A Favorite Uncle Passes

My first memories of the 'Dynamic Duo' of Roger & Gene

must have been from about age 12 or 13. I was a hopeless

insomniac, and would watch the overnight syndicated TV shows

as one of my means of getting through the night.

And there it would be, their movie review show, with

witty yet venomous banter, intelligent speaking on the

art and history of cinema, and I was mesmerized.

I knew I was into movies as an escapist forum, but

I was only just coming to understand my love for

the knowledge of actors, directors, nuances, and so forth.

Certainly I had no one to help cultivate such interests in

Southern Podunkia, and now I had found an outlet and

an inspiration for truly experiencing film.

I was exposed to so many ideas and textures, indeed

exposed to films themselves. I was so excited by footage of

the 1986 French film, "Summer"/"The Green Ray" (Le Rayon Vert,)

that I sought out a special Saturday morning foreign film showing

in Tampa--my first foreign film, I'm sure--and was mesmerized!

Film became not just an isolated experience, but a trip into

the larger world.

On a family outing in Daytona Beach, while everyone else was

gung-ho for watching some stock racing one night, I slipped

away to a theatre I had spied with a showing of "Shy People"

(an incredible movie with Jill Clayburgh, Barbara Hershey,

and Martha Plimpton) at the age of 17, knowing where

my true heart was to be found. It was amazing, and I had been

introduced to the film by an episode of  "At The Movies."

I learned whose opinion jived with mine and whose was

the polar opposite, and either way I was able to accurately

determine which movies to avoid or rush to probably 95%

of the time. For a long time, Roger's outlook nearly identically

mirrored my own, until he seemed to swing in a different

direction. And still I enjoyed his evaluations!

But the idea of having the input, the familiarity, the connection

of these two film aficionados and critics to turn to on a

regular basis was a large part of my life, and I will always

appreciate the impact these two gents had.

Thanks for the education and the memories, Roger...

I'll see you at the movies.