A recap of the screenings and events at the 2015 Middleburg Film Festival.
The movie questionnaire and 2015 reviews of RogerEbert.com film critic Glenn Kenny.
Writer Glenn Kenny responds to our Movie Love Questionnaire.
Blake Edwards, the man who gave us Inspector Clouseau, breakfast at Tiffany's and a Perfect 10, is dead at 88. A much-loved storyteller and the writer of many of his own films, he was a bit of a performer himself. He directed 37 features and much TV, and was married for the past 41years to Julie Andrews, who was at his side when he died.
The Grand Poobah writes: "be there or be square...."(click to enlarge)
That's what some people tell me. Maybe I do. I look myself up in Metacritic, which compiles statistics comparing critics, and I find: "On average, this critic grades 8.9 points higher than other critics (0-100 point scale)." Wow. What a pushover. Part of my problem may be caused by conversion of the detested star rating system. I consider 2.5 stars to be thumbs down; they consider 62.5 to be favorable. But let's not mince words: On average, I do grade higher than other critics.
Now why do I do that? And why, as some readers have observed, did I seem to grade lower in my first 10 or 15 years on the job? I know the answer to that one. When I started, I considered 2.5 stars to be a perfectly acceptable rating for a film I rather liked in certain aspects. Then I started doing the TV show, and ran into another wacky rating system, the binary thumbs. Up or down, which is it?
Gene Siskel boiled it down: "What's the first thing people ask you? Should I see this movie? They don't want a speech on the director's career. Thumbs up--yes. Thumbs down--no." That made sense, but in the paper it had the effect of nudging a lot of films from 2.5 to three stars. There is never any doubt about giving four stars, or one star. The problem comes with the movies in the middle. Siskel once tried to get away with giving thumbs up to a 2.5 star movie, but I called him on it.
Check back for Roger Ebert's dispatches from the 58th Festival de Cannes, May 11 - 22, 2005.
Can it possibly be that time again? Can 12 months have passed since the last ceremony? Are the crowds gathering, ready to boo and hiss and sit on their hands? Then let’s bring out the 15th annual Movie Disaster Awards! May I have the envelope, please? (The one marked “Postage Due.”)
When she heard about the gladiator's cloak, Sybil Danning knew that things were not going to be great between her and Lou Ferrigno. This was on the set of 'Hercules,' in Rome, where Sybil was co-starring with the onetime Incredible Hulk.
CANNES, FRANCE - After a thorough and impartial search of the beaches, hotel lobbies and screens of the 35th annual Cannes Film Festival, I am pleased to announce my selection of the 1982 Cannes Sex Symbol of the Year. Previous winners have included Edy Williams, who rode naked atop a convertible through the old marketplace of this once sleepy little fishing village; Barbara Ferrera, who told me she would rather play a scene with a jaguar than with a man, and Bo Derek, who did not even need to attend the festival to win the honor.
CANNES, FRANCE - After a thorough and impartial search of the beaches, hotel lobbies and screens of the 35th annual Cannes Film Festival, I am pleased to announce my selection of the 1982 Cannes Sex Symbol of the Year. Previous winners have included Edy Williams, who rode naked atop a convertible through the old marketplace of this once sleepy little fishing village; Barbara Ferrera, who told me she would rather play a scene with a jaguar than with a man, and Bo Derek, who did not even need to attend the festival to win the honor.
“Kramer vs. Kramer,” the drama of a child custody fight, won nine Academy Award nominations on Monday – and so, in a surprise, did "All That Jazz," about a Broadway director’s self-destruction.
Great Movies
