Roger Ebert: Starting Over after cancer

Roger Ebert taught me a lot about the fine points of what made a great movie. Watching his show was a must see for movie buffs like myself.

Ravaged by cancer, Ebert refuses to stand down.

CBS News reports that he's been called America's movie critic. For more than four decades, Roger Ebert has guided our choices at the box office. His syndicated newspaper column and trademark "thumbs up/thumbs down" routine with TV partner Gene Siskel were legendary.

But now that famous voice has been silenced. "Do you remember what your last spoken words were?" asked Bowers. "No, because I didn't know they would be my last words, or I would have written something great," Ebert replied.

For the past three years, Ebert has been talking via a computer voice that speaks what he types. His lower jaw is gone, ravaged by cancer that nearly killed him. "Are you able to talk in your dreams?" Bowers asked. "Everything is fine in my dreams. I talk all I want. Life is normal," he said. "Sometimes in a dream I will remember that I can't speak, but then suddenly I can speak again."

Ebert could surely never have dreamed this storyline for his life when he began at the Chicago Sun-Times back in 1967. His elegant style and wit quickly made his movie reviews must-reads.

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Go Roger!

Boyz 'N The Hood, good parenting works

This 1991 landmark film, directed by John Singleton, is a classic in the urban inner city genre.

But, more than its gritty portrayal of life in tough streets of south central Los Angeles in the 1980s, was the depiction of a man teaching his only son about life, responsibility, and how to be a man.

The pivotal scene in my opinion, which unfortunately you won’t find in these clips, is when the character played by Cuba Godding Jr, asks to get out of the car carrying his friends who are looking to exact street revenge for the killing of his best friend.

In that one scene, all the teaching he received over his formative years from his father on how to do right instead of wrong, kicks in, and he refuses to participate in the circle of violence.

This is a powerful film and an excellent example on how to be a good parent in difficult circumstances.

John Wayne in Big Jake

It’s very hard for me to pick a favorite John Wayne film.

But Big Jake is one that I find watching more times than others. It’s not as good as The Searchers, Stagecoach or The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, it doesn’t have to be.

Wayne is such a bigger than life presence that he makes an average western film memorable. Richard Boone is also very good in this 1971 film about a grandfather, Wayne, on a quest to recover his kidnapped grand son.

Worth picking up.