The Great Movies by Roger Ebert

Of all the arts, movies are the most powerful aid to empathy, and good ones make us into better people.

– from the introduction of The Great Movies by Roger Ebert

Last fall while on vacation, I found this book in our condominium. The Great Movies made for fantastic beach reading. In it, masterful essayist and renowned movie critic Roger Ebert writes about the 100 movies that he opines are the “landmarks of the first century of cinema.”

Like so many in my generation, I was introduced to Ebert via the “At the Movies” PBS television program. Over time the show had several forgettable names and colloquially became known simply as “Siskel and Ebert,” reflecting the names of Ebert and his co-host Gene Siskel. (This should have been the name all along).

I grew up in a family that didn’t go the movie theater because of my father’s job and ministry. It would take another post to explain this, but suffice it to say that the movie theater was a controversial place and our going could put his employment at risk. Even so, I enjoyed watching these two spar over the flaws and merits of a particular movie I had not yet seen.

My appreciation of Ebert continued to grow and I especially admire the grace and strength with which he fought his thyroid cancer and lived his life to its fullness until his death in 2013. (See the incredibly moving biographical documentary Life Itself for more on this).

Journalist and film critic Roger Ebert

This book, which is the first of three volumes, is a compilation of his essays for the Chicago Sun-Times that he began in 1997. These are movies that he felt were essential to understanding both the history of the medium as well as the times in which they were made. The essays are four to five pages in length and are accompanied by a “film still” or photograph from the movie. It’s great reading about those that I’ve not seen and remembering those that I have. The book has inspired me to watch or re-watch many of them. I bet it will you too.