It’s Thursday, April 25, and if you follow any of the celebrity blogs (e.g. Perez Hilton), or Huffington Post, or Salon, or Movieline, or IMDB, or….. well, surely you’ve seen the viral hit video of Tilda Swinton and Chaz Ebert having an epic dance-along all through the Virginia Theater during the final day of Ebertfest. And just in case you haven’t seen it yet–or just want to watch it again–check it out:
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/64683468 w=500&h=281]
Ebertfest 2013 Dance Along from Ebertfest on Vimeo.
I just wanted to add a couple of thoughts to this truly magical moment. One: I am SO SAD that I missed this!! Two: I’ll admit, I kind of teared up watching this happen. I mean, what could be a more fitting tribute to Roger Ebert than 1500 movie lovers reveling in each others’ company, at an event where a fervent love of movies is perhaps the only commonality among the entire crowd? Sure, some may say it was goofy. I say it was uplifting. And if that’s not true magic, I don’t know what is.
And finally–and most importantly, to me–I have to give credit to Shatterglass Studios, based right here in Champaign, IL, whose fantastic crew was EVERYWHERE in that theater, capturing more of that wonderful moment than any single person could have experienced on his own. It’s the only thing that makes me feel just a little less sad that I missed out. Oh, and since I know at least half of the guys responsible for making this, I thought I’d give them a semi-public THANK YOU. Chris, Thomas, Tim, Chris (yes, there were two!), and Luke–you guys are amazing and I’m glad to know you. Thanks to you and the rest of your crew for making and sharing this.