577 Quotes by Roger Ebert

In Hollywood, ‘under development’ means ‘all I have is the title.’

No matter what they’re charging to get in, it’s worth more to get out.

It is human nature to look away from illness. We don’t enjoy a reminder of our own fragile mortality. That’s why writing on the Internet has become a life-saver for me. My ability to think and write have not been affected. And on the Web, my real voice finds expression.

I know as a critic I’m required to have a well-armored heart. I must be a cynical wise guy to show my great sophistication. No pushover, me.

There are few lonelier sights than a good comedian being funny in a movie that doesn’t know what funny is.

I was born inside the movie of my life. The visuals were before me, the audio surrounded me, the plot unfolded inevitably but not necessarily. I don’t remember how I got into the movie, but it continues to entertain me.

Occasionally an unsuspecting innocent will stumble into a movie like this and send me an anguished postcard, asking how I could possibly give a favorable review to such trash. My stock response is Ebert’s Law, which reads: A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it.

Drama holds a mirror up to life, but needn’t reproduce it.

When a movie character is really working, we become that character. That’s what the movies offer: escapism into lives other than our own.