Film critic Roger Ebert to undergo radiation treatment

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Dan C, Aug 6, 2003.

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  1. Dan C

    Dan C Forum Fotographer Thread Starter

    Location:
    The West
    Love him or hate him, he really knows his movie history. I also think he's one of the more thoughtful and reliable critics out there.

    Fortunately it doesn't sound like a serious form of cancer. Hope he has a speedy recovery.
    Dan C

    http://www.msnbc.com/news/948930.asp?0dm=C13TL

    CHICAGO, Aug. 6 — Film critic Roger Ebert will undergo radiation treatment for cancer next month. The treatment will be for a cancerous tumor in Ebert’s salivary gland, the Chicago Sun-Times reported in its Wednesday editions.

    THE 61-YEAR-OLD critic underwent surgery twice in February 2002 for cancer in his thyroid and salivary gland.

    He said treatment for the malignant tumor will begin later this month after he returns from a family trip to France.
    “I will, however, continue to see movies, write reviews and do the ’Ebert & Roeper’ television show,” Ebert wrote Tuesday in an e-mail message to friends. “The treatments are a follow up to earlier surgery, and I look forward to a complete recovery; this is not considered to be a life-threatening form of cancer.
    “P.S. By the way, my thyroid cancer has been completely vanquished.”
    Ebert said he’s had a tumor in his salivary gland “in one form or another” for 16 years. He said the treatments will take 20 minutes a day, five days a week for eight weeks.

    Ebert has been a film critic at the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967. He won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1975, the same year he teamed up with the late Gene Siskel of the rival Chicago Tribune to launch their movie-review show.

    © 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
     
  2. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    A noted writer friend of mine had the same kind of cancer. He is fine but the down side is that he has no more saliva. It's very hard to eat solid food that way. But at least he is still with us.
     
  3. Dave D

    Dave D Done!

    Location:
    Milton, Canada
    That sucks...poor guy.
     
  4. pdenny

    pdenny 22-Year SHTV Participation Trophy Recipient

    Location:
    Hawthorne CA
    I hadn't watched the Ebert/Roeper show for quite a while until a couple of weeks ago. I was struck at how Roger had a marked drooping of the left side of his mouth, a Brian Wilson-type thing that made me wonder if he had suffered a stroke or somesuch. Anyone notice/know anything about this?
     
  5. Evan L

    Evan L Beatologist

    Location:
    Vermont
    I imagine you would have to drink water with each mouthful. But, it's good Roger is going to continue to remain with us. I miss Gene Siskel, they worked well together. "Ebert & Roeper" just isn't the same....

    Evan
     
  6. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    I wish him well...He's one of the "good" critics! I always enjoyed his reviews and such.:) And I too miss Gene Siskel, they were a great pair!
     
  7. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    I have. But he hasn't been quite the same, physically, for several years. I remember, after Gene Siskel died(of a brain tumor), Ebert had lost a little weight, but then, more recently, seemed to have gained some of it back.

    I'll never forget watching, week after week, Siskel's gallantry. Even in the hospital--by phone!--he did his reviews for a while, until he could come back, but you could tell he wasn't well. I was really surprised when Ebert finally picked Roeper, of all people, someone without any real experience reviewing cinema. One of our local critics in Boston had been offered the gig but she turned it down.

    Although Ebert is pretty good when he likes a film, he has some quirky, bizarre dislikes that undercut his credibility, not least his endless dissing of BLUE VELVET and BLADE RUNNER, to name just two examples. Yet his overview of DARK CITY is so overwhelming and insightful, it's easy to forgive his occasional flubs.


    ED:cool:
     
  8. Pinknik

    Pinknik Senior Member

    My only problem with his view on BLADE RUNNER is that he gave it a thumbs down, praising its visual style while criticizing its story (both valid points) while giving a thumbs up to THE PHANTOM MENACE while praising its visual style and criticizing its story. BLADE RUNNER is the better film. Thread crap said, I wish him all the best.
     
  9. Matt

    Matt New Member

    Location:
    Illinois
    Yeah, Ebert does have somne serious lapses in taste, and I remember Siskel would never make him forget it. He gave "Cop and a Half" a three and a half stars and a thumbs up. I'm talking about the Burt Reynolds buddy-cop movie where he's paired up with a little Afro-American kid, who couldn't have been more than six or seven years old. Ebert was the only guy anywhere who liked it (it was a huge bomb with the public, obviously), and Siskel brought that up a lot. Off camera, he would send faked autographed photos of the kid to Ebert.

    The year Home Alone 3 came out, Siskel even took time in his year-end "Top 10" column to point out that Ebert gave Home Alone 3 a good rating. He just tacked that on at the very end. From one perspective, it can seem real childish to do all this, but it's still hilarious.
     
  10. reechie

    reechie Senior Member

    Location:
    Baltimore
    It's related to a February surgery he had for the salivary gland problem:

    http://www.suntimes.com/output/feder/cst-fin-feder06.html

    "Since the start of the year, Ebert has undergone a physical transformation clearly evident to viewers of his syndicated show and his local movie reviews on WLS-Channel 7. The left side of his mouth is drooping and he lost 45 pounds.

    While the facial problem is the temporary result of his last surgery, the weight loss was strictly the result of his adherence to the Pritikin Program diet and the 10,000-Step-A-Day exercise program. "I can account for every pound I've lost," he said. "Salivary tumors are not connected to weight loss.""
     
  11. pdenny

    pdenny 22-Year SHTV Participation Trophy Recipient

    Location:
    Hawthorne CA
    Thanks for that explanation, Reechie. Better than a stroke, indeed!!!
     
  12. Pinknik

    Pinknik Senior Member

    Ya know, I recently saw an old Siskel & Ebert on a tape I had lying around. I think they are entertaining enough to be in syndication even though they aren't current. Maybe a best of DVD . . .
     
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