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The four of us were at McCoy’s Public House in Kansas City on our annual guy/baseball trip, deep in a philosophical conversation on the merits of assorted movies. Beer was present.

I mentioned that Roger Ebert was my favorite reviewer.

Oh, no, the other guys said, we don’t like what he likes.

That’s beside the point, I said. I don’t always like what he likes, either, but I almost always like how he writes about what he does or doesn’t like. I went on to defend him rather too vehemently, which I attribute, in that particular instance, to an accumulation of Landing Light Lagers.

I was reminded of my defense recently when I came across this line in a review Ebert wrote: “Wherever you live, when this film opens, it will be the best film in town.”

He was writing about “Goodbye Solo,” which I haven’t seen, but which I made a note not to miss. And that’s the kind of thing I mean about Ebert.

Here’s another example, about a movie he doesn’t like too much: “‘Fast & Furious’ is exactly and precisely what you'd expect. Nothing more, unfortunately.”

And another, about one he does, “W.”: “This is the tragedy of a victim of the Peter Principle. Wounded by his father's disapproval and preference for his brother Jeb, the movie argues, George W. Bush rose and rose until he was finally powerful enough to stain his family's legacy.”

I admire his ability to educate and to express his views whether positive or negative. Sometimes he’s effusive in his praise. Other times he’s not. Here he is on “North”: “I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it.”

As you might imagine, you can find that review on his list of most-hated movies. And upon that point, comes an area of disagreement for me.

As it happens, the all-time favorite guy/baseball trip movie is “Joe Dirt.”

As it further happens, “Joe Dirt” leads the Ebert list of most-hated movies, comedy category. But that’s O.K. with me.

Ebert’s good even when he’s wrong. And you can’t say that about everybody.