Chaz Ebert and the RogerEbert.com group of writers wishes you Happy Holidays!
The 10th anniversary of the Chicago edition of the traveling Noir City festival runs from August 17 to 23 at the Music Box Theatre.
An interview with director Carl Franklin, on the occasion of his film "One False Move" receiving a special presentation at Chicago's upcoming Noir City festival.
A report on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's upcoming grants banquet on August 2nd.
The best of the 2016-17 TV season in Emmy ballot form.
A video of Bill Paxton's 2001 appearance at Ebertfest, where he discussed "A Simple Plan" with Roger Ebert and composer Brian Tyler.
A tribute to the late actor and director, Bill Paxton.
An overview of the films that will be theatrically released in the 2015 fall season.
A piece on the latest and greatest new on Blu-ray and new to Netflix, including "Joe," "Fury," "The Judge," and Criterion editions of "My Winnipeg" and "The Palm Beach Story."
A recap of the new releases on Netflix, On Demand, and Blu-ray/DVD, including "Snowpiercer," "Maleficent," "Nightbreed," "F For Fake" and "La Dolce Vita."
Sheila writes: The New York Film Festival, which ended on October 14, ran a new retrospective of the films of Joseph L. Mankiewicz. In preparation, Adrian Curry (at Mubi) started searching out for cool posters of Mankiewicz's films. Curry writes: "When I started to search for posters for his films I felt a little uninspired myself and wondered whether Mankiewicz’s smart, wordy cinema didn’t really lend itself to inventive visual representation. Some of his best films, like 'The Ghost and Mrs Muir' and 'A Letter to Three Wives', had very mundane American posters. But, digging deeper, I found that there was more than meets the eye, especially among international posters for his films." Go check out the gallery of fantastic posters, one of which, the Japanese poster for "The Barefoot Contessa", is posted below.
Picks for the best of the 2013-14 television season, in the form of a Dream Emmy ballot.
Clever, fun, twisted, and wildly entertaining in the way that fans of not just "Fargo" but all of the Coens’ work hoped it would be.
Marie writes: Behold an ivy covered house in Düsseldorf, Germany and the power of plants to transform stone, brick and mortar into a hotel for millions of spiders. To view an amazing collection of such images and showcasing a variety of buildings from around the world, visit The Most Colorful Houses Engulfed in Vegetation at io9.com.
Marie writes: Intrepid club member Sandy Kahn has found another Hollywood auction and it's packed with stuff! From early publicity stills (some nudes) to famous movie props, costumes, signed scripts, storyboards, posters and memorabilia...
When I watched "The Ides of March" (2011) early in this year, it took me back to my memories with Mike Nichols' "Primary Colors" (1998), which already told us almost everything the former wanted to tell. When I watched it in 1999, it looked like a sarcastic story inspired by Bill Clinton's first presidential election campaign in 1992, but now the movie looks more like a timeless political comedy drama which understands a lot about how politicians alternatively dazzle and disappoint us with their better and worse sides.
On Netflix Instant
Robert Duvall's "The Apostle" (1997) is the story of a preacher who believes he has unique permission to phone call the Divine. As is the case with such preachers, the rules of goodness and morality seem to apply to everyone else before they apply to him. Meaning, he is above the law until he gets frightened for breaking the law. So, his combination of impious exhilaration, impatient devotion, and self-righteous rage reveals a man in sunglasses, open palms, and fiery sermons, who plants trees while burning bridges. I love this movie as much as I despise its central character. This movie exists only because of its central character.