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Monday, January 16, 2012
IN MEMORIAM
Rossiter Drake, A Fine Film Critic, And A Far Better Man
Where Rossiter Drake will now watch movies from. He loved his aisle seat.
Omar P.L. Moore
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
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Monday,
January 16, 2012
Rossiter "Ross" Drake. Well. I am shocked. Ross Drake, a young
man in his 30s or was it early 40s (?) passed away over the weekend. I
learned of the sad news less than two hours before I finished writing this.
I can't believe he's no longer here. How could he leave so soon? And
who gave him permission to leave us here without him?
I'd like to say that I knew Ross Drake, a fine film critic for numerous
publications including the San Francisco Examiner
and San Francisco 7X7 Magazine. Ross was also a member of the
San
Francisco Film Critics Circle, and as a fellow member I can truly say
that it was a pleasure to see him be part of the group. I knew Ross quite
well. He lived in Oakland, California.
I had many conversations with Ross. He was always kind, respectful and
most of all opinionated and honest. Those last two qualities are the ones
I respected the most about him. He was generous and had a smile and a wry
joke or two to tell.
Ross loved movies. Did he ever love movies!
Though I disagreed with some of his choices ("Where The Wild Things Are" was his
best film of 2009, and he "absolutely loved" Steven Spielberg's "War Horse", his
best film of 2011 -- and I didn't), we almost always saw eye to eye on most
other films that we discussed.
Of one critic's opinion about a film, Ross once said to me: "I would never say
that [the critic's name] is wrong for an opinion of a film, but that's
as close to wrong as you can get."
This is the Ross I remember. He was funny and forthright. He was a
hard working man. You always knew where you stood with him, something I
like very much in people. Ross would never shine you on. He was a
genuine man. And he loved his aisle seat.
(Just last Friday on
Twitter, Ross made this wry observation about
Radiohead: "The announcement of a new Radiohead show just isn't as exciting as
it used to be.")
I remember that Ross had gushed effusively about
"Hugo"
last November.
"Loved it. I have a feeling you will, too. Lemme know what you
think, in any case," Ross once wrote me in an e-mail.
And he was correct about his feeling. I admired Martin Scorsese's film.
Ross was from the east coast of the U.S., specifically Massachusetts. He
was, like me, an avid sports fan. He loved his New England Patriots, and
I'll bet that he'll find a way to watch them if they reach the Super Bowl held
next month. (Sorry, Ross, if my New York Giants make it there, there's
some deja vu from 2008 to come.)
Ross could be seen from time to time wearing his beloved Boston Bruins hockey
team shirt, with that large "B" in the center. He wore that jersey with
pride, even more so last year, when the Bruins won the National Hockey League's
Stanley Cup. Ross was humble about the Bruins when I congratulated him on
their win.
That large "B" could stand for "big spirit", and that defined Ross. He had
a big spirit, in his own quiet way. Ross was laid back, affable,
good-natured and good-hearted. Unlike some film critics in love with their
own spotlight or consumed by ego, Ross preferred to duck down, do his thing and
leave the lights for someone else to shine in. His gentle way spoke
resoundingly for itself, and when he spoke, his honesty and directness were
plain, and refreshing.
Last October I was at the Mill Valley Film Festival and Ross was so kind as to
drive me back across the Golden Gate Bridge back into San Francisco.
During that drive -- in which he apologized about his car's messy state of
affairs -- we talked about George Clooney,
"The Ides Of
March", and many other topics. Ross often jet-set around the
country to interview the world's top filmmakers and actors, and he took it all
in stride. At that time Ross was going to get on a plane in a matter of
hours and fly across the country to New York City to interview Pedro Almodovar
for "The Skin
I Live In".
In December at a special event with
"Rango" filmmaker Gore Verbinski, Ross was
about to embark on another jet trip to interview a director. He showed up
for a few minutes at the event, then had to go. That was Ross. He
was a man on the go, a true professional, a man with a good sense of humor and a
keen eye for cinema and film criticism. He knew a bad film when he smelled
it, saw it and spit it out. He knew a great film when he saw it, and wrote
unapologetically from the heart about it.
I would sit with Ross at numerous press screenings and events, including for
"Puss In Boots" in November. I last talked to Ross at a screening of
"Mission:
Impossible 4" and last saw Ross (at least I saw the back of him) as
he was exiting a local movie theater after a screening of the forthcoming film
"Man On A Ledge" two weeks ago.
"The Iron Lady" was
his last published movie review for the San
Francisco Examiner.
I won't get to share any more movies with Ross but I know he's got plenty more
to watch now, and so much more time -- many forevers -- to enjoy them.
COPYRIGHT 2012. POPCORNREEL.COM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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