printed and framed it]]). Ebert also had a fondness of other film analysis and criticism, such as Tim Dirk's Filmsite.org (which Ebert frequently quoted) and WebVideo/RedLetterMedia; of the ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' review, Ebert stated: "I was pretty much sure I didn't have it with me to endure another review of [''Revenge of the Sith.''] Mr. Plinkett demonstrates to me that I was mistaken." This is especially interesting considering that said review criticized critics, specifically naming Ebert, who gave a free pass to Creator/GeorgeLucas based on prior successes and not his recent output of work.
36
37All his reviews are available on his website. The website of his 2011 show can be found [[http://www.ebertpresents.com/ here]] and there's an archive of the old ''Siskel & Ebert'' episodes [[https://siskelebert.org/ here.]] His own life was brought to the screen in the 2014 documentary ''Film/LifeItself.''
38
39Ebert's final public statement, in a blog post titled "[[http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/a-leave-of-presence A leave of presence,]]" was: "I'll see you at the movies." Thumbs up.
40----
41!! {{Trope Namer|s}} for:
42
43* FruitCart
44* HyperlinkStory
45* [[invoked]]IdiotPlot
46* WunzaPlot
47----
48
49[[folder:Best films of the year]]
50Ebert compiled "best of the year" movie lists beginning in 1967 until 2012, thereby helping provide an overview of his critical preferences. His top choices were:
51* 1967: ''Film/BonnieAndClyde''
52* 1968: ''Film/TheBattleOfAlgiers''
53* 1969: ''Film/{{Z}}''
54* 1970: ''Film/FiveEasyPieces''
55* 1971: ''Film/TheLastPictureShow''
56* 1972: ''Film/TheGodfather''
57* 1973: ''Film/CriesAndWhispers''
58* 1974: ''Series/{{Scenes From A Marriage|1973}}''
59* 1975: ''Film/{{Nashville}}''
60* 1976: ''Small Change''
61* 1977: ''Film/ThreeWomen''
62* 1978: ''Film/AnUnmarriedWoman''
63* 1979: ''Film/ApocalypseNow''
64* 1980: ''Literature/TheBlackStallion''
65* 1981: ''Film/MyDinnerWithAndre''
66* 1982: ''Film/SophiesChoice''
67* 1983: ''Film/TheRightStuff''
68* 1984: ''Theatre/{{Amadeus}}''
69* 1985: ''Film/{{The Color Purple|1985}}''
70* 1986: ''Film/{{Platoon}}''
71* 1987: ''Film/HouseOfGames''
72* 1988: ''Film/MississippiBurning''
73* 1989: ''Film/DoTheRightThing''
74* 1990: ''Film/{{GoodFellas}}''
75* 1991: ''Film/{{JFK}}''
76* 1992: ''Film/MalcolmX''
77* 1993: ''Film/SchindlersList''
78* 1994: ''Film/HoopDreams''
79* 1995: ''Film/LeavingLasVegas''
80* 1996: ''Film/{{Fargo}}''
81* 1997: ''Film/EvesBayou''
82* 1998: ''Film/DarkCity''
83* 1999: ''Film/BeingJohnMalkovich''
84* 2000: ''Film/AlmostFamous''
85* 2001: ''Film/MonstersBall''
86* 2002: ''Film/MinorityReport''
87* 2003: ''Film/{{Monster}}''
88* 2004: ''Film/MillionDollarBaby''
89* 2005: ''Film/{{Crash}}''
90* 2006: ''Film/PansLabyrinth''
91* 2007: ''Film/{{Juno}}''
92* 2008: ''Film/SynecdocheNewYork''
93* 2009: ''Film/TheHurtLocker''
94* 2010: ''Film/TheSocialNetwork''
95* 2011: ''Film/ASeparation''
96* 2012: ''Film/{{Argo}}''
97[[/folder]]
98
99!! "I hated hated hated hated hated these tropes":
100
101* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Several instances. Ebert wasn't afraid to note when what he considered an otherwise poor comedy managed to come out with a really funny joke.
102** He wasn't the biggest fan of ''Film/DumbAndDumber'', but he admitted to laughing hard at the dead parakeet gag.
103** He ''really'' didn't like ''Film/WeekendAtBernies'', but thought the [[spoiler:dead body being considered "Never better!" by his (unaware) girlfriend]] was really funny, mostly because the audience didn't really know what happened.
104* AnimationAgeGhetto:[[invoked]] Highly disliked it. From his review of ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'':
105-->'''Ebert:''' This is clearly one of the year's best films. Every time an animated film is successful, you have to read all over again about how animation isn't 'just for children' but 'for the whole family,' and 'even for adults going on their own.' No kidding!
106** On the other hand, his reviews of some animated films such as ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}}'' complained that some of the themes could be too dark and depressing for children. (Then again, considering how heavily said films were marketed to kids, this isn't always an invalid concern.)
107* AuthorAppeal: He began his review of ''Film/MrMagoo'' by mentioning that the titular character drives a red Studebaker, going on to explain that he mentioned this because he loved Studebakers and this was the only thing he liked about the film.
108** Part of his positive reception to films like ''Film/{{Angus}}'' and ''Film/RookieOfTheYear'' was that they were [=kid/teen=] films where the young heroes who got the victory spoils were like him: nerdy, unpopular, and unathletic, but good-natured enough to succeed despite that.
109* BaitAndSwitchComment: The opening to his Great Movies review of ''Film/StarWarsANewHope'':
110--> ''It's as goofy as a children's tale, as shallow as an old Saturday afternoon serial, as corny as Kansas in August--and a masterpiece.''
111* BerserkButton:
112** Movies that were exploitative, racist, or trying too hard to be "hip" tended to ignite his rage the most.
113** As a [[RaisedCatholic lapsed Catholic]] himself, Ebert ''hated'' when the movies [[ChristianityIsCatholic got Catholicism]] wrong, and was particularly snarky to schlocky religious horror like ''Film/EndOfDays'' or ''Film/{{Constantine}}''.
114* BewareTheNiceOnes: Ebert was considered pretty generous with his star ratings, and kinder on films than most critics. However, when he really hated a movie, his negative reviews were legendary.
115* BigFun: Was often mocked for being overweight, but had an ever-present wit and could frequently be seen smiling and joking in his show.
116* BrokeTheRatingScale:
117** Ebert occasionally gave out zero-star ratings. These differed from his occasional "no-star rating" ratings in that to earn zero stars, a movie had to be (1) bad and (2) offend his moral sensibilities in some way, while a no-star rating means that the film is bizarre in some way such that he feels he can't properly assess the quality of the film. This is why ''Film/TheHumanCentipede II'' got zero stars (as opposed to the first movie, which got no rating) and why [[Film/DeathRace2000 the original version]] of ''Death Race'' got zero stars vs. [[Film/DeathRace the remake]]'s half-star even though Ebert admitted that he felt the former was more competently made.
118** He sometimes didn't give a rating at all.
119*** From [[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19970411/REVIEWS/704110304/1023 his review]] of ''Film/PinkFlamingos'':
120---->'''Ebert:''' Note: I am not giving a star rating to ''Pink Flamingos'', because stars simply seem not to apply. It should be considered not as a film but as a fact, or perhaps as an object.
121*** In [[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100505/REVIEWS/100509982 his review]] of ''Film/TheHumanCentipede'', he was more explicit in his refusal:
122---->'''Ebert:''' I am required to award stars to movies I review. This time, I refuse to do it. The star rating system is unsuited to this film. Is the movie good? Is it bad? Does it matter? It is what it is and occupies a world [[StealthPun where the stars don't shine]].
123* CatchPhrase: "See you at the movies." These were also his sign-off words for his last essay.
124* CausticCritic: While he certainly didn't hate everything, and was more than ready to give praise to films when he felt they deserved it, he also didn't hold back his disdain, either.
125* CoolOldGuy: Took on this role in the Roeper years, due to the age gap between Roger and Richard. It was played for laughs as well, such as when Ebert claimed to be more in touch with younger viewers during his review of ''Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties''.
126* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Ebert frequently referenced a reader who once wrote him that he enjoyed ''Film/TheThirdMan'', except for the zither music, apparently missing the film's deliberate SoundtrackDissonance.
127* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: On occasion, he goofed some significant details in his reviews (usually due to taking notes while watching films, or lack of notes when trying to recall a movie when writing a review). A couple of notable instances:
128** His review of ''Film/HalloweenIIISeasonOfTheWitch'', which he mistakenly believed to be an ImmediateSequel to ''Film/{{Halloween II|1981}}'' and confused the assassin who immolates himself in the film’s opening for Michael Myers[[note]]possibly due to Myers having also been incinerated in a hospital at the end of ''II'', albeit under completely different circumstances[[/note]].
129** Roger found the practice vault in ''Film/OceansEleven'' to be wildly superfluous and wondered why it had to be an exact replica; [[spoiler: it's because the "practice" vault was also used to stage a fake robbery to fool the mark via CameraSpoofing, maybe the most vital part of the whole con.]]
130** When giving a synopsis of ''Film/RookieOfTheYear'', he mentions Henry going to the fateful Cubs game with his dad. Henry went with just his friends and his mom got him the ticket; Henry's DisappearedDad is the biggest part of his personal backstory.
131** He wondered in his review of ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' where Bane had the financial resources to pull off his coup of Gotham; while it's mentioned rather quickly, it is revealed Bane was bankrolled by John Daggett under the pretense of taking over Wayne Enterprises.
132** In his ''Film/TheTwilightSamurai'' review, Ebert notes that the movie takes place in the same period as ''Film/TheLastSamurai'' and ''Film/SevenSamurai'', during the Mejii Restoration (19th century). ''Seven Samurai'' takes place in the 16th century.
133** In his review of Part 2 of ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', he wrote that Dumbledore had more important things on his mind than evacuating the students of Hogwarts before the impending final battle. [[spoiler:Dumbledore died in the previous film.]]
134** He was on the receiving end of this once: a mother wrote in to tell him how her daughter was upset at his negative review of one of the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' movies, and she comforted her by telling her that Ebert also panned ''Franchise/StarWars'' when it was new, saying it would bomb. Ebert's response was to awesomely and politely direct the irate mother to his glowing 1977 review of ''Film/ANewHope'', which was easily found on his website the entire time.
135* CriticBreakdown: Ebert didn't often lose his temper at a film, but when he did, the results were legendary, as most famously seen in his [[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/north-1994 zero-star pan]] of ''Film/{{North}}'':
136-->I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it.
137* DeadpanSnarker: His sarcasm could be particularly sharp.
138* DiedDuringProduction: Ebert had mentioned that he was working on a "Great Movies" review for ''Film/TheSacrifice'', but passed away before he could finish it.
139** Similarly, his review of ''Film/RustAndBone" before the end of his life was implied to be a candidate for Great Movies, but he never formally added it likely due to his death.
140* {{Dissimile}}: "''Film/CharliesAngels2000'' is like the trailer for a video game movie, lacking only the video game, and the movie."
141* EmptyChairMemorial: Films are screened for Chicago-area film critics in a small theater, the Lake Street Screening Room. When Ebert died, flowers were placed on his usual chair in the theater, and nobody has sat there since.
142* FourPointScale: Following the Sun-Times editorial policy, Ebert assigned his movie reviews four-star ratings, but often commented on the limitations of the system, such as in his blog post "[[http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/you-give-out-too-many-stars You Give Out Too Many Stars]]." He notes that his reviews do tend to skew positive, and that he considered 2.5 stars to be a pan[[note]]though he also once noted that 2.5 could register as a full 3 stars if said film was of interest in some way to the viewer, or they were a big fan of the genre/director/etc.[[/note]]. He also wrote a lengthy series of appreciations of Great Movies, all of which were given four stars. That said, he [[CausticCritic never hesitated to award low marks]] to bad movies, though for one to earn ''zero'' stars, he had to consider it not just bad but somehow immoral.
143* GuiltyPleasures: Invoked in his reviews of ''Film/YouDontMessWithTheZohan'' and ''Rapa Nui''.
144* HalfEmptyTwoShot: He named this kind of camera trick as "Bogeyman Shot".
145* HeAlsoDid: Has not only wrote many books on film but also wrote a cookbook for using a rice cooker. Said cookbook was written after he lost his lower jaw and thus his ability to eat; he relied on his "food memory" to write the recipes.
146* InnocentlyInsensitive: In his review of ''Film/DeathToSmoochy'', Ebert describes the ShowWithinAShow as "what kiddie TV would look like if kids wanted to see an Ann Miller musical starring midgets." Dwarf actor Danny Woodburn, who was in ''Smoochy'' and known for his stint on ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', wrote to Ebert informing him that it was a highly insensitive slur to little people. Ebert apologized in reply, noting that not only had he not known it was considered as such, but even the Associated Press style guide for newspaper writers did not consider it as one. They continued to correspond as Ebert wanted to know more about the context of its offensive use, and with Woodburn's blessing, published it as a column in hopes that others would never use the word again, as Ebert vowed he would not.
147* InsaneTrollLogic: [[Series/LateNightWithConanOBrien Conan O'Brien]] called him out on this for his negative review of ''Film/{{Kazaam}}''.
148-->"You were upset about the lack of realism in a movie starring Shaquille O'Neal as a rapping genie?"
149* InsultToRocks:
150** Ebert's review for Tom Green's ''Film/FreddyGotFingered'' is as follows:
151--->'''Ebert:''' This movie doesn't scrape the bottom of the barrel. This movie isn't the bottom of the barrel. This movie isn't below the bottom of the barrel. This movie doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence with barrels.
152** And ''A Lot Like Love'':
153--->'''Ebert:''' To call ''A Lot Like Love'' dead in the water is an insult to water.
154** And ''Film/TheSpirit'':
155--->'''Ebert:''' To call the characters cardboard is to insult a useful packing material.
156** And, of course, ''Film/TheVillage2004'':
157--->'''Ebert:''' Eventually the secret of Those, etc., is revealed. To call it an anticlimax would be an insult not only to climaxes but to prefixes.
158** Of ''Film/BattleLosAngeles'', he said:
159--->'''Ebert:''' Here's a science-fiction film that's an insult to the words 'science' and 'fiction,' [[ExaggeratedTrope and the hyphen in between them]].
160* LetsSeeYOUDoBetter:
161** The best known example of Ebert's law that actually involves Ebert himself comes from a [[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050811/REVIEWS/50725001/1023 review]] of ''Film/DeuceBigalow: European Gigolo''. Star Creator/RobSchneider took offense to an article by Patrick Goldstein of the ''UsefulNotes/LosAngeles Times'', pointing out that several major studios turned down the chance to finance the year's Best Picture nominees while financing a sequel to a crude sex comedy. After reading it, he took out a full-page ad in the ''Hollywood Reporter'' and called Goldstein a "hack" because he had never won a Pulitzer Prize.[[note]]Schneider would later say that he was angry that Goldstein had trashed the movie without even seeing it; the comment about his lack of a Pulitzer was meant as a joke.[[/note]] In Ebert's review of the film, he taunted Schneider and said that he himself actually ''did'' win the Pulitzer, and thus by Schneider's criteria he was fully qualified to tell Schneider that "your movie sucks". The story took an unexpected turn after several back-and-forth barbs in the press. After one of Ebert's cancer surgeries, Schneider sent Ebert flowers and a "get well" card signed "Your Least Favorite Movie Star, Creator/RobSchneider". Ebert conceded that "although Rob Schneider might (in my opinion) have made a bad movie, he is not a bad man, and no doubt tried to make a wonderful movie, and hopes to again". Schneider later [[https://www.rogerebert.com/chazs-blog/one-act-of-kindness-rob-schneider-and-roger admitted]] that Ebert's review of the film was "mean but fair" and that their exchanges helped Schneider reassess how he approached his work.
162** Roger Ebert himself is an InvertedTrope of this; he's a revered, Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic, [[Film/BeyondTheValleyOfTheDolls but his actual filmography]] [[SoBadItsGood is something else]].
163* MistakesAreNotTheEndOfTheWorld: Took this approach to reviewing movies, including awarding films four stars even if he took issue with something in the movie.
164-->'''Ebert''': ''Film/Titanic1997'' is not perfect. It has some flaws, but I hate the way film critics employ that word "flaw," as if they are jewelers with loupes screwed into their eye sockets, performing a valuation. We can say there are elements that could have been handled differently.
165* NoAnimalsWereHarmed:
166-->'''Ebert:''' I am informed that 5,000 cockroaches were used in the filming of ''Film/JoesApartment.'' That depresses me, but not as much as the news that none of them were harmed during the production.
167* OldShame: When one works as long and prolific as Roger did, this is bound to happen from time to time:
168** He sincerely regretted his infamous quote on video games not able to be art. Ebert later likened his original statement to a movie critic complaining about a movie they had never watched.
169** Ben Stiller revealed after Ebert's death that Roger personally apologized to Ben regarding his harsh review of ''Film/{{Zoolander}}'', which Roger trashed for the subplot of assassinating the prime minister of Malaysia in the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, which ''Zoolander'' opened in the shadow of and fell into DudeNotFunny for Roger. After some distance from the tragedies, Roger gave it another chance on his own time and told Ben it made him laugh.
170** His review of ''Film/DumbAndDumber'' was a middling two-star reception, saying while it had a couple of big laughs, it flubbed other comic payoffs. As he reviewed other, lesser comedies in its wake, while becoming an ardent fan of the Farrelly Brothers, he would lament short-changing ''Dumb and Dumber'', saying at least it had a scene that nearly killed him with laughter (the dead parakeet reveal), compared to truly average comedies that could muster nothing more than mild chuckles out of him.
171** In his review of ''[[Film/CharliesAngels2000 Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle]]'', he offered a ''mea culpa'' of his vicious half-star review of the original film, in which he took some notably personal shots at the trio of actresses slumming (in his mind) to such a work. He chalked it up to probably being in a foul mood that day, and while he fell short of recommending ''Full Throttle'', he noted there was nothing harmful about a few actresses getting to play secret agents that was worth that kind of vitriol.
172* OverlyNarrowSuperlative: In his review of the movie ''Leaves of Grass'', he calls it "the most intelligent, philosophical and poetic film I can imagine that involves five murders in the marijuana-dealing community of Oklahoma and includes John Prine singing 'Illegal Smile.'"
173%%* PaddleballShot: He cited this gimmick as one reason he disliked [[UsefulNotes/ThreeDMovie 3-D Movies]].
174* PenName: While he wrote ''Film/BeyondTheValleyOfTheDolls'' under his own name, his later fame as a critic led him to use pseudonyms on two other films he wrote for Creator/RussMeyer, to spare him from extra scrutiny: Reinhold Timme on ''Film/Up1976'' and [[Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde R. Hyde]] on ''Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens''.
175* PoesLaw:
176** Ebert admitted that the paradox is true of ''all'' satire, to some extent. In order to poke fun at something, you first have to play it straight, and unless you [[{{Anvilicious}} beat your audience over the head with the point]] that you really don't agree with what you're depicting, there's always going to be someone who takes you seriously.
177** Ebert went political and wrote a [[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080921/COMMENTARY/809219997/-1/RSS blog post]] giving a statement of creationist beliefs, with the intention of making a point about people's inability to recognize irony. While many people did see the satire, a significant number of readers either thought he was being serious or assumed the site had been hacked. PZ Myers [[http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/09/there_is_such_a_thing_as_bad_s.php criticized]] the article, pointing out that when there are so many people making the same claims without irony, the joke becomes undetectable to anyone who doesn't already know Ebert's stance on the issue.
178** Ebert records in his biography that after producing ''Film/BeyondTheValleyOfTheDolls'', an infamously over-the-top parody of sexploitation films, he and Russ Meyer met the Music/SexPistols, and were nonplussed when Johnny Rotten said he admired the film because it was ''so true to life''.
179* [[FlawlessToken Positive Discrimination]]: Was very much not a fan. When an audience member at a screening of ''Film/BetterLuckTomorrow'' asked director Justin Lin if it was irresponsible of him to portray other Asian-Americans in such a negative light, Ebert angrily stood up and said (paraphrased) "Nobody would say to a bunch of white filmmakers, '[[CondescendingCompassion How could you do this to your people?]]'"
180* PrecisionFStrike: The end of his [[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/caligula-1980 trashing]] of ''Film/{{Caligula}}'':
181-->"'This movie', said the lady in front of me at the drinking fountain, 'is the worst piece of shit I have ever seen.'"
182* QuotesFitForATrailer: Ebert observed in ''Literature/EbertsGlossaryOfMovieTerms'' that this is apparently the only reason a character ever exclaims "This just keeps getting better and better!"
183* RealityIsUnrealistic:
184** When reviewing the 1998 remake of ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' he complained of the evident electronically tweaked voice of the cop to make it sound unusually deep for effect. After someone wrote to him in the "Questions for the Movie Answer Man" column correcting him, he had to add a footnote to later versions of the review saying "I was wrong: that's Creator/JamesRemar's real voice."
185** His original review of ''Film/WalkTheLine'' was under the impression that a) Joaquin Phoenix was lip-synching to Johnny Cash's music, as he felt it was too uncanny to be Phoenix and b) Johnny Cash proposing to June Carter mid-song was a Hollywood fabrication, although one that Ebert liked anyway. To his astonishment, he learned through the credits that Phoenix did indeed do his own singing, and thorough responses to the Movie Answer Man, that Cash proposed to Carter as depicted in the film, which was then amended in the review.
186** In his [[http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/heavens-gate-1981 scathing review]] of notorious flop ''Film/HeavensGate'', he calls out as ridiculous the scene where Creator/ChristopherWalken's character Nate Champion, trapped in a burning cabin that's under siege by the bad guys, writes a farewell letter to his friends. While ''Heaven's Gate'' was a heavily fictionalized version of the "Johnson County War", Champion was a real person, this scene actually happened in RealLife, and the text of Champion's actual letter was used.
187* ReviewIronicEcho: He sometimes used the dialogue or title from a movie against them when he '''really''' disliked it.
188** "'This sucks on so many levels.' -- Dialogue from ''Film/JasonX''. Rare for a movie to so frankly describe itself."
189** From his review of ''Film/TheLastAirbender'': [[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100630/REVIEWS/100639999 review]]: "I close with the hope that the title proves prophetic."
190** "''Dear God'' is the kind of movie where you walk out repeating the title."
191** "All I want for Christmas is to never see ''All I Want for Christmas'' again."
192** "Oh no, not ''Film/YouAgain''."
193** "I know this all sounds so stupid and offensive and unbelievably amateurish that it's hard to believe, but... ''[[http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/why-would-i-lie-1980 Why Would I Lie]]''?
194* SciFiGhetto:[[invoked]] Disliked this view, especially as a fervent fan of the genre; he noted that he reviewed movies based on both their artistic worth and how much he thought their intended audience would enjoy them.
195* SceneryPorn: Ebert was willing to give high scores to movies solely for being visually impressive and creative, even if their stories may be lacking. Examples include ''Film/{{TRON}}'', ''Film/TheMatrix'', and ''Anime/FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'', the latter of which he stated in the review how much he loves this trope:
196-->'''Ebert:''' I have a love of astonishing sights, of films that show me landscapes and cityscapes that exist only in the imagination.
197* SelfDemonstratingArticle: He begins his review of ''Film/FantasticFour2005'' with a dry, lifeless recitation of the characters and their powers, then interrupts himself to explain that this is what watching the movie felt like.
198* SelfDeprecation: At a tribute to the late Chicago columnist Mike Royko, Ebert gamely read [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5vGBnrcjdQ Royko's snarky review]] of Ebert's screenplay for ''Film/BeyondTheValleyOfTheDolls''.
199* ShipperOnDeck: Ebert shipped Po & Tigress in his ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'' review, and [[SlashFic Jacob & Edward]] in his ''[[Literature/{{Twilight}} The Twilight Saga: Eclipse]]'' review.
200* SignificantBirthDate: Born the exact same day (June 18, 1942) as Music/PaulMcCartney. Ironically, though, he only gave ''Film/GiveMyRegardsToBroadStreet'' one star.
201* SmokingIsCool: As he put it in his commentary for ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'', "I don't approve of smoking, except in the movies". (He was referring to their effectiveness in providing a sense of action during "quiet" moments of characters talking or thinking.)
202* SoBadItsGood: He gave movies like this 1-star, as opposed to zero-star ratings, which he reserved for films either so bad they were terrible or which morally offended him with racism or voyeuristic violence. This means [[http://www.listal.com/list/roger-eberts-zero-stars-ratings his shit-list of films]] given ''zero''-stars is not as fun to watch as you might think, since it is composed almost entirely of truly awful films mixed with soul-destroying {{Gorn}}.[[invoked]]
203* SophisticatedAsHell: Despite his somewhat highbrow image, he could mix it up with lowbrow language. See the page quotation, for instance.
204* StrawmanHasAPoint: [[invoked]] Ebert's [[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030221/REVIEWS/302210304/1023 review]] of ''Film/TheLifeOfDavidGale'', which is a different type of this trope wherein the movie's central characters go ''so ridiculously far'' to show that their position is right, you cannot help but be disgusted with them. He also provides the page quotation for this trope, referring to ''Film/IAmSam''.
205* TeenHorror: Not a fan. He came up with the dismissive phrase "Dead Teenager Movies" to describe them, and saw them as plotless, exploitative, derivative junk that cheapened the horror genre.
206* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: Because of Roger's endless work cycle -- watching movies, writing reviews, filming ''At The Movies'', as well as conducting interviews and writing thinkpieces -- he rarely saw trailers or even any advertising for most films and went into them cold, which was reflected in his reviews. So unaffected he was by this trope, he was even unaware of the basic premises for such films like ''Film/TheTrumanShow''[[note]]in which he theorized while watching the film that Truman might have actually been suffering from paranoia fuel until the Christof portion of the film kicked in[[/note]], ''Film/FieldOfDreams''[[note]]because of the AmbiguousSyntax of the title, he didn't know that the film was about baseball until the vision of the baseball field appears to Ray[[/note]], and ''Film/IronMan''[[note]]although Roger was an avid comics reader in his youth, Iron Man was not in his orbit and was completely in the dark about Tony Stark, even admitting in his review that he half-assumed Tony's brain would be put into a robot a la ''[[Film/Robocop1987 Robocop]]''[[/note]]
207* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: As indicated by his evisceration of the likes of ''Film/Robocop2'' and ''Film/KickAss'', Ebert despised films that turned children into psychopaths or gleeful killers, with exceptions including ''Film/{{Orphan}}'' and ''Film/{{Hanna}}'' where there were story-baked reasons for their violent children beyond exploitation.
208* VitriolicBestBuds: With Creator/GeneSiskel, which was a big part of what made [[Series/SiskelAndEbert their eponymous show]] so enjoyable to watch. See [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUMZjy8rXE4 these outtakes]] for instance. In [[http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/siskel-and-ebert-at-the-jugular this blog post]] Ebert reminisces fondly on how much they enjoyed insulting each other. After a while they practically became LikeAnOldMarriedCouple.
209-->'''Siskel:''' [Ebert] may be an asshole, but he's ''my'' asshole.
210* VolleyingInsults: A war of words erupted between ''Film/TheBrownBunny'' director Creator/VincentGallo and Ebert, with Ebert writing that ''The Brown Bunny'' was the worst film in the history of Cannes, and Gallo retorting by calling Ebert a "fat pig with the physique of a slave trader." Ebert then responded, paraphrasing a statement attributed to UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill: "One day I will be thin, but Vincent Gallo will always be the director of ''The Brown Bunny''." Gallo then claimed to have put a hex on Ebert's colon, cursing the critic with cancer. Ebert then replied that [[InsultToRocks watching a video of his colonoscopy]] had been more entertaining than watching ''The Brown Bunny.'' [[note]] It should be noted here that Gallo went and re-edited ''The Brown Bunny''; Ebert's review of the revision is a complete 180-degree switch in tone, proclaiming that Gallo's editing made ''The Brown Bunny'' a totally different, and better film. Ebert even went so far as to say he was glad he saw the original cut, as flawed as he thought it was, so he was able to better appreciate the revised edition. He also noted that film students should watch both versions, as one of the most noteworthy examples of the power of good editing to improve a film.[[/note]]
211* WalkingOutOnTheShow:
212** He didn't do it very often, but he did leave ''Caligula'' and ''Jonathan Livingston Seagull'' before they were over.
213** [[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/tru-loved-2008 He wrote a review]] of the obscure indie film ''Tru Loved'' with the punchline in the last sentence: [[spoiler:he stopped watching a mere ''eight minutes'' in]]. His editor didn't accept the review as-is.
214* WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief: "I know full well I'm expected to Suspend My Disbelief. Unfortunately, my disbelief is very heavy, and during ''Film/OceansThirteen'', the suspension cable snapped."
215* WorstNewsJudgmentEver: He noted with amusement in [[http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/never-been-kissed-1999 his review]] of ''Film/NeverBeenKissed'' that the film's portrayal of journalists at the Chicago Sun-Times wasn't entirely accurate:
216-->'''Ebert:''' Josie's adventures in high school are monitored at the Sun-Times through a remarkable invention, a brooch that contains a miniature TV camera and transmits everything she sees back to the office. We do not actually have such technology at the Sun-Times, and thank heavens, or my editors would have had to suffer through "Film/BabyGeniuses.'' [...] Apparently at both papers the way to get a big salary and an office is to devote thousands of dollars and weeks of time to an assignment where you hardly ever write anything.
217----
218--> ''"...And until next time, the balcony is closed."''

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