Today Roger Ebert passed after a long battle with cancer, a shock to those of us who have loved and admired his work for so long. This week, he stepped down from his post as the lead film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, citing a “Leave of Presence.” He promised to still review films, focusing only on the ones he really wanted to cover. Roger Ebert wasn’t going away; he was just scaling back his work to focus on his health.

Even if we never got those promised extra years with Roger Ebert, his legacy lived on in the passion of his craft. Ebert lovers know that few reviews are quite as passionate as the films he despised, which he was famous for taking to task. Even when I didn’t agree with him, I always adored his inexhaustible wit. He wrote his reviews as he lived his life: fearlessly.

In his memory, these are forty of his most scathing blurbs. Like Ebert, they belong to the ages.

1. A Lot Like Love (2005):

“Judging by their dialogue, Oliver and Emily have never read a book or a newspaper, seen a movie, watched TV, had an idea, carried on an interesting conversation or ever thought much about anything. The movie thinks they are cute and funny, which is embarrassing, like your uncle who won’t stop with the golf jokes.”

2. Americathon (1979):

“If you plan to miss this movie, better miss it quickly; I doubt if it’ll be around to miss for long.”