Roger Ebert Promises Return To Movie Reviewing This Month

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April 1, 2008 09:29 PM EST | AP

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Roger Ebert is shown in this, Nov. 27, 2007, file photo in New York. Ebert will resume writing reviews later this month, but will not rejoin his syndicated television show because he is still unable to speak. In a letter published in Tuesday's Chicago Sun-Times, the Pulitzer Prize winning writer and co-host of the "Ebert & Roeper" television show said a January surgery in Houston ended in complications, and his ability to speak was not restored. He said the return of speech would require another surgery. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)

CHICAGO — Roger Ebert will resume writing reviews later this month, but will not rejoin his syndicated TV show because he's still unable to speak.

In a letter published in Tuesday's Chicago Sun-Times, the Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic and co-host of TV's "Ebert & Roeper" said surgery in January ended in complications, and his ability to speak was not restored. He said the return of speech would require another surgery.

"But I still have all my other abilities, including the love of viewing movies and writing about them," Ebert said.

Ebert, 65, said he's looking forward to his annual film festival starting April 23.

"I will resume writing movie reviews shortly thereafter," he said.

Ebert, famous for his "thumbs-up" or "thumbs-down" critiques, had surgery in 2006 to remove a cancerous growth on his salivary gland. He also had emergency surgery that year after a blood vessel burst near the site of the operation.

He had undergone cancer surgery three times before the 2006 operation _ once in 2002 to remove a malignant tumor on his thyroid gland and twice on his salivary gland the following year.

Ebert said he remains cancer-free, and is not ready to think about more surgery.

"I should be content with the abundance I have," he said.

The 10th annual Ebertfest at the University of Illinois runs April 23-27. Ebert chose 13 films for the festival.


 
 

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- Gumby69 See Profile I'm a Fan of Gumby69 permalink

Finally it took surgery to shut him up!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:03 PM on 04/03/2008
- BicycleRepairman See Profile I'm a Fan of BicycleRepairman permalink

Unfortunately, it's difficult to shut up the ill-bred boors who spew their insensitive, inane remarks on this site.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:09 PM on 04/03/2008
- marzipan See Profile I'm a Fan of marzipan permalink

I hope his voice returns soon. He was always the sane and classy antidote to that silly twit Richard Roeper.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:32 AM on 04/03/2008
- willo See Profile I'm a Fan of willo permalink

Youv'e got enough money Ebert. Call it a day. Let someone younger have their day.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:08 AM on 04/03/2008
- BicycleRepairman See Profile I'm a Fan of BicycleRepairman permalink

Being a film critic is not just a job to Ebert; it's a passion. A passion stays with you until the day you die.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:43 PM on 04/03/2008
- rain39 See Profile I'm a Fan of rain39 permalink

Roger, we have missed you very much! You are brilliant and your movie reviews are always right on, although I dislike several genre's that you love. My spouse happens to love those so you cover the waterfront in our house! We hope that your healing continues, silently or verbally and that you feel like writing soon! Far away hugs, Barbara and Jim

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:44 PM on 04/02/2008
- palealien See Profile I'm a Fan of palealien permalink


Get well soon, Roger, we miss you!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:16 PM on 04/02/2008
- scorpioleidy See Profile I'm a Fan of scorpioleidy permalink

WHY???????????????????????

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:30 AM on 04/02/2008
- MPCarr See Profile I'm a Fan of MPCarr permalink

I always liked Roger Ebert until he was so enamored of the movie "An Inconvenient Truth." I couldn't
believe he was so sucked into it at the time.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:20 AM on 04/02/2008
- AngerAndDetermination See Profile I'm a Fan of AngerAndDetermination permalink

MPCarr is probably one of these chickenhawks who still talks about how the FRENCH are keeping us all down.

Next he'll be talking about lucky we were to get rid of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:56 PM on 04/02/2008
- MarkDC See Profile I'm a Fan of MarkDC permalink

Ebert/Gore and other global warming folks are idiots. We need more pollution -- not less. We gotta have more cancer, more death, more pain, more sadness. Anyone who wants to protect the enviroment or clean it up is INSANE. We should make as much profit as possible, as fast as possible, no matterr what the consquences.

This profit motive SURE worked well so far with energy and oil. Enriching Islam was a great idea! The USA has sent about 8 trillion dollars to Saudi since 1974. Smart move!!

Lets do the same genius thing with pollution. Lets get more of it. Look at how much money we make on polluting! And then cancer treatment is a real boon to the economy.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:17 PM on 04/02/2008
- Mormondude See Profile I'm a Fan of Mormondude permalink

There's plenty to do to clean up the environment without wasting billions of dollars and centuries worth of effort chasing down a CO2 boondoggle.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:58 PM on 04/02/2008
- Delphine See Profile I'm a Fan of Delphine permalink

Let me guess. You never saw An Inconvenient Truth.

I mean, I can't understand why anyone would be "sucked into" believing what 99.99999999999% of scientists agree upon and only those paid by Chevron disagree about. How gullible.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:52 AM on 04/02/2008
- edbermac See Profile I'm a Fan of edbermac permalink

"I always liked Roger Ebert until he was so enamored of the movie "An Inconvenient Truth." I couldn't
believe he was so sucked into it at the time."

And we can certainly understand why a necon cementhead like you is so enamored of FAUX Noise.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:39 AM on 04/02/2008
- starrianna See Profile I'm a Fan of starrianna permalink

Don't try to explain it to him. It's like trying to teach a dog about anything involving culture or higher learning. All they hear is:

Blah blah blah blah FOX blah blah blah BUSH blah blah blah JESUS
blah blah blah blah SEX blah blah blah BEER blah blah blah MONEY
blah blah blah blah FEAR

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:15 PM on 04/03/2008
- WilliePilgrim See Profile I'm a Fan of WilliePilgrim permalink

Ebert: Best Movie Critic EVER!!!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:03 AM on 04/02/2008
- SaltySaltillo See Profile I'm a Fan of SaltySaltillo permalink

Godspeed, Roger. We all miss your wit and insight and lifetime of service to the film business. Our thoughts and prayers have long been with you and your family.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:00 AM on 04/02/2008
- Dannydel See Profile I'm a Fan of Dannydel permalink

I think Roger has almost achieved 'National Treasure' status in his field. I hope that he makes a full and speedy recovery. One question though: The photo in this story doesn't really look like him. Has he also had some cosmetic work done?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:00 AM on 04/02/2008
- dsb4419 See Profile I'm a Fan of dsb4419 permalink

I believe that part of his jaw was removed due to the cancer thus the difference in his appearance.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:21 PM on 04/02/2008
- SteveT See Profile I'm a Fan of SteveT permalink

Looks like a photo mixup. The photo above is a still frame from Return of the Jedi. It's Darth Vader shown just after Luke removes his helmet at the end of the film, if I'm not mistaken.
Good luck Roger!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:45 AM on 04/03/2008
- NotMyPrez See Profile I'm a Fan of NotMyPrez permalink

Poor guy, still he can write so he's got motivation and that's a good thing when you fight cancer.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:53 AM on 04/02/2008
- NYC07 See Profile I'm a Fan of NYC07 permalink

Get better soon ! Your missed.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:15 AM on 04/02/2008
- barriosbabe See Profile I'm a Fan of barriosbabe permalink

What some people don't know is that over the years through his work, Roger assiduously introduced several generations of moviegoers, thousands and thousands of people to so-called art films, classic and foreign stuff, long before TCM. I remember with great joy hearing some non movie buff friend explain that they had just watched and loved a film "because Roger Ebert talked about it" and we're talking about movies by Bergman, Ford, Wyler, Truffaut, Fellini, Wertmuller, early Kubrick like "Paths of Glory" (brilliant!) or a documentary like "Harlan County, USA" by Barbara Kopple. He was also a crusader for letterboxing and against colorization. Bravo, Roger! You truly created a bridge.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:14 AM on 04/02/2008
- bridgeworker See Profile I'm a Fan of bridgeworker permalink

I, too, didn't realize that his health had declined this much. I've really missed Ebert's presence as I feel that he adds an intelligence, thoughtfulness and overall love and appreciation of the art of film while at the same time making a welcome contribution to the conversation about what it is to be human in this day and age.

Roger, thank you so much for your generous spirit. May your recovery go well and may we all be blessed with your continued film perspectives for many years to come!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:40 AM on 04/02/2008
- auramac See Profile I'm a Fan of auramac permalink

Whether you agreed with Siskel, Ebert, both, or neither, you'd have a good sense from watching that show whether or not to go see a movie. And watching them argue, I couldn't help but imagine how much they had in common and therefore must've respected about each other- their absolute love and passion for the movies. Roger has continued with his passion ever since, and if we can't watch him on TV (which I sorely miss), we can still read his still-brilliant thoughts and observations. Thank you, Roger Ebert, and wishing you good health and many more years At The Movies. As always- "two thumbs up!"

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:59 AM on 04/02/2008
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