I know it’s been a while since I posted, but Karol Sheinin just had a baby. I haven’t gone to visit her or anything. In fact, it’s a completely lame excuse, but no more embarrassing than admitting that I’ve read an article in the new issue of Esquire. Honestly, I was waiting for a tow truck. One thing still stood out to me, and I should jump on it while other conservatives are having fun laughing at Roger Ebert.

This latest issue of Esquire has a pretty good profile of the noted film critic who’s been in terrible health. Personally, the only thing I ever liked about Ebert was how often his syndicated reviews put local film critics out of business. I gave up on At the Movies back when Ebert (& Gene Siskel) kept dismissing cool films in their “Dog of the Week” segment. It’s only been recently that Ebert’s been pitching himself for loving obituaries by becoming a shrill Leftist idiot.

Anyway, Chris Jones’ profile—titled “The Last Words of Roger Ebert"—has this one inadvertently hilarious anecdote about the guy (brackets are mine):

He took his hardest hit not long ago. After [equally petty Leftist film critic Richard] Roeper announced his departure from At the Movies in 2008—Disney wanted to revamp the show in a way that Roeper felt would damage it [and Roeper’s ego]—Ebert disassociated himself from it, too, and he took his trademarked thumbs with him. The end was not pretty and the break was not clean. But because Disney was going to change the original balcony set as part of its makeover, it was agreed, Ebert thought, that the upholstered chair and rails and undersized screen would be given to the Smithsonian and put on display. Ebert was excited by the idea. Then he went up to visit the old set one last time and found it broken up and stacked in a dumpster in the alley.

Ebert seriously believed that anyone cared about At the Movies after Siskel died. How touching. The best part, though, is how the above story is just like a scene from 2002’s About Schmidt. That comedy/drama is subtly conservative, and you can get a clue about that from reading Ebert’s review. He liked About Schmidt, but you can see that the main thing Ebert took from the movie was disdain for the average working man—even a fairly successful insurance executive. Ebert probably spends a lot of time rereading his old reviews. Maybe he’ll stumble across that one someday, and marvel at how little he’s learned about his own life.

 

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