As many note, his reviews were a mixed bad, and his politics could be pretty obnoxious, but I think he shoved criticism in a general direction, which made a huge difference, and that is his contribution.

Another thing, I've enjoyed in reading the obits on him. These days critics are mostly judged by their slams; who can write the sharpest, funniest most devastating take down. Ebert certainly didnt hold back when he disliked a movie; he felt too passionately about the medium to give anyone who used it a free pass. But his was never the gleeful hachet job....Perhaps the only critic around these days whose best quotes would not be from their slams.

Couldnt agree more. He's directed the backlash twitteratis to a target they will look nothing but pathetic attacking.

Thats a beautiful reflection James.  I truly feel as though something great has vanished from this world.  Not just in his great accomplishments, but in every day he abided as the most famous man on the planet, abstaining utterly from the celebrity culture, he quietly set down a challenge for all to aspire to.  

My reflections I posted here:  http://rushfieldbabylon.com/post/30229378585/there-have-been-two-great-epic-scale-adventures-of

That is fine. I like Rushfiekd better.

Julia Louis Dreyfus' comic skills are absolutely unquestionable.  I could watch her read Craigslist.  And Veep is funnier than Craigslist.

Forever will remain the one person in my life who did not understand the concept of fear.  No one ever told him he wasn't allowed to be a journalist, or he wasn't allowed to take on establishment icons all by himself so he just went and did it. The more people told him that he was crazy or out of line for having the beliefs he did, the more he loved to make them look at the limits of their own thinking.  And how much fun he had doing it..talking to anyone about the things he felt passionate about; whether it was someone with him or against him, he just lit up with joy every single time.
It's just impossible to believe that such a spirit is just like that, gone.  So devastated for Susie and the kids. But his courage will always be the standard for me, that memory will never ever die.

I wouldn't get your hopes up for Hollywood coming around on Mrs. Thatcher.  There's a biopic on her starring Meryl Streep coming out at the end of the year that is sure to be much more in the spirit of Oliver Stone's Nixon than Henry King's heroic Wilson! 
Very few critics have seen The Iron Lady yet, but here's a little taste from one who has:

she (Streep) digs even deeper, revealing the tragic vulnerabilities of a woman who pretended publicly not to have any. We see her in old age battling dementia and the ghost of her doting husband Dennis who won't quit haunting her. That means we see her age dramatically – complete with an impressive makeup job that makes her look pale and withered in her 80s. 

Brace yourself for the Hollywood version still to come.

The sad thing for me in the comedy world of today is how many of the people who do not come from the Lampoon world fall into that voice, Fey being chief among them.  There are some other vital alternate routes into comedy - Second City, UCB - for instance that are more theatricalc, less carrerist. But once get to the ranks of SNL or the "smart" sitcoms..in the Arrested Development lineage, that voice dominates all.

South Park is a truly great exception in this era. As I would argue is Beavis and Butthead which doesn't have carry hint of Harvard smarm.  Comedy is not dead, just hiding out in various corners

Precisely...that successor/predecessor thing...So easy to mix up in the heat of a post.  My apologies though

I agree with you completely on this. Im all for a cultural hierarchy that is willing to say Beethoven is better than K$sha. I mourn however, the loss of a vital center in our culture. There was a time as recently as a couple decades ago when you could say the highest rated shows on tv were the best.  That clearly has past, but what makes me sad is that with the collapse of that center, there is no conversation between the poles.  We don't have to say NCIS is the same as Mad Men, but for the media to just ignore the culture of the vast majority of Americans paints it into a corner.  If NCIS is awful, make that case. But instead they tell Americans, your pastimes are not even worthy of noting in passing.

I am in fact with you, and with the media's preferences, and those of my socioeconomic/urban demographic.  I do love Mad Men and have watched NCIS exactly once, so this was not to imply otherwise. I am however aware that I am indulging a taste that is very specific to me demo. My point was that the entertainment media in choosing one over the other, doesnt seem aware anymore that they are making that choice but seems to have forgotten that a broader culture - for better or worse - even exists.

It is interesting that the aging process does not really affect their subjects.  One issue never touched on in Spielberg's work is aging itself, let alone mortality.  It remains in both the serious and potboiler version, an 11 year old's worldview.  Not inappropriate for the official spokesman of our times.

It is absolutely true.  Modern liberalism loves the heroic ideal of fighting enemies, but sees that as belong to a distant simplistic time and today's world as much more "complex"

We should also note that William Hung after a thrilling singing career, it is reported has just gone to work for the LA County Sheriff's Dept as technical crime analyst. So maybe he was showing the solid grounding of a no nonsense conservative all along!

Many thanks and good to see our friends in the academy find time to build such impressive knowledge of the finer things in cultural life.

There's a slight cavea however - having interviewed Mr. Hung, he really does seem to believe that he gave outstanding performances and that his fan base is completely unironic.  One contestant who made it to 4th place in his season told me how when he was waiting to audition, he was terrified that he wasn't nearly good enough to win.  Sitting next to him however, was the man who later became famous for his breathtaking tuneless rendition of Let My People Go.  While the actual contender sat trembling in fear, he says his neighbor was cool as a cucumber - knowing for certain that he was going to win.