Roger Ebert: Ask Him Anything!

I just got Mr. Ebert's permission to gather 10 questions to send to him, so I will be sending him the top 1st level (parent) questions, based on upvotes.

As mentioned in the previous thread, try to avoid specifics of movies that he [may have] already discussed in his reviews.

And please split up questions into separate comments. (We're only asking him 10 questions, so if a comment with two questions gets to the top, the tenth comment is getting the boot.)

Try sorting by 'best' before you read this thread, so that there is more of an even distribution of votes based on quality instead of position. And remember to give this submission two thumbs up :)

Thank you for contributing!

Website: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/
Blog: http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ebertchicago
My sketchbook: http://j.mp/nsv97
Books at Amazon: http://j.mp/3tD9SR

Edit: The top 30 questions were voted on here, and the top 15 from there were sent to Mr. Ebert. Stay tuned for his responses. They will be in a new submission.

RIP Roger Joseph Ebert (June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013)

Comments: 982 • Responses: 11  • Date: 

insomniaclyric188 karma

For years the 'Two Thumbs Up!' slogan was seen as the litmus test for casual moviegoers who learned about upcoming movies from television ads, before the advent of the internet, and didn't want to bother hunting down a review from the local paper. How did it affect you, knowing that you and Gene Siskel wielded that kind of household-name recommendation which could easily make or break a theatrical release and the careers of those involved?

edit: removed the follow-up question, as it is now another post.

MercurialMadnessMan42 karma

Please move your second question to a new comment. Sorry for the hassle.

PSteak163 karma

[deleted]

MercurialMadnessMan28 karma

That's a very good point :(
I wish you commented sooner!

MercurialMadnessMan60 karma

Vote in this thread on how you would like his responses presented:

MercurialMadnessMan229 karma

  • Making a new submission with all the Questions and Answers

dclowd990163 karma

How about in a movie!?

"In a world where bad movies run rampant, one man... has thumbs.

HYPERZOOMING TEXT

GET

READY

FOR

THE

RIDE

OF

YOUR

LIFE

EXPLODE!

A little girl runs up to the camera in a dystopian cityscape. She has a tattered doll in her hand and tears streaming down her disheveled face, staring distantly beyond the camera's view. She cries: "DAAAADDDDDDDDDY!"

EXPLODE!

EBERT PRESENTS

AN EBERT PRESENTATION

"REDDIT: THE QUESTION CHRONICLES"

WINTER 2009

MercurialMadnessMan22 karma

If someone actually makes this in After Effects... I will piss myself in tears of awesome.

refuch41 karma

video

MercurialMadnessMan25 karma

I'll ask him, but don't get your hopes up.

MercurialMadnessMan22 karma

Currently, he talks using a computerized voice system. He initially chose to use a voice with a British accent that he named "Lawrence", but now primarily uses a high quality voice with an American accent included with Mac OS X named "Alex."

Wow, I really had no idea.

j-mar9 karma

ALL HAIL [F,S,M]!!!

MercurialMadnessMan3 karma

o/

MercurialMadnessMan7 karma

I just want to make sure I'm sorting this how you guys want. Vote below:

edit: new option added (t=642 comments). poll restarted

MercurialMadnessMan13 karma

  • Top 30 questions by score, voted in another submission to determine top 10

MercurialMadnessMan8 karma

  • Top 10 comments based on the 'best' algorithm coded by Randall Monroe