Roger Ebert's Twitter feed is the stuff of legend to those in the know. People all over the world are discovering and re-discovering Roger Ebert and his body of critical work because of his smart and honest contributions to Twitter. Sure, he covers movie questions and answers, some insider and industry stuff, but Ebert is at his Twitter-best when he goes off track, when he talks about something like Rahm Emanuel's mayoral campaign in Chicago or Lance Armstrong's retirement(s).

Film industry Twitter feeds are a lot like the film industry itself--95% of what they produce is shallow or unpleasant or unviewable. But like the pursuit of your next great movie, finding an awesome Twitter feed like Ebert's is addictive. Now that I've stumbled on Ebert's social media genius, I find myself looking through the ranks of Twitter celebs, hoping to find another diamond in the rough. Nothing so far, I'll let you know.

Ebert (known as ebertchicago on Twitter) has a way with words that lends itself to the character limits imposed by his medium. His tweet following the 2011 Oscars summed up the reaction of the general public and came out poignant all at once:

"I'm old. I knew so many of the people in the Memoriam segment when they were young and filled with excitement. So was I."

That statement there, "So was I". That's what does it. Ebert could be talking about so many things here, and it seems like he's hinting that he feels like he's at the end of his run, both corporeally and critically. Look at all the past tense in that tweet--"were" and "was". Roger Ebert is making the perfect comment on 2011's drab Oscars and on life in 2011 in general. We feel old, boring, tired.

This is what Twitter can be for fans of movies. Movie critic interviews, for all their length and journalistic integrity, are usually about as interesting to pick through as a box of hair. Critics are a long-winded bunch by nature, critics of any art are that way. To restrict yourself to Twitter's notoriously-dense character count is as brave as it is fascinating.

If you don't currently read Ebert's Twitter feed (and nearly 375,000 of you appear to read it just about every day) and you call yourself a movie fan, for shame. Ebert is doing some of the best critical writing of his life, and he's doing it in less than 145 letters.