rogerebert.com
Roger Ebert, one of the most critically acclaimed film critics of all time, has had a long and successful career in which he has made a name for himself as an esteemed critic and historian. In addition to his critical acclaim, Ebert is also well-known for his work as a journalist, screenwriter, and author.
Roger Ebert worked as a film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In this time, he became known for his honest, intelligent, informed, and thought-provoking reviews.
Many people praise Ebert?s writing, as well as awards and recognition for his work. In fact, he was the first person to ever win a Pulitzer Prize for criticism. It is amazing that he was so successful at what he does - receiving a Pulitzer Prize for something other than journalism is a feat in itself.
His career wasn't limited to the page. Roger Ebert also had success on television as the co-host (alongside colleague and fellow film critic, Gene Siskel) of the iconic PBS film review shows Sneak Previews and At the Movies. Siskel and Ebert would humorously exchange barbs and snarks at one another amidst their entertaining reviews of new movies. They are also credited for inventing the now widely used phrase "two thumbs up." These shows were the first of their kind and have not been successfully emulated since - but one more item in a staggeringly long list of legacies that Roger Ebert has left behind.
It is rare that a writer of such talent is able to reach out to the American people and become a household name in the world of popular entertainment. However, this was never a problem for Roger Ebert. He was always able to break through traditional boundaries and become one of the most influential and prominent film critics in America and even beyond.
Unfortunately, despite his many physical barriers, including thyroid and salivary gland cancer, which resulted in the removal of his jaw in 2006, he was not able to overcome the one boundary that he could not overcome - his own mortality. Ebert suffered from these conditions until his death on April 4th, 2013. Despite this, he continued to write and publish in print and online until the very end.
His website, rogerebert.com, continues to thrive despite his death.
History
The website's writing staff was hand-picked by Ebert himself shortly before he died. This would be one of the final touches he would put on his legacy, blending elements of a memorial site, an archive of his writing, current film criticism, collection of blogs about cinema, an ongoing collection of op-eds, and a platform for Roger Ebert's wife Chaz to publish her own work. It is rare to find such a versatile and well-executed website, and it is fitting that it exists through which Roger Ebert can live on.
Chaz Ebert hired Matt Zoller Seitz as the editor-in-chief of rogerebert.com two months after Roger Ebert died. At the time, Seitz's Indie Wire blog had reached a fever pitch of popularity, and both Indie Wire and Roger Ebert's websites happened to share several contributors. It made perfect sense for Chaz Ebert to appoint Seitz as the new editor-in-chief of the site, as he was already familiar with the majority of Roger Ebert critics.
"Rogerebert.com is a valuable resource for getting a front-line perspective on older movies as well as understanding who Roger Ebert was," said Noel Murray of The Dissolve. "R. Kurt Osenlund of Slant has also highlighted the site's diversity, pointing out that it features a great deal of first-person narrative pieces, but also noting that there are other contributors, like Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, who don't do so much of that. The overall diversity makes the site an interesting place for artists to gather."
Design
I really like the way this website is designed. It has an elegant feel to it. It is highly organized and easy to navigate. It manages to pack a ton of high-quality and substantial content in a way that doesn't feel cluttered or disorienting - something that not every movie review site can boast.
At risk of sounding abstract, I think the website has a fitting literary aesthetic - a good look for a website honoring a writer who elevated criticism to the level of literature. I'm getting this impression from the paper color and book-shaped layout, both of which are clean and uncluttered.
The site's menu bar at the top of the page makes searching for content easy. You can explore the site by clicking on Reviews, Great Movies, Chaz's Journal, Blogs, Far Flungers, Channels, and Contributors. Or you can simply type in what you're looking for on the adjacent search bar.
Content
This site offers a lot of features, and there is always something to read on it. This is great for fans of the film, because they will never get bored.
Feel free to browse any one of Roger Ebert's classic reviews if you're looking for a trip down memory lane; follow Chaz Ebert's thoughts on politics, film, festivals, and life in general with Chaz's Journal; explore some rarer Roger Ebert prose by checking out his journal; see what editor-in-chief Matt Zoller Seitz has to say in his blog for the site; receive expertly curated movie recommendations; or take a trip abroad and read reviews from the Far-Flungers, far-flung correspondents critiquing cinema from all around the world.
Pricing and Plans
It is totally free to access Rodgerebert.com. There are no paywalls, no limits on how many articles you can read. Everything on this website is free - the way it should be. That said, there are a few ads here. But they're not too intrusive and don't interfere with your enjoyment of the site. It's a classy affair.
A hardcore Ebert fan can sign up for a subscription-based service called The Ebert Club. It's very reasonably priced, at $20 per year, and members of The Ebert Club receive hand-selected content: an exclusive weekly newsletter, additional articles, fresh-on-the-reel trailers, streamable full-length films, and access to a special members-only version of the site. As far as subscription offerings go, The Ebert Club offers some of the most diverse and unique features I've seen on any site of its kind.
Suggestions that I have for Roger Ebert
: rogerebert.com is a model website.
I really wish I could think of something to say in the way of a critique, but given that I am reviewing the site of the greatest film critic of all time, I have to be honest and say that rogerebert.com is quite possibly the best-executed film review site I have ever seen. They have truly thought of everything, and this is precisely how a website should be. Conclusion: rogerebert.com is a model website.
Whether you are a fan of Roger Ebert's work or have never heard of him before today, this website is sure to entertain, intrigue, humor, challenge, and benefit even the highest-brow cinephiles among us. If you are looking for a site that could be called the authority on film criticism, congratulations, you have found it - as one would expect from a website bearing the name of Roger Ebert.
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