Haha, Ebert's definitely coming at it from a grumpy angle. OTOH, he's not talking about simply having a shared passion, but moreso about becoming totally obsessed with hobby trivia to the point of barely being able to face reality outside of those narrow confines. It's really just a case of taking fandom too far as I see it.
I also have to admit that when I was growing up, I was somewhat guilty of this kind of thing. I had trouble making small-talk, trouble talking to the opposite sex, and difficulties just hanging out and chilling with others. I turned to stuff like D&D, comics & videogames, and could relate pretty easily to people in the same boat. But I truly did use it as a way of walling off various worldly realities, using those things as a crutch until various social skills later started to improve. I have to agree with Ebert's final point though, especially if it relates to middle-aged people-- if the only thing they're able to talk about is their hobby trivia, then it pretty quickly turns in to a painful conversation IME.
Btw, "Triumph" famously does a pretty good send-up here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKT7bx-fmtk
Wow, what a killjoy. Heaven forbid you get into something so much that you know everything about it.
Also no shit it's easier to talk to someone when you have a shared interest. That isn't social ineptitude, that's just how conversations work. No matter how good your social skills, eventually you have to hit on something you enjoy talking about and your conversation partner enjoys listening to; small talk only gets you so far.
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