Film critic Roger Ebert (70) has died

[Blue Train]

Any fans of Jonathan Rosenbaum and J. Hoberman?

Not aware of Hoberman. Absolutely not a fan of Rosenbaum. At one point, I was reading and disliking his work on a regular basis (so an anti-fan of sorts), since I felt compelled to read all the reviews in the Chicago Reader. The Reader has fallen on hard times (and Rosenbaum may have moved on) and I am not in the city anymore, so he has completely fallen off my radar screen.

He started out at the Village Voice under Sarris. Was the head critic until he was fired to save money at the VV last year.

Now he writes for several

http://j-hoberman.com/

[Blue Train]

While I don't always agree with Kehr....I like his writing.


He and Hoberman had some recent reviews involving John Ford. Hoberman's is on a book about The Searchers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/books/review/the-searchers-by-glenn-frankel.html?pagewanted=all


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/movies/homevideo/new-dvds-how-green-was-my-valley-and-quiet-man.html

Edited April 8, 2013 by Blue Train

[Tim McG]

As a newspaper man I completely understand the world Larry is describing, the characters therein and the meetings so described. Discerning the motivation of critics is slippery of course, and what's conscious or sub-conscious is equally slippery. What Larry is describing in terms of strategic tempering of opinion certainly happens, but Jim's take can also be true. I would only add this: Though the level of celebrity was completely different, we had a similar situation here in Detroit between the movie critics at the Free Press and News: Highly competive market, writers who did both reviews and features and competed fiercely in the same manner for exclusive interviews. And there was always a feeling in both newsrooms that the other critic, when praising a consensus dog of movie by a big name director or actor, was just angling for an eventual interview. For me, if Ebert played with this line on rare occasions, it wouldn't change my basic opinion of him or of the trustworthiness of his work.

(On a personal note, as someone who functions as both a critic and reporter, I would add that negotiating the issue of always being truthful with your own opinions and honest with readers but also knowing that, for example, the same music director you blast as a dork in Mahler on Saturday you're going to have to request an interview from on Monday, is one of the biggest challenges of the gig.)

I have tremendous admiration for Ebert on many fronts, but one thing that's worth noting beyond the actual work are the many stories of his professional courtesy and generosity toward writers, editors and critics who were much lower on the food chain than himself. That's exceedingly rare in the world of big-time journalism, and a reminder that one key measure of a person's character is not how they treat people above them but how they treat those below them.

Well put, Mark.

[Soulstation1]

Anyone know if he was a smoker?

[Chuck Nessa]

Not that I remember. Just a drinker.

[Blue Train]

Anyone know if he was a smoker?

Both his parents died as result of smoking. One from cancer and one from emphysema.

As in, no. It started out as thyroid cancer and it metastasized from that point.

[Blue Train]

Not that I remember. Just a drinker.

Keeping in mind the whole once an Alcholic.....you're always one, but 1979.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2009/08/my_name_is_roger_and_im_an_alc.html

Edited April 9, 2013 by Blue Train

[John Litweiler]

Any fans of Jonathan Rosenbaum and J. Hoberman?

Rosenbaum is knowledgeable about jazz. Never saw him at a club or concert, though.

[BruceH]

Hoberman was at the Village Voice for many years; they let him go a while back. Rosenbaum I don't care for either in general. The best film critic I know is Dave Kehr (he's also a friend of many years), but others may not agree on Dave's virtues.

I like Dave Kehr's writing a lot. Hoberman I used to read a lot back in the 80's when I used to read the Voice pretty regularly. Not a big fan of Rosenbaum, but I guess I'm not along in that.