Roger Ebert Died Today

It is a very sad day for film fans. Easily my favourite film critic ever, Roger Ebert died today at age 70, after more than a decade of struggling with thyroid cancer.

No other major film critic has come close to Ebert in matching my own opinions on films. Through the years, there were many times when he was the only major critic who appreciated some of my favourite films of the year. His reviews were always the first reviews I read on any film and my blog posts make frequent mention of him as I argued or agreed with his reflections.

I have recently been unimpressed with how many critics fail to take a film's "heart" into account in their evaluations. Ebert always took such things into account, and regularly challenged films for not taking a stand when such a stand was required for the good of our planet.

I will miss Roger Ebert very much.