Recently, I saw the great film critic, Roger Ebert, onstage at the majestic Castro Theater. He was in town to receive another award; he's the kind of person who could never win too many. He's America's greatest film critic, but that is not what impressed me most about him.
It was his indomitable spirit. He's frail from many cancer operations, can speak only through his computer, and cannot eat or drink anything at all.
Despite all of this, the most memorable part of the evening at the Castro was Ebert's beautiful smile, which never left his face during a long ceremony that featured tributes from a number of film's top directors.
He exudes joy. He repeatedly gestured to the audience, indicating that his sense of humor remains undiminished.
In fact, he was the happiest person in the place.
It's hard to watch someone who has been so ill that he has lost almost all of his former robustness, physically. But he's lost nothing mentally.
He writes now more than ever. His
website and his twitter stream are among the most engaging in the country.
Roger Ebert is a great writer, and like many great writers, he just keeps getting better.
Here's what he has to say about the current state of film reviewing.
"This is a golden age for film criticism. Never before have more critics written more or better words for more readers about more films.
"Twenty years ago a good-sized city might have contained a dozen people making a living from writing about films, and for half of them the salary might have been adequate to raise a family. Today that city might contain hundreds, although (the Catch-22) not more than one or two are making a living.
"What the internet is creating is a class of literate, gifted amateur writers, in an old tradition. Like Trollope, who was a British Post official all his working life, they write for love and because they must."
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