Roger Ebert

A Great Movie Year Deserved a Better Oscars
||
When judging whether a particular year’s Oscars are “good” or “bad,” you should break down your response into separate criteria. Were you happy with what won? Did you like the speeches? Were there memorable unscripted moments? How was the host?...
continue reading
SXSW Film Festival 2024: Babes, My Dead Friend Zoe, Y2K
||
The first full day of features at the Paramount (after Opening night premieres of “Road House” and Netflix’s “3 Body Problem—and an AM preview of new episodes of “Hacks”) felt like a purposeful attempt by the programmers to offer escape....
continue reading
True/False 2024: Coming Home Again
||
True/False is a rare gem. As a critic based in Chicago—whether it’s Cannes, Karlovy Vary, Sundance, SXSW, NYFF, or TIFF—I’m always venturing out of the Midwest to a festival in another region or another country. But no matter who I’ve...
continue reading
True/False 2024: Ibelin, Alien Island, Yintah
||
Usually, I make it a rule to not rewatch films at festivals; When my time on the ground is so limited, I would rather discover a new title rather than re-explore (in fact, the only time I’ve ever rewatched any...
continue reading
True/False 2024: A Photographic Memory, There Was There Was Not, Three Promises
||
Like many festivals and observers, True/False, the preeminent nonfiction film festival in Columbia, Missouri, has had displacement on its mind while considering a central question: How do we hold onto what once was? For many filmmakers, the preservation of memories,...
continue reading
Road House
||
“Road House” likes to explicitly reference that it thinks it’s a Western. It’s more like a cartoon. While that may sound harsh, some of the Looney Tunes-esque qualities of this reimagining of the 1989 Patrick Swayze classic work in its...
continue reading
Netflix Launches Ambitious, Engaging Adaptation of 3 Body Problem
||
If you’ve been missing the mind f*ck properties of HBO’s “Westworld,” Netflix has a show for you. You know that feeling that so many streaming shows sag due to having too few ideas for their episode order? What’s the opposite...
continue reading
Stormy
||
Opening night at the 2024 South by Southwest Film Festival may have been dominated by Doug Liman’s remake of “Road House,” but there was a major event unfolding just next door at almost the same time, a major stop on...
continue reading
Give a FECK!: Chaz Ebert on Her New Book About Forgiveness, Empathy, Compassion and Kindness
||
It’s Time to Give a FECK: Elevating Humanity through Forgiveness, Empathy, Compassion, and Kindness, launching on May 7, 2024, is a book by Chaz Ebert, publisher of RogerEbert.com. In it, she combines personal stories, academic research, news events, and practical steps, and warm...
continue reading
The Bikeriders, a Motorcycle Club Film, Highlights a Positive Woman’s Role
||
When selecting movies to screen at the 50th Telluride Film Festival this past August, “The Bikeriders” by director/writer Jeff Nichols was making its premiere. Not only the stellar cast of Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, and Michael Shannon captured...
continue reading