History Creator / RogerEbert

Siskel 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.

When 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.

* 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 ''Up!'' and [[Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde R. Hyde]] on ''Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens''.

** 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, 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", this scene actually happened in RealLife.

Born 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, and he became the first film critic to win a MediaNotes/PulitzerPrize in 1975.

That same year, Ebert 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, on local Creator/{{PBS}} station WTTW. 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.

* 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 ''Up!'' and R. Hyde on ''Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens''.

Born 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, and he became the first film critic to win a MediaNotes/PulitzerPrize in 1975.

In 1975, Ebert 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, on local Creator/{{PBS}} station WTTW. 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.

* Another review [[InUniverse addressed the]] UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny where one comment said that [[Franchise/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]]''.

* 1985: ''Literature/TheColorPurple''

In 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.

He 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.

He was 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.]]

He 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 WWE (having found a fascination with wrestling after viewing ''Film/BeyondTheMat''), ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark,'' and ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender.'' (During their 1979 review of ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture,'' Gene suggested that he might not have cared about the characters since he wasn't a fan of the show. Roger 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 a Twitter message (Nostalgia Critic creator Creator/DougWalker was so thrilled, 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.