Editing Roger Ebert (section)

===Favorites===
In an essay looking back at his first 25 years as a film critic, Ebert wrote:

{{Blockquote |text=
If I had to make a generalization, I would say that many of my favorite movies are about Good People ... ''[[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]]'' is about people who do the right thing. ''[[The Third Man]]'' is about people who do the right thing and can never speak to one another as a result ... Not all good movies are about Good People. I also like movies about bad people who have a sense of humor. [[Orson Welles]], who does not play either of the good people in ''The Third Man'', has such a winning way, such witty dialogue, that for a scene or two we almost forgive him his crimes. Henry Hill, the hero of ''[[Goodfellas]]'', is not a good fella, but he has the ability to be honest with us about why he enjoyed being bad. He is not a hypocrite.}}

{{Blockquote |text=Of the other movies I love, some are simply about the joy of physical movement. When [[Gene Kelly]] splashes through ''[[Singin' in the Rain]]'', when [[Judy Garland]] follows the yellow brick road, when [[Fred Astaire]] dances on the ceiling, when [[John Wayne]] puts the reins in his teeth and gallops across the mountain meadow, there is a purity and joy that cannot be resisted. In ''[[Equinox Flower]]'', a Japanese film by the old master [[Yasujirō Ozu]], there is this sequence of shots: A room with a red teapot in the foreground. Another view of the room. The mother folding clothes. A shot down a corridor with a mother crossing it at an angle, and then a daughter crossing at the back. A reverse shot in the hallway as the arriving father is greeted by the mother and daughter. A shot as the father leaves the frame, then the mother, then the daughter. A shot as the mother and father enter the room, as in the background the daughter picks up the red pot and leaves the frame. This sequence of timed movement and cutting is as perfect as any music ever written, any dance, any poem.<ref name=Twenty-Five>{{Cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=April 11, 1992 |title=Reflections after 25 years at the movies |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]| url=https://www.rogerebert.com/roger-ebert/reflections-after-25-years-at-the-movies}}</ref>}}

Ebert credits film historian [[Donald Richie]] and the [[Hawaii International Film Festival]] for introducing him to Asian cinema through Richie's invitation to join him on the jury of the festival in 1983, which quickly became a favorite of his and would frequently attend along with Richie, lending their support to validate the festival's status as a "festival of record".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ebert |first1=Roger |title=In memory of Donald Richie |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/far-flung-correspondents/in-memory-of-donald-richie |website=rogerebert.com |date=21 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Sartin |first1=Hank |title=Mahalo Roger!: The Hawaii International Film Festival pays tribute to Roger |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/chazs-blog/mahalo-roger-the-hawaiian-international-film-festival-pays-tribute-to-roger |date=11 October 2013}}</ref> He lamented the decline of campus film societies: "There was once a time when young people made it their business to catch up on the best works by the best directors, but the death of film societies and repertory theaters put an end to that, and for today's younger filmgoers, these are not well-known names: [[Luis Buñuel| Buñuel]], [[Federico Fellini| Fellini]], [[Ingmar Bergman| Bergman]], [[John Ford| Ford]], [[Akira Kurosawa| Kurosawa]], [[Satyajit Ray| Ray]], [[Jean Renoir| Renoir]], [[David Lean|  Lean]], [[Robert Bresson| Bresson]], [[Billy Wilder| Wilder]], [[Orson Welles| Welles]]. Most people still know who [[Alfred Hitchcock| Hitchcock]] was, I guess."<ref name=Twenty-Five/>

Ebert argued for the aesthetic values of [[black-and-white photography]] and against colorization, writing:

{{Blockquote|Black-and-white movies present the deliberate absence of color. This makes them less realistic than color films (for the real world is in color). They are more dreamlike, more pure, composed of shapes and forms and movements and light and shadow. Color films can simply be illuminated. Black-and-white films have to be lighted ... Black and white is a legitimate and beautiful artistic choice in motion pictures, creating feelings and effects that cannot be obtained any other way.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=1989 |title=Why I Love Black and White |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]}}</ref>}}

He wrote: "Black-and-white (or, more accurately, silver-and-white) creates a mysterious dream state, a simpler world of form and gesture. Most people do not agree with me. They like color and think a black-and-white film is missing something. Try this. If you have wedding photographs of your parents and grandparents, chances are your parents are in color and your grandparents are in black and white. Put the two photographs side by side and consider them honestly. Your grandparents look timeless. Your parents look goofy.

The next time you buy film for your camera, buy a roll of black-and-white. Go outside at dusk, when the daylight is diffused. Stand on the side of the house away from the sunset. Shoot some natural-light closeups of a friend. Have the pictures printed big, at least 5 x 7. Ask yourself if this friend, who has always looked ordinary in every color photograph you’ve ever taken, does not suddenly, in black and white, somehow take on an aura of mystery. The same thing happens in the movies."<ref name=Twenty-Five/>

Ebert championed animation, particularly the films of [[Hayao Miyazaki]] and [[Isao Takahata]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ebert |first1=Roger |title=Japanese animation unleashes the mind |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/roger-ebert/japanese-animation-unleashes-the-mind |access-date=February 28, 2023 |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=October 7, 1999 |language=en |archive-date=August 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230815114910/https://www.rogerebert.com/roger-ebert/japanese-animation-unleashes-the-mind |url-status=live }}</ref> In his review of Miyazaki's ''[[Princess Mononoke]]'', he wrote: "I go to the movies for many reasons. Here is one of them. I want to see wondrous sights not available in the real world, in stories where myth and dreams are set free to play. Animation opens that possibility, because it is freed from gravity and the chains of the possible. Realistic films show the physical world; animation shows its essence. Animated films are not copies of 'real movies,' are not shadows of reality, but create a new existence in their own right."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=October 29, 1999 |title=Princess Mononoke |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/princess-mononoke-1999 |access-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-date=March 6, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306121035/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/princess-mononoke-1999 |url-status=live }}</ref> He concluded his review of ''[[Ratatouille (film)|Ratatouille]]'' by writing: "Every time an animated film is successful, you have to read all over again about how animation isn't 'just for children' but 'for the whole family,' and 'even for adults going on their own.' No kidding!"<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=August 30, 2007 |title=Waiter, there's a rat in my soup |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ratatouille-2007 |access-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-date=October 13, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013023850/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ratatouille-2007 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Ebert championed documentaries, notably [[Errol Morris]]'s ''[[Gates of Heaven]]'': "They say you can make a great documentary about anything, as long as you see it well enough and truly, and this film proves it. ''Gates of Heaven'', which has no connection to the unfortunate ''[[Heaven's Gate (film)|Heaven's Gate]]'', is about a couple of pet cemeteries and their owners. It was filmed in Southern California, so of course we expect a sardonic look at the peculiarities of the Moonbeam State. But then ''Gates of Heaven'' grows ever so much more complex and frightening, until at the end it is about such large issues as love, immortality, failure, and the dogged elusiveness of the American Dream."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=January 1, 1978 |title=Gates of Heaven |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/gates-of-heaven-1978 |access-date=April 19, 2023 |archive-date=April 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419192139/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/gates-of-heaven-1978 |url-status=live }}</ref> Morris credited Ebert's review with putting him on the map.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Errol Morris On Ebert & Siskel |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Zj_bAlyB0 |website=YouTube | date=July 21, 2011 |access-date=October 14, 2023 |archive-date=October 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022003223/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Zj_bAlyB0 |url-status=live }}</ref> He championed [[Michael Apted]]'s [[Up (film series)|''Up'' films]], calling them "an inspired, even noble use of the medium."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=1998 |title=The Up Documentaries |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-up-documentaries-1985 |access-date=April 22, 2023 |archive-date=April 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230422042138/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-up-documentaries-1985 |url-status=live }}</ref> Ebert concluded his review of ''[[Hoop Dreams]]'' by writing: "Many filmgoers are reluctant to see documentaries, for reasons I've never understood; the good ones are frequently more absorbing and entertaining than fiction. ''Hoop Dreams'', however, is not only documentary. It is also poetry and prose, muckraking and expose, journalism and polemic. It is one of the great moviegoing experiences of my lifetime."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=October 21, 1994 |title=Hoop Dreams |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hoop-dreams-1994 |access-date=April 19, 2023 |archive-date=April 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419192143/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hoop-dreams-1994 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{quote box|quoted = 1|If a movie can illuminate the lives of other people who share this planet with us and show us not only how different they are but, how even so, they share the same dreams and hurts, then it deserves to be called great.|source=— Ebert, 1986<ref>{{cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=October 25, 1986 |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/A-love-story-forged-in-hell |title=Sid and Nancy |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |access-date=May 31, 2020 |via=[[RogerEbert.com]] |archive-date=April 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200405191646/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/A-love-story-forged-in-hell |url-status=live }}</ref>|width=25%|align=right|style=padding:8px;|border=1px}}

Ebert said that his favorite film was ''[[Citizen Kane]]'', joking, "That's the official answer," although he preferred to emphasize it as "the most important" film. He said seeing ''The Third Man'' cemented his love of cinema: "This movie is on the altar of my love for the cinema. I saw it for the first time in a little fleabox of a theater on the Left Bank in Paris, in 1962, during my first $5 a day trip to Europe. It was so sad, so beautiful, so romantic, that it became at once a part of my own memories — as if it had happened to me."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=April 1, 1991 |title=Ten Greatest Films of All Time |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/roger-ebert/ten-greatest-films-of-all-time |access-date=July 30, 2022 |archive-date=June 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605174332/https://www.rogerebert.com/roger-ebert/ten-greatest-films-of-all-time |url-status=live }}</ref> He implied that his real favorite film was ''[[La Dolce Vita]]''.<ref name="FavoriteFilm">{{cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=September 4, 2008 |title="What's your favorite movie?" |work=Chicago Sun-Times |url=http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/09/whats_your_favorite_movie.html |url-status=dead |access-date=October 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905150448/http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/09/whats_your_favorite_movie.html |archive-date=September 5, 2008}}</ref>

His favorite actor was [[Robert Mitchum]] and his favorite actress was [[Ingrid Bergman]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tv.com/roger-ebert/person/81392/biography.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517061609/http://www.tv.com/roger-ebert/person/81392/biography.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 17, 2012 |title=Biography page for Ebert at |publisher=Tv.com |access-date=October 17, 2009}}</ref> He named [[Buster Keaton]], Yasujirō Ozu, [[Robert Altman]], [[Werner Herzog]] and [[Martin Scorsese]] as his favorite directors.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/meet-a-critic-roger-ebert/ |title=Meet a Critic: Roger Ebert |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=January 3, 2017 |archive-date=August 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830123412/http://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/meet-a-critic-roger-ebert/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He expressed his distaste for "top-10" lists, and all movie lists in general, but did make an annual list of the year's best films, joking that film critics are "required by unwritten law" to do so. He also contributed an all-time top-10 list for the decennial ''[[Sight and Sound|Sight & Sound]]'' Critics' poll in 1982, 1992, 2002 and 2012. In 1982, he chose, alphabetically, ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]'', ''[[Aguirre, the Wrath of God]]'', ''[[Bonnie and Clyde (film)|Bonnie and Clyde]]'', ''[[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]]'', ''Citizen Kane'', ''La Dolce Vita'', ''[[Notorious (1946 film)|Notorious]]'', ''[[Persona (1966 film)|Persona]]'', ''[[Taxi Driver]]'' and ''The Third Man''. In 2012, he chose ''2001: A Space Odyssey'', ''Aguirre, the Wrath of God'', ''[[Apocalypse Now]]'', ''Citizen Kane'', ''La Dolce Vita'', ''[[The General (1926 film)|The General]]'', ''[[Raging Bull]]'', ''[[Tokyo Story]]'', ''[[The Tree of Life (film)|The Tree of Life]]'' and ''[[Vertigo (film)|Vertigo]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/sightandsoundpolls/2012/voter/142 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819021224/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/sightandsoundpolls/2012/voter/142 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 19, 2012 |title=The Greatest Films Poll |author=Roger Ebert |publisher=BFI |date=September 2012 |access-date=September 12, 2012}}</ref> Several of the contributors to Ebert's website participated in a video tribute to him, featuring films that made his ''Sight & Sound'' list in 1982 and 2012.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://vimeo.com/42638994?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=6994428 |title=The Sight and Sound Film Poll: An International Tribute to Roger Ebert and His Favorite Films |last=Lee |first=Kevin B. |date=2013 |website=Vimeo.com |access-date=February 8, 2023 |archive-date=February 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206234048/https://vimeo.com/42638994?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=6994428 |url-status=live }}</ref>