roger ebert


Hosting aliens: Meyer flick invades Published on Apr 11th, 2013 0 comments Stephenie Meyer, whose books inspired the Twilight movies, now presents a new way for true love to struggle against itself. In the Twilight world, characters were invited to become vampires to share...
Beauty in age: 'Amour' charms its audience Published on Jan 18th, 2013 0 comments "Old age ain't no place for sissies," Bette Davis is said to have said, and the longer age lasts, the less of a sissy you can be. The opening shot of Amour, Michael Haneke's new film, shows...
Zero Dark flashy: Bin Laden movie intrigues, doesn't illuminate Published on Jan 4th, 2013 0 comments Osama bin Laden is dead, which everybody knows, and the principal facts leading up to that are also well-known. The decision to market "Zero Dark Thirty as a thriller therefore takes a certain...
Ebert's picks: Tigers, beasts, heroes, and therapists compete early for Hollywood's biggest prizes Published on Dec 18th, 2012 0 comments With the 2013 Oscarcast moved up to February 24, movie fans are already in a lather over the possible nominees, especially since again this year there can be "up to" 10 finalists in the best picture...
Too much Karenina: New adaptation upstages the tale Published on Dec 4th, 2012 2 comments Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary are two of the most notorious fallen women in literature. Karenina is prepared to lose all the advantages of high society in favor of the man she loves. Bovary...
Life of Pi: Ang Lee films the unfilmable; poetic idealism triumphs Published on Nov 27th, 2012 1 comments Ang Lee's "Life of Pi" is a miraculous achievement of storytelling and a landmark of visual mastery. Inspired by a worldwide best-seller that many readers must have assumed was unfilmable, it is a...
Farewell, stereotypes: Queen movie reveals same-sex desires and class issues Published on Nov 13th, 2012 0 comments "Farewell, My Queen" begins early in the day of July 14, 1789, at the royal palace of Versailles. It was not yet a date fraught with destiny. In the rat-swarming servants' quarters, a young woman...
Free Ralph: Fresh premise for new Disney flick Published on Nov 7th, 2012 0 comments "Wreck-It Ralph," the latest Disney animated feature for families, begins with a creative brainstorm: The movie occurs mostly inside the worlds of several arcade-style video games, providing an...
In the clouds: Cloud Atlas confounds and delights Published on Nov 1st, 2012 0 comments Even as I was watching Cloud Atlas the first time, I knew I would need to see it again. Now that I've seen it the second time, I know I'd like to see it a third time — but I no longer believe...
Masterfully empty: Star-studded cast fizzles Published on Sep 26th, 2012 0 comments Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" is fabulously well-acted and crafted, but when I reach for it, my hand closes on air. It has rich material and isn't clear what it thinks about it. It has two...
No happiness: Close brings out Albert's sad little life Published on Feb 15th, 2012 0 comments I know a novel that begins: "This is the saddest story I've ever heard." Now here is one of the saddest movies I have ever seen. It is sad because a woman has chosen to lead her life in a way that is...
Relentless: Winter terror comes with fangs Published on Feb 8th, 2012 1 comments "The Grey" is an unrelenting demonstration that wolves have no opinion. When they attack, it's not personal. They've spent untold millennia learning how to survive, naked and without weapons, in...
Indomitable: Soul Surfer inspirational, but realistic? Published on Apr 14th, 2011 0 comments Soul Surfer is based on the true story of Bethany Hamilton, a champion surfer who in her early teens was attacked by a shark and lost almost all her left arm. One month later, she was back on a...
Gothic romance: New 'Jane Eyre' gloomily compelling Published on Mar 30th, 2011 0 comments Gothic romance attracts us with a deep, tidal force. Part of its appeal is the sense of ungovernable eroticism squirming to escape from just beneath the surface. Its chaste heroines and dark,...
Derivative: 'Number Four' flawed in countless ways Published on Mar 3rd, 2011 2 comments I Am Number Four is shameless and unnecessary. That's sad, when a movie casts aside all shame, demonstrates itself willing to rip off anything that might attract audiences, and nevertheless fails....
Un-conventional: "Cedar Rapids" sinfully sweet Published on Feb 23rd, 2011 1 comments You are making the mistake of thinking of Cedar Rapids as a small town. In Cedar Rapids, a sweet comedy with a dirty mind, it is the metropolis, a sinkhole of sex, sin and high living at an annual...
Don't go with it: Sandler-Aniston vehicle runs out of gas Published on Feb 16th, 2011 0 comments The people in this movie are dumber than a box of Tinkertoys. One fears they're so unfortunate it's not politically correct to laugh at them. That's not a problem because Just Go With It is so rarely...
Watered down: Sanctum could cave Cameron's reputation Published on Feb 9th, 2011 1 comments Sanctum tells the story of a terrifying adventure in an incompetent way. Some of it is exciting, the ending is involving, and all of it is a poster child for the horrors of 3D used wrongly. The film...
Roger & Me: Seeing films through the master's eyes Published on Nov 1st, 2007 0 comments Ebert discusses Citizen Kane at the Jefferson Theater in 1992. FILE PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER Filmmakers and film lovers are flooding into Charlottesville, and the Virginia Film Festival will...
All wet: Ebert wades into water crisis Published on Oct 24th, 2002 0 comments Since Charlottesville is locked in a major drought, we decided to ask Roger Ebert what he thought about the substance around which this Festival was organized. "Water," Ebert says, "will be the most...