The Jones on Ebert

Read this today and cried I was so moved.
Just an incredible piece of writing.

 

Obviously, the little details -- a friend apologizing for eating in front of Ebert and his reply, the pain in trying to convey (through a keyboard) how much he missed Siskel, and numerous other examples -- make this piece shine.

What an incredible read.

 

Jones is the Albert Pujols of long-form narrative.

 

Wow, is all I can say.

Oh, and Jones' reporting and writing are superb.

 

I'd like to see Ebert receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom or some type of recognition - for a guy who has done what he has done, and seems to be doing it better than ever in the last 10 years - a Pulitzer doesn't seem to be enough.
I know Bush gave a Medal of Freedom to the WSJ's editorial page editor a few years back, I figure once Ebert stops writing there won't be much of a point to read a movie review anymore. Most of his reviews were better executed than the movies he was writing about.

 

The strength of this piece was Chris Jones' reporting and power of observation. A piece remarkably free of clever turns of phrase, it puts out the power of the details in a strong narrative in which the writer gets the hell out of the way (and I mean that as a strong compliment).

 

bingo

 

Speechless. What a great piece.

Fucking cancer.

 

Absolutely. I remember a thread about some Big Ten expansion column (by a writer who has helped me and others very much, so nothing personal) and how a couple clever turns of phrase justified the fact that it was all sizzle and no steak.

Give me narrative, give me something to read, any day of the week.

 

I still read Ebert whenever I can. To say he's the best movie reviewer working is the biggest understatement of the century. Brilliant writer and has never been as condescending as so many critics are.

The two critics whose opinions I seem to agree with the most are Ebert and Peter Travers.