It’s a sad, sad day, but if anything can make you smile through the tears, it’s the sight of Roger Ebert arguing with Gene Siskel over the merits of Sleepless in Seattle. “What you have to do,” notes Ebert acerbically, “is describe what it is, rather than what it isn’t, or the movie you would have made.” Siskel disapproves of director Nora Ephron’s use of songs as romantic signposts, instead of simply dramatizing the relationship on screen, while Ebert, considering the movie an homage of sorts, lets pass the threadbare plot and its contrivances in favor of what’s charming and engaging about it.

All three had cancer — Siskel died at 53, Ephron at 71, and now Ebert at 70. When Siskel took his final leave of absence, he wrote: “I’m in a hurry to get well because I don’t want Roger to get more screen time than I.” Ebert had said this week that he’d be taking a “leave of presence,” but had a multitude of plans for the future. He ended that entry: “thank you for going on this journey with me. I’ll see you at the movies.”