Great Movies
Chaz's Journal
Two Thumbs Up to Roger Ebert and the Movies
An introduction to our month of celebrating the contributions of Roger Ebert.
An introduction to our month of celebrating the contributions of Roger Ebert.
An interview with author Barry Gifford and actor Lili Taylor about their new film, Roy's World: Barry Gifford's Chicago, directed by Rob Christopher.
A reprint of Donald Liebenson's 1995 article for The Los Angeles Times, "Thumb and Thumber: Siskel and Ebert have their digits on the pulse of the mainstream. Even Hollywood gives them a thumbs up."
An interview with Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave about her directorial effort "Sea Sorrow" and her work in "Blow-Up."
A review from the Venice Film Festival of Paolo Sorrentino's new series.
Highlights of our 2015 interviews, including Brie Larson, Bryan Cranston, Jason Segel, Lexi Alexander, Sarah Silverman, Spike Lee, Tom McCarthy, Ramin Bahrani, Paul Feig, Charlie Kaufman and much more.
The legend of Harvey Scissorhands; the controversial twist of "Homeland"; a "Lucking Out" review; the sad misogyny of "Xanth"; the NSA galls the spy-crazy French.
Sheila writes: While life can often be messy and awful, and the bombardment of bad news from around the globe is disheartening to say the least, sometimes it really helps to sit back, relax, and watch a bunch of guys working together to play "Flight of the Bumblebees" on the cliched 100 bottles of beer on the wall. This clip came out a couple of years ago and I haven't tired of it. I love the collaboration and the creativity. I love in particular the scene that isn't shown here, the one where they worked it all out.
Roger was a tireless advocate for the films he loved. Sometimes that gave a film a little boost. Sometimes his praise saved the day for a film that might have disappeared without him. Here are eight films whose fate was shaped in part by Roger's reviews.
Marie writes: It's no secret there's no love lost between myself and what I regard as London's newest blight; The Shard. That said, I also love a great view. Go here to visit a 360-degree augmented-reality panorama from the building's public observation deck while listening to the sounds of city, including wind, traffic, birds and even Big Ben.
Marie writes: When I first learned of "Royal de Luxe" I let out a squeal of pure delight and immediately began building giant puppets inside my head, trying to imagine how it would look to see a whale or dragon moving down the street..."Based in Nantes, France, the street theatre company Royal de Luxe performs around the world, primarily using gigantic, elaborate marionettes to tell stories that take place over several days and wind through entire cities. Puppeteers maneuver the huge marionettes - some as tall as 12 meters (40 ft) - through streets, parks, and waterways, performing their story along the way." - the Atlantic
(Click images to enlarge.)
Marie writes: the ever intrepid Sandy Khan recently sent me a link to ArtDaily where I discovered "Hollywood Unseen" - a new book of photographs featuring some of Hollywood's biggest stars, to published November 16, 2012."Gathered together for the first time, Hollywood Unseen presents photographs that seemingly show the 'ordinary lives' of tinseltown's biggest stars, including Rita Hayworth, Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart and Marilyn Monroe. In reality, these "candid' images were as carefully constructed and prepared as any classic portrait or scene-still. The actors and actresses were portrayed exactly as the studios wanted them to be seen, whether in swim suits or on the golf course, as golden youth or magic stars of Hollywood."You can freely view a large selection of images from the book by visiting Getty Images Gallery: Hollywood Unseen which is exhibiting them online.
(click to enlarge image)
Film festivals allow you to get way ahead on your movie viewing. At Sundance, Cannes, Telluride and Toronto you can see movies that will be released throughout the coming year and into the next. That's what Roger Ebert does every year, and here are some of the movies he's already written about for the next few months, into November....
CANNES, France – There are entries that have been liked and even loved, but the 2006 Cannes Film Festival reaches its halfway mark looking like a fairly lackluster year. Only Pedro Almodovar’s “Volver,” a high-spirited memory inspired by his childhood in La Mancha, has been embraced by critics and audiences. “Volver” means “to return,” and resembles in its exuberant nostalgia Fellini’s “Amarcord” (“I Remember”).
This is the second Great Movies book, but the titles in it are
Louis Malle, who died last week at 63, was a director whose movies caused scandal sometimes for their content, sometimes for their style, sometimes for both. The respected French filmmaker, married since 1980 to actress Candice Bergen, died Thursday at their home in Los Angeles, from lymphoma.
