Roger Ebert (1942-2013), “The Great Movies,” 2002

Roger Ebert (1942-2013) on tour for his book “The Great Movies,” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded April 18, 2002 in the KPFA studios.

The great film critic Roger Ebert died of cancer at the age of 70 in 2013. From 1967 until his death he was the film critic of the Chicago Sun Times, and from 1975 to 2008 , first with Gene Siskel and later mostly with Richard Roeper, co-hosted film review programs first on PBS and later in syndication.

The Great Movies featured reviews of a hundred different great films and has since become a classic reference work.

At the time of the interview, Roger Ebert had turned his eye to politics, and had become a regular commentator on various television programs. In the interview, he discusses the political climate of the day, including the disputed 2000 election, and other issues, some of which have changed over the years, and others which haven’t.. Sections of the interview are also devoted to the viewing technology of twenty years ago, and a lot of that has changed.

The interview was first aired on the program Living Room on April 23, 2002. A half hour version later aired on Bookwaves. This is the first time the full interview has been heard in nearly twenty years. There are two undigitized earlier interviews with Roger Ebert, both co-hosted by Richard A. Lupoff, and one later one, in 2005, while he was on tour for The Great Movies II. A third volume was published shortly before his death. All the reviews can now be found at rogerebert.com

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