Roger Ebert's Funeral Will Be Held On Monday

A funeral service will be held for beloved film critic Roger Ebert on Monday, and like his thousands of brilliant and clever reviews, it’ll be accessible to the public. The event will begin at 10 AM at Holy Name Cathedral on 730 N State Street, and seating will be limited. So, all those planning to attend are encouraged to get there early.

After a lengthy battle with cancer filled with setbacks, remissions, smiles, frowns and plenty of contemplative words, Roger finally passed away yesterday at the age of seventy. Since the sad news was first announced, tributes, like the one we did, from Ebert’s fellow writers, the entertainment industry and his readers have popped up all over the Internet.

In addition to the aforementioned funeral, a memorial will also be held on Thursday. At this point, none of the details about said event have been announced, but given the incredible shadow Ebert cast, it’s a guarantee the ceremony will be both well-attended and professional, regardless of what it specifically entails.

Over the last decade, the world of film criticism has changed quite a bit. The majority of film reviewers, including the ones who work here at Cinema Blend, wear multiple hats now. A high percentage of them also review between one and three movies a week. At his height, Ebert reviewed two hundred and fifty or three hundred movies a year. There’s something beautiful about being able to look up Ebert’s thoughts on pretty much everything released for a more than four decade stretch, and that’s one of an incredible number of reasons he will be missed.

Pop Blend’s sincerest thoughts go out to the entire Ebert family, as well as all of his co-workers at the Chicago Sun-Times.