Roger Ebert just posted this about his efforts to recover his ability to communicate orally.   When I first heard that he lost his ability to speak, I immediately thought of Stephen Hawking’s Speak-n-Spell robot voice.

But they’ve made huge leaps forward in computer-generated speech synthesis.  Roger realized that, using professional-grade audio recordings of how his voice used to sound, some audio-engineers might be able to re-synthesize his own voice.

IN his own voice.

And that’s exactly what they’ve done: Hello, this is me speaking :: rogerebert.com :: People.

I don’t remember when it started, but sometime in the 90’s I was talking to my ex wife, Brenda.  We were discussing going to see a movie. I don’t recall which film, but I had suggested one, to which she answered that she had read a negative review about it.  I asked her who’s review she had read but she couldn’t recall.  I said, “well if it wasn’t Roger Ebert, it doesn’t matter.”

“Why, what’s so good about Roger Ebert?” she asked.

“Roger Ebert is the only man I trust.”

Incredulous, she burst out laughing.  “Really, Roger Ebert?  The fat guy with the thumbs up/thumbs down thing?  THAT’S THE ONLY MAN IN THE WHOLE WORLD THAT YOU TRUST?”

Realizing I had accidentally said “man” instead of “critic”, but not wanting to let my wife get the better of me, I pushed it further.  “Yes…Roger Ebert is the only man I trust in the whole wide world.   In fact, did you know he won a Pulitzer Prize for film criticism?”

And so that’s how it started.   It became a running joke between us in fact…how Roger Ebert was the only man I trusted and it’s stuck with me until this very day.

But it’s not just a joke.  I’ve read pretty much every review the man’s written.  My bookshelf has several volumes of Roger Ebert’s Movie Yearbook, which he has put out every year since I can remember.  I really do trust his criticism infinitely more than any other film reviewer.  The man appreciates film as a narrative art.  He holds each film up to its own standards: did this film achieve what it aspired to be?

When I first read about his battle with cancer and the complications he’s gone through since, I always have felt the fear…what happens when he isn’t there anymore?  Who will tell me whether a movie is good or not, and, more importantly, why?

And that’s the real key…WHY?   That’s what I love about Roger Ebert’s reviews…he doesn’t just tell you whether it’s good or bad…he tells you why.  And he brings you into the theater with him.  Consider this excerpt from his review of “Star Wars” in 1977:

“Every once in a while I have what I think of as an out-of-the-body experience at a movie. When the ESP people use a phrase like that, they’re referring to the sensation of the mind actually leaving the body and spiriting itself off to China or Peoria or a galaxy far, far away. When I use the phrase, I simply mean that my imagination has forgotten it is actually present in a movie theater and thinks it’s up there on the screen. In a curious sense, the events in the movie seem real, and I seem to be a part of them.”

When he wrote this review, Roger Ebert had NO CONCEPT of the depth of impact the film “Star Wars” would have.  But there it is…in black and white…Roger Ebert tells the truth.

Chris Jones from Esquire Magazine recently interviewed Roger Ebert. It is a truly intimate and personal interview…one that is difficult at times to come to terms with.  It has been nearly four years since Roger Ebert lost his lower jaw and his ability to speak.  The picture that accompanies the article is shocking.  I wrote to a friend via email: It breaks my heart a bit to see him like this

But then I read Ebert’s blog response to the Esquire article, and I realized that he’s not gone.  Roger Ebert is very much alive….perhaps even more prolific than ever.    And I’m glad he is…because he’s the only man I trust.

Thank you, Roger.

You can follow Roger Ebert’s Twitter stream here:  @ebertchicago

Thus is the central question of the film “Shall We Kiss“  (“Un baiser s’il vous plaît”).   Sometimes a kiss is just not worth the risk.   Many times it is.

This is a 2007 French  comedy with english subtitles, so immediately I hate it.  But it’s cute, in a french Woody Allen-ish sorta way.  It has some of the least sexy sex scenes I’ve ever seen, including Woody Allen’s entire body of work.   But I think that’s the point.

The “story within a story within a story” technique was clever but perhaps a bit tedious.   There’s probably nobody in it that you’ll recognize.   But the classical soundtrack was fantastic (but only if you’re into Schubert and Tchaikovsky).

Really, if you’re only going to see one French film with English subtitles this year, this is probably the one to see.   It’s playing at the Enzian this weekend…I’d check the movie website to see if it’s coming anywhere near you.  Shall We Kiss Website

Here’s what Roger Ebert had to say:  Roger Ebert “Shall We Kiss” Review

YouTube – Shall We Kiss Trailer.

There is only one man I really trust. For good, or bad, that man is Roger Ebert.

So I went to his website the other day, looking for something.

I found “Across the Universe.”

Here is one of my greatest fears:   someone writes a movie; someone gets financing and produces a movie; someone directs that movie; someone edits that movie; and the end result is distributed and seen in theaters. It all seems fine and dandy….EXCEPT IF IT WAS THE MOVIE ALREADY IN YOUR HEAD!

This movie actually pissed me off, because it is so good. If you appreciate The Beatles, you will love it instantly.  It rights everything “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (the movie…not the album) wronged.

I used to feel like I was a filmmaker, but now I feel sad and empty.  I am going to see it again…maybe I will learn something.

P.S. When the mom comes out singing “Hey Jude”, that was where I started crying.