Roger that

In theaters Friday: Evil Dead, The Company You Keep, Trance

On Blu-ray Tuesday: John Dies at the End

In ancient Rome, the thumbs of the crowd decided a gladiator’s fate. Contrary to later Hollywood tradition, thumbs down signaled the victor to shield his sword. Thumbs up meant, “Go on, off with his head!”

Fewer appendages were as universally famous and powerful as the thumb wielded by Roger Ebert the Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago Sun-Times movie critic, who along with his television co-host Gene Siskel (who passed away in 1999) popularized and trademarked “Two thumbs up,” and became the modern pulse of movie quality—a trustworthy icon in his own right.

They say no one builds statues for critics. But if they did, Ebert would come closest to receiving one. In fact, his name and star are on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Two days after announcing a leave of absence, Ebert died on April 4 at the age of 70.

For more than 45 years, Ebert was a master sleuth of cinema, cutting through the marketing, the hype, the glitz, the schlock or the pretension surrounding a release and straight to the heart of the story and the craft of the picture. In doing so he handed audiences a deceptively simple, cogent and concise take on a movie. Is this worth your time? Does it have something to say?

No matter the stars, the director or the genre, Ebert always shot us straight. High-brow or low-brow, he would take on any film. He wrote for his audience, not for himself. He was critical without being cruel (Rex Reed take note!), excitable and engaging without ever being a gushing fanboy. Never had a critic been so endearing. And after surgical complications due to thyroid cancer left him speechless in 2006, his printed reviews, blogs and tweets gained an even greater following online.

In 2010, Chris Jones profiled Ebert for Esquire. It remains one of the most powerful portraits ever printed in that publication. Yesterday, The Onion was heartfelt and savvy with this brief ode.

Apparently, Ebert’s final online review was for Stephenie Meyer’s The Host, and it is not too favorable of a take on the sci-fi drama filmed largely in and around Baton Rouge. Dozens of classic Ebert clips are available on YouTube, but since Jurassic Park has returned to theaters this week in a new 3D version, below is a great clip of Siskel and Ebert’s original 1993 review in which Ebert decries the surprising lack of awe in the dinosaur adventure: