[x]

Yes, he was liberal, but when he put that aside, which was far more than most liberal commentators, he was pretty good.

Meh ... he liked all kinds of Hollywood trash, shilled for Disney, and tried to make up for it by praising an obscure foreign film or really slamming a particularly bad domestic film.

He wanted to have it both ways, playing the populist and the elitist, and the act got annoying (at least for me) after a while. If he picked one side -- snob or slob -- I'd have felt better about him.

But I'm going to try to be nice today. I am a little worried about the whole "leave of presence" thing, though. Does that mean he's going to be haunting us?

[Borges]

He was more a slob than a snob. He got criticized for liking too many films and being too easy on pop entertainment.

[a fool in paradise]

Maybe Gene Shalit will see fit to come out of retirement, rested and ready for action.