It is a sad day for those who enjoyed watching Roger on At the Movies, but I remember when he and Gene Siskel were on PBS Sneek Previews. Recently I was asked if I used to watch these guys and I said yes, the reason I was asked this question is because I had shown these individuals my top ten for last year and of course they didn't agree with my selections. Which brings me to Mister Ebert, in the beginning I didn't really like him and it was because we weren't seeing eye to eye on his reviews and it seemed Gene and I were more alike, but of course there were times when Gene and I didn't agree on movies either. I kept watching these two for many years and in the course of watching these two I began to appreciate their love of movies because I felt like we were separate from everyone else in our love of movies. It was a sad day when Gene Siskel died but Roger kept going and my earlier dislike for him changed, I began to appreciate him and his reviews, yes we didn't always agree on movies but what I appreciated was his conviction on his reviews. It wasn't that he had to be right, he either liked what he saw or he didn't and wasn't afraid of telling you.
When at the Movies was canceled I was saddened by the news because it was apart of my life for so long, it was like when your a kid and you move away you feel like your losing your friends and that's what this felt like, like I was losing a good friend. Roger and his wife Chaz were able to bring back his show, in fact he went back to where he started on PBS, unfortunately it only lasted a year. I kept waiting to hear word that they may bring it back, but it didn't happen. So Roger I'll miss you and our disagreements but I'll mostly miss another who loved movies as much as I do.
As I've gotten older I've learned that we all get something out of movies differently, what I might like someone else might not but that's okay because all that matters is that you were entertained. I'll always be someone who stands by my convictions and I don't always expect anyone to understand why I like certain movies but it's probably because it touched me or moved me. I would love to have my own show and talk movies, that would be my dream come true.
