MovieChat Forums > Life Itself (2014) Discussion > emails from Roger

emails from Roger

posted 11 years ago by emncaity
5 replies | jump to latest

Fair warning if you've seen this story before (probably not), but anyway: I wrote Roger one time after seeing Turtles Can Fly, re his review of the film. I figured I'd get a "thanks, I'll pass it on" reply from a staffer, at most. Probably not even that. It wasn't two hours before I got a reply directly from Roger himself. I still can't believe it. We exchanged a couple more along the way after that. He was engaging, funny, and as smart as the best of his writing, as smart as some of you biggest fans know him to be. Not for one second did he take the position of a superior talking to an inferior, although that was a plain fact, at least with regard to the industry. (I had done a stint as a film student and was a writer who had published a few reviews, but...please.)

I mean, that's not the only time I've gotten something back from somebody who would've been nearly impossible to contact in an earlier (pre e-comm) age. It happens sometimes. But to get one from a true giant in the business -- and most likely at a time when he was struggling through the worst of his cancer surgery and treatment -- I just thought the fact that he answered at all, let alone would engage in a conversation, plus the actual substance of the things he wrote, seemed to indicate a real mensch. Or at least somebody who was really in love with film and inclined to like other people who were, too. Which is why I miss him like crazy, and why it's still weird without him. I expect it always will be.

[–] melnar1 11 years ago

I had a similar experience with Roger back in 2004 - not by email but in the newspaper in which he had published an obituary of Janet Leigh. I asked him this question:

Q. In your obituary of Janet Leigh, you write that her character's conversation with the Frank Sinatra character in "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962), when they meet on the train, is "beyond peculiar," and you wonder if they are exchanging coded messages, and if she is perhaps his controlling agent. What you and several other critics don't seem to realize is that this dialogue wasn't written especially for the movie -- it's in the book! Why didn't you all go and ask author Richard Condon himself while he was alive? - MelNar

I didn't really expect to get any response but, blow me down, he gave me this intriguing reply:

A. Because it hadn't occurred to me. I've just listened to director John Frankenheimer's commentary track, in which he notes it's "very weird dialogue -- very strange." But instead of speculating about the dialogue, he talks about how quickly the scene was shot. Looking at the scene again, I'm struck by the moment when the Sinatra character says, "I'm in the railroad business," and Leigh replies: "If you'll permit me to point out -- when you ask that question, you really should say, 'I'm in the railroad line.'" I'm convinced they are both on a hypnotically induced script, and that in some way, she plays another of his controllers.

[–] emncaity 11 years ago

Too cool. That was one of the best things about him -- he would engage you or anybody else who had a point he thought was valid, even if it came couched in something he could've taken offense at ("what you and other critics don't seem to realize"). If he sensed that you loved film like he did, you were in the fold and worth answering. I just think the world is a little worse without him, but much better for him having been here at all.

[–] lorem_ipsum_dolor_sit_amet 11 years ago

On his website, I commented on a piece he wrote about Ratatouille, in which he said something about the cheap microwaveable meals that Skinner sold by using Gusteau's name and image. I said it was similar to what Disney wanted to do with the Pixar movies they owned (before they finally decided to renew their contract)--mass produce cheap versions of classics to make a quick buck (which may actually be happening, since Planes seems like a cheap cash-in on Cars).

The man commented and said my interpretation seemed pretty valid to him.

I'd also like to mention that I used to write movie reviews for my local paper--I was part of a group of unpaid people who were assigned movies by the paid reviewer at my local paper (which was then, along with about four other newspapers, owned by the Sun-Times Media Group). Anyways, after Ebert died, the paid reviewer mentioned that the Sun-Times wanted to fire him and the other local reviewers and just use Ebert's reviews to save money.

Ebert himself protested and prevented the firing of the other reviewers.

This story is mentioned here: https://twitter.com/LarsenOnFilm/status/319987844032647168

[–] emncaity 11 years ago

As a former film-review contributor myself and a huge fan of Roger's, I'm actually surprised I hadn't heard this story. As you might guess, nothing about it surprises me (or you, probably). What a mensch.

That was a good point about Ratatouille, btw. But to be told it had merit by the giant himself...man. Praise from Caesar.

[–] mike-crowley64 11 years ago

I got to work on the last incarnation of his show 'Ebert Presents At The Movies' What I can say about Roger was that he never had a BS famous attitude. As a matter of fact I was on the verge of leaving the film industry after working for people like (can't disclose) He, Chaz and their wonderful family are some of the greatest folks I have ever met and I do not say that lightly.

I posted a bit of a personal review of 'Life Itself' I think Steve James nailed Roger's spirit and enthusiasm with his film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7bgiFkvxCw