Roger Ebert

Power
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Police brutality is a subject that never seems to leave the news. There’s too many instances, too many stories from around the country pointing to a larger abuse of state-sanctioned power. Some headlines bubble up to national attention, even those...
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The Importance of Connections in Ryusuke Hamaguchi Films
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There’s a moment in Ryûsuke Hamaguchi's 2018 film “Asako I & II” that radiates tenderness: Married couple Asako (Erika Karata) and Ryohei (Masahiro Higashide) have just returned home after helping at a fish market. Ryohei, exhausted, lays flat against the...
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Saving Film History One Frame at a Time: A Preview of Restored & Rediscovered Series at the Jacob Burns Film Center
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I hadn't heard of the movie before, but couldn’t take my eyes off it. I was immersed in the counterculture heyday of San Francisco. A Black Nigerian student played by Paul Eyam Nzie Okpokam explores the strange landscape, the far-out characters,...
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Bodkin
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Netflix’s new comedic thriller “Bodkin” opens with the show’s protagonist, Gilbert Power (Will Forte), stating, “When I started this podcast, I didn't expect to solve anything. I didn't expect it to change my life.” It sets up the characters' preoccupations...
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Mother of the Bride
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Over the last few years, there has been a trend of opulent destination wedding romantic comedies. Two years ago, there was "Ticket to Paradise" starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts and "Shotgun Wedding" starring Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel. Most...
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Black Twitter: A People’s History
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Black people are the architects of American culture. The hip verbiage many young people speak, the music they consume, and even the most influential art among what could be called hipsters are derived from Black people. Our distinctive perception of...
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The Beatles Were Never More Human Than in ‘Let It Be’
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For the 54 years since “Let It Be” premiered in theaters in May 1970, the documentary that chronicled what turned out to be the last studio album the Beatles released has been most notable for its absence. The Fab Four...
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Dear Tim Cook: Be a Decent Human Being and Delete this Revolting Apple Ad
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During the Super Bowl broadcast of 1984, Apple debuted one of the most innovative and spectacular commercials ever made: Ridley Scott's ad for the then-brand new MacIntosh home computer. It showed an auditorium full of lifeless human drones staring at a...
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Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
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When Rupert Wyatt's 2011 revival "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" revived a five-decade-old franchise—one that spanned books, films, TV series, and comics since the '60s—it did so with a refreshing commitment to a powerful, timeless story: simple but not...
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The Problem and the Solution: Why Palpatine from Star Wars is One of the Great Movie Villains
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George Lucas gets a lot of flak for his screenwriting, but credit must be given when due: Sheev Palpatine, the humble senator from Naboo who becomes a galactic despot in the "Star Wars" movies, is one of the great screen villains.  The narrative...
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