"Full Disclosure"
I really can't say enough about Chris Jones' remarkable profile of film critic Roger Ebert for Esquire. The piece avoids the mawkishness and pretense we usually associate with journalism in our postdeluvian age.
What Jones offers us instead is a portrait of a brilliant and decent man, ravaged by cancer and approaching the end of his life, who has found meaning and solace in the things that really matter.
Gene Siskel, we learn, once told him his middle name should be "Full Disclosure", and that was certainly true; but the fact that Ebert is still disclosing -- past the point where many would no longer want to be -- is a testament to the character of the man, and a gift for many of us who grew up seeing his familiar face, and reading the words he wrote.
So in honor of Roger, here's a segment from a 1982 edition of "Sneak Previews". It's great to see Siskel and Ebert back when their show was in its prime, and as a bonus we're treated to a couple of clips from Wayne Wang's terrific debut Chan Is Missing.
