All is well.

[krickets]

“When I am writing, my problems become invisible, and I am the same person I always was. All is well. I am as I should be.”
- Roger Ebert

A friend asked me tonight if I was taking his death hard because I mentioned this quote to her and I had also told her about how upset I got today after reading Ignatiy Vishnevetsky's farewell letter to him. Which left me in tears. So I guess... Yeah? I am kind of taking it hard.

It's touched me for sure. I was a fan. Watched his most recent PBS show (with Christy Lemire and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky) all of 2011. Until whenever it got cancelled. Read his blog periodically. Checked his reviews whenever I cared enough about a movie. Followed his twitter off and on. I was very inspired by his optimism in the face of his struggles. And I was really sort of moved in an inexplicable way by the way technology helped him to constantly be in touch with people and the world out there, instead of sheltered away, alone, and forever silenced as many people in his situation in years past might have been.

I was upset two days prior when I read his blog post (which I reblogged) about his cancer reoccurring and taking a leave of absence from writing and passing off most movie reviews to other critics.

And even that gets to me because he said "I'm not going away," and romantically said that he'd finally get to do what he always wanted to do, write reviews of only the movies he wanted to review. Then, two days later he was gone.

Ignatiy wrote about how difficult it was for Roger to complete simple tasks like typing a sentence. It's painful to think about. I can't even imagine the dedication and love he must have poured into every word, every tweet, every blog post and review.

It's bittersweet. Because I know he was doing until almost his dying day what he truly loved to do. Write. And connect with people and reveal what was in his heart in the process. And he truly LOVED movies all of his life and believed they revealed something true about human nature, which I connect with. And his love for his wife and her love for him. It's just a really beautiful story. I imagine he felt fulfilled, overflowing even. Which is all any of us can hope for.

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Comments

[daybreak777.livejournal.com]

I still can't believe it. Just last weekend I was looking up his review of The Grey. And he said that the film moved him so much that he left the theatre of a second film that day because The Grey had stayed so with him and it wouldn't be fair to the second film to view it then.

I miss him. I still miss Gene Siskel. I grew up with them, so many movie reviews! And we still had Roger through that pen. The love he poured into his writing we received and were thankful for.

And just like that he's gone and no more reviews and no more thumbs up again ever. Sometimes you get to a point where you realize, life really is finite, limited. When you're young everyone is young with you, it seems. But now . . .

I don't even know where to go to look up reviews I trust anymore. Such a big lost to entertainment and film. But I'm so glad we did have him while we did.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Wow, now I really want to watch The Grey! That's a great review right there.

Yeah I know, no more thumbs up. Unless by chance they revive the show without him. Bring back Christy and Ignatiy. Somehow, it wouldn't be the same.

I really love Christy Lemire's reviews and the youtube show she has with a couple of other critics called What the Flick (sometimes). I haven't read much of Ignatiy's reviews since the show ended but I did like his reviews on the show too. You should check them out.

[darlulu.livejournal.com]

I'm taking his death hard, too.

It's bittersweet. Because I know he was doing until almost his dying day what he truly loved to do. Write. And connect with people and reveal what was in his heart in the process. And he truly LOVED movies all of his life and believed they revealed something true about human nature, which I connect with. And his love for his wife and her love for him. It's just a really beautiful story. I imagine he felt fulfilled, overflowing even. Which is all any of us can hope for.

Exactly.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Ugh. It's just too sad. ♥