Totally two thumbs down! 

Roger Ebert, the celebrated film critic who pretty much made film criticism part of the popular culture, has passed away from complications from cancer. He was 70.

Not only was Ebert the first film critic to win a Pulitzer, he was also highly influential. He was my god back in college at Purdue University. Anyone who knew me back then had seen my treasure trove of film criticism books written by Mr. Ebert. I admire his style -- even though he hated a film, he would find a way to make his review palatable. And confession time -- I stole my one nugget of criticism from him -- as long as a movie reach its goals, it's okay. And I stand by that belief to this day.

And two years ago, he emailed me to ask for one of the pictures I used for my blog. Of course, after saying OMG 10 times, I gave him the picture. 

On his last Twitter post in his article, he said:

So on this day of reflection I say again, thank you for going on this journey with me. I'll see you at the movies.

Thank you so much Mister Roger for all the decades of inspiration. You will be missed, but we'll see you at the movies!