Roger Ebert

What You Do is Who You Are: Irena’s Vow Screenwriter Dan Gordon on Telling the Story of a Teenager Who Saved Jews During the Holocaust
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You might not expect the passion project of the writer who brought us “Rambo: First Blood,” “Highlander,” and the action comedy “Gotcha!” would be the story of a Polish teenager who hid a small group of Jews from the Nazis....
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Chicago Critics Film Festival Announces Full 2024 Lineup with Sing Sing, Ghostlight, Babes, I Saw the TV Glow, More
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The Chicago Critics Film Festival announced its 11th Annual lineup this morning, featuring over two dozen Chicago premieres, over a dozen special guests, and anniversary screenings of “Little Women,” “Bringing Out the Dead,” and “Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.”...
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Irena’s Vow
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Sophie Nélisse brings powerful subtlety to the title role in “Irena’s Vow,” accomplishing so much with her eyes, her presence, her ability to shift demeanor and tone quickly depending on the situation.  Director Louise Archambault tells the inspiring true story...
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An Incorrect Image Of Ourselves: Mike Flanagan on Oculus’ Tenth Anniversary
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A ten-year anniversary might not sound like a great milestone; it can feel a lot longer when you consider how much has happened since then. Last week, prolific showrunner and filmmaker Mike Flanagan attended a screening of “Oculus,” his ten-year-old...
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Ned Benson, Lucy Boynton, and Justin H. Min Want to Play The Greatest Hits for You
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The power of music to transport a listener back to a particular time and place is explored to its literal extreme (garnished with a sci-fi twist) in Ned Benson’s “The Greatest Hits.” The film tells the story of Harriet (Lucy...
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Sweet Dreams
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A strange and memorable but not entirely successful film, "Sweet Dreams" turns colonialism into a source of pitch-black slapstick comedy.  Written and directed by Ena Sendijarević, the film is set in 1900 on a small and obscure Indonesian island, where a sugar plantation baron...
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Challengers
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Luca Guadagino directs “Challengers,” a time-shifting drama about a love triangle between tennis pros, as if he’s a top-seeded player so ruthlessly focused on winning Wimbledon that he’d run over his grandmother if she got between him and the stadium....
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Until It’s Too Late: Bertrand Bonello on The Beast
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Not adapted so much as vertiginously extrapolated from a Henry James novella, Bertrand Bonello’s audacious “The Beast” is a hypnotic and destabilizing vision of a past, present, and future in which two star-crossed lovers struggle to connect in the face...
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LaRoy, Texas
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“LaRoy, Texas” immediately tests your expectations. Driving down a dark dirt country road, Harry (Dylan Baker), whose car headlights are the only beacons of life amid the barren clime, passes a broken-down truck parked off-road. A few yards later, Harry...
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Disappear Completely
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The truly impressive slice of nightmare fuel, “Disappear Completely,” premiering on Netflix today after a successful fest circuit run that included Fantastic Fest, almost feels like John Carpenter or Wes Craven’s “Nightcrawler.” Yeah, horror fans out there have probably already stopped...
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