What I believe is that all clear-minded people should remain two things throughout their lifetimes: Curious and teachable.

Jacques Tati is the great philosophical tinkerer of comedy, taking meticulous care to arrange his films so that they unfold in a series of revelations and effortless delights.

One of the gifts one movie lover can give another is the title of a wonderful film they have not yet discovered

I am, beneath everything else, a fan. I was fixed in this mode as a young boy and am awed by people who take the risks of performance.

All good art is about something deeper than it admits.

I am as fond of colorful language as anyone, but I try not to inflict it upon strangers. I suspect many people sense they should have better manners, and need only a nudge. In high school, I was addressed for the first time in my life as "Mister Ebert" by Stanley Hynes, an English teacher, and his formality transformed his classroom into a place where a certain courtliness prevailed.

Clint, my hero, is coming across as sad and pathetic. He didn't need to do this to himself. It's unworthy of him.