Roger Ebert changed my life.
Probably about 15 years ago, the Answer Man responded to a reader’s question inquiring where is the best place to sit in a movie theater. The Answer Man responded with the recommendation to sit on the opposite side of the main entrance, as far back as double the height of the screen. By sitting on the opposite side of the main entrance, the viewer had a better chance of not having someone sit in front of you.
It sounded good to me at the time. It continues to sound good to this day. I make my living as a spectator. As a film buff, I am no longer able see more than 100 movies a year like I used to before I was married and had kids. Most of the time I am stuck at home with my Netflix rental. But when I do go to the movies, I still take Ebert’s advice. Always will.
As a sports writer, I attend countless sporting events over the course of the year. Though there is no movie screen, I still use Ebert’s advice every time I step into a gymnasium or walk into a stadium. I saw more than 50 high school basketball games for both boys and girls last season. And I always try to find a seat far from the main entrance hoping few spectators will block my view. Ebert’s reasoning is that most movie goers are just eager to find a seat shortly after they enter a theater. There seems to be plenty of validity to that, even at general admission sporting events.
With my extra room, I have become a hog of bleacher seats. I use three rows during games, one row to sit on, one to place my feet and one to lean back on to support my back.
Ebert gave four stars to a pair of films that have meant much to me as a prep sports writer. One is a documentary and the other is a drama. Both were partly filmed in my home town. Ebert was a champion of “Hoop Dreams,” the story of Marshall’s Arthur Agee and St. Joseph’s William Gates. The film captures Agee playing at Glenbard West’s Thanksgiving tournament. Despite Ebert’s death, “Hoop Dreams” director Steve James claims he will complete his next film, a documentary based on Ebert’s memoir, Life Itself. There is irony in the fact that Ebert, who trumpeted James’ groundbreaking doc, will now have his posthumous bio doc directed by James.
Ebert also hailed “Lucas,” the coming-of-age story about a nerdy kid falling in love with a cheerleader. Sure, it smacks of cornball without the style of Frank Capra, but it’s a sweet film with plenty of cameos featuring my former Glenbard West teachers and classmates. It was filmed at the school. I even appeared as an extra for a few seconds during one of the football crowd scenes. I remembered seeing Ebert’s review that Friday after attending the film’s premiere one day earlier at the Glen Theater. “Holy crap! Ebert gave it four stars.”
Growing up, I read Siskel loyally since we were a Tribune family. Yes, my parents were staunch Republicans. I started reading the Sun-Times regularly while in high school when my dad started bringing home the afternoon edition off the train. Of course, I always wanted to be Siskel or Ebert. I love movies and always will. I didn’t start writing until college, but always thought being a film critic would be the ultimate coolest job of all time.
For a brief time, I was able to write film reviews as a fill-in while stringing at the the Northwest Herald in the mid-1990s. A great thrill was being able to go to the Plitt screening room on Lake Street and watch movies with my idols such as Siskel and Ebert and even the Reader’s Jonathan Rosenbaum. I remember Siskel and Ebert always came off the elevator with a styrofoam container. I learned that when you watch two to three movies in an afternoon, you’ve got to eat. Those containers usually had a sandwich or a salad. I forget who had which. I remember Ebert had a pad of paper for notes.
While anyone can sit anywhere at the old Plitt screening room, Siskel and Ebert always sat in the same seats. Last row, right in the middle with a small table with a telephone between them. There were only about 30 seats in the room.
It’s hard to believe that both are gone now. I keep track of the RSS feed for RogerEbert.com on my dashboard. His last review listed is for “The Host,” which actually shares the same name as a really cool South Korean monster movie. After reading Ebert’s review, I can tell the two films are not related.
My Friday’s won’t be the same without his reviews to read.
