rogerebert.com
Perhaps the famous film critic Roger Ebert needs no introduction. He made a very long and prosperous career for himself during his 70 years of life, garnering acclaim as a respected critic, historian, journalist, and author.
Roger Ebert worked at Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. He was known for his honest, intelligent, informed, and thought-provoking reviews of movies.
Praise for Ebert's writing is easy to find- as are awards and recognition for his work. In fact, he was the first person to ever win a Pulitzer Prize for criticism. What a feat that is? To be so successful at what you do that the Pulitzer Prize committee has to go out of their way to invent a whole new category just to formally praise you. If that isn't impressive, I don't know what is.
Roger Ebert's successful career began on the page and continued on television as the co-host of Sneak Previews and At the Movies with fellow film critic, Gene Siskel. These shows were pioneering in their own right and have not been successfully emulated since. Roger Ebert is also credited with inventing the now widely used phrase "two thumbs up." His numerous accomplishments speak for themselves, leaving a lasting legacy in film criticism and entertainment overall.
Although he never won a Pulitzer Prize, the late Edward R. Murrow once said that Ebert was ?the most distinguished critic in America.? Considered one of the most influential voices in the world of popular entertainment, Ebert was able to make his mark on American culture by reaching out to fellow citizens through his writing. He was never one to be discouraged by traditional boundaries, and his work demonstrated an extraordinaire level of talent.
Unfortunately, the only boundary he was not able to overcome was that of mortality. Ebert suffered from thyroid and salivary gland cancer, which resulted in the removal of his jaw in 2006. He had become physically disfigured from the surgery, no longer able to speak or eat without assistance. However, he did not let this stop him from penning articles and publishing them in print and online until his very last day on Earth: April 4th, 2013.
Though his spirit may have left this world, his film review website, rogerebert.com, continues to thrive.
History
Ebert personally chose the writing staff for his website shortly before he died. This would be one of the final touches that he would paint his legacy. The site is a hybrid of many things; part memorial to Ebert, a partial archive of his writing, part current film criticism, part collection of cinema blogs, a part ongoing collection of op-eds, and part platform for Roger Ebert's wife Chaz to publish her own writing. It is not everyday that you come across a website that is as versatile and well-executed as this one. It is truly a fitting conduit through which Roger Ebert can live on.
Two months after Roger Ebert died, Chaz hired the formidable film and TV critic, Matt Zoller Seitz as the editor-in-chief of rogerebert.com. At the time, Seitz's Indie Wire blog had reached a fever pitch of popularity, and both Indie Wire and Roger Ebert's websites happened to share several contributors. It made perfect sense then for Chaz Ebert to appoint Seitz as the editorial team's leader, since he was already familiar with the majority of Roger Ebert critics.
Rogerebert.com has been equally well-received by critics as Roger Ebert himself. For instance, Noel Murray of The Dissolve referred to the site as "an invaluable resource, both for getting some front-line perspective on older movies, and for getting a better sense of who Ebert was." Furthermore, R. Kurt Osenlund of Slant highlighted the site's diversity, noting that it features "a great deal of first-person narrative" pieces by Roger Ebert, but also noting that there are contributors who don't do so much of that. This diversity makes the site a kind of artist collective.
Design
I find the website design on this site to be very elegant. It is well-organized and easy to navigate. It contains a lot of high-quality and substantial content without feeling cluttered or disorienting--something that not every movie review site can boast.
At risk of abstraction, I would say that the website feels almost literary- an appropriate aesthetic for a site in honor of a writer who elevated criticism to the level of literature. I think that I am getting this impression from the paper-like color of the theme, as well as the clean and nearly book-shaped layout.
The top of the page includes a menu bar with options for exploring different sections of the website. You can access reviews, great movies, chaz's journal, blogs, far flungers, channels, and contributors by clicking on the appropriate icons. Alternatively, you can type in what you are looking for on the adjacent search bar.
Content
This website offers many features and different types of content. There is so much to read on this website, lovers of films will never be stricken with a dull moment.
If you are looking for a trip down memory lane, browse any of Roger Ebert's classic reviews. Keep up with Chaz Ebert's musings on politics, film, festivals, and life in general with Chaz's Journal. Dive into some rarer Roger Ebert prose by checking out his "journal." See what editor-in-chief Matt Zoller Seitz has to say in his blog for the site. Receive expertly curated movie recommendations. Or take a trip abroad and read reviews from the "Far-Flungers," far-flung correspondents critiquing cinema from all around the world.
Pricing and Plans
It is free to access rogerebert.com. There are no paywalls, no limitations on how many articles you can read. All content is free, including the few ads that exist on the site. It is a classy affair.
The Ebert Club is a subscription-based service that offers subscribers hand-selected content: an exclusive weekly newsletter, additional articles, fresh-on-the-reel trailers, streamable full-length films, and access to a special members-only version of the site. The $20 per year price is very reasonable.
Suggestions that I have for Roger Ebert
: This is an excellent site.
I would like to offer a critique of the website of the greatest film critic of all time, however I must honestly say that I found it to be the best-executed film review site I have ever seen. Their efforts have been thorough and complete, and this is exactly the level of quality a website should strive for. As a result, I would highly recommend this site to anyone looking for insightful analysis on cinema
This website, which is named after Roger Ebert, offers comprehensive film criticism for those who love film. It is likely that if you are interested in film, you will find something of interest on this website.
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