Awake in the Dark

Love him or hate him, Roger Ebert changed film criticism forever. This collection, which spans the length of his career from the 1960s until his death in 2013, chronicles not just half a century of movies but also our changing world. I especially appreciate Ebert’s commitment to engage films on their own merits, judging them on the basis of what (as he understood it) the filmmakers intended to accomplish. He could be blunt and opinionated, like any good critic, but time and again I was struck most of all by his generous spirit. Sure, this is a “greatest hits” collection, but I’m gobsmacked to think he wrote most of these on daily deadlines.