Friday, November 21, 2008

Roger Ebert on his former fatness

It surprises me that many people I meet still don't know that Roger Ebert has lost a ton of weight, and due to cancer surgery, has also lost the capacity to speak; cancer-free, he has become a passionate blogger, and feels - as do I - that his writing has improved since it became his primary means of communicating with the world (tho' he's still too kind to mediocre movies by filmmakers he has regard for, based on their past achievements - hence his interest in writing about Scorsese, who, though canonized, has made few films worth watching in the last 20 years; and not attentive enough to unusual or offbeat cinema. These are, may I say, lifelong failings of his that require one read him with a grain of salt; he's a better writer than he is a film critic, if that makes sense...). He has just posted a piece on his former fatness which I think has some pretty interesting observations in it - not many people talk about being fat so candidly. Here's hoping a speedy prosthetic for Roger's neck and a continued absence of cancer; I'm hoping Ebert will be around and writing for a long time yet ("the Studs Terkel of cinema").

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