Roger Ebert Reviews

We are pleased to offer an excerpt from the September 2022 edition of the online magazine Bright Wall/Dark Room. Their theme this month is “Time Travel,” and in addition to the excerpted essay below by Lindsey Romain on “Donnie Darko,” the new issue also features essays on “La Jetee,” Richard Linklater’s “The Before Trilogy,” “Blade Runner,” “Grease,” “Irma Vep,” “The Velvet Underground,” “Shirkers,” “Christine,” and more.  You […]

Two of the finest films receiving their U.S. release this year each provide riveting showcases for Essie Davis, the brilliant Australian actress who earned international raves for her star turn in Jennifer Kent’s 2014 modern horror classic, “The Babadook.” Davis delivers another Oscar-worthy performance in Gaysorn Thavat’s sublime directorial debut, “The Justice of Bunny King”—which

“Meet Cute,” or “Live. Date. Repeat.” as I’m calling it informally, wastes a good time machine. With the bright flash of a blue light from a tanning bed, made by New York City nail salon owner June (Deborah S. Craig), one can be transported back in time for 24 hours. There’s so much that can be

Thanks to friends and colleagues and supporters of FACETS and the movies, the 2022 Screen Gems Benefit honoring me next Wednesday, September 28th, at the Arts Club of Chicago is now sold out!  We are so appreciative. And I want you to know that you can still donate to FACETS, Chicago’s historic film screening cinematheque and educational non-profit started by the

After watching the series premiere of “The Book of Boba Fett,” my son asked me why every “Star Wars” show was set in the desert. I didn’t have a good answer for him. Of course, “The Mandalorian” sometimes went to less sandy climes, but it’s indicative of how much the Lucasfilm/Disney+ shows have looked relatively

There’s no shortage of filmmakers who have cut their teeth on music videos before pursuing feature-length films—Michael Bay, Spike Jonze, Hype Williams, David Fincher, and Autumn de Wilde to name just a few. This year’s Toronto International Film Festival hosted a conversation with a budding music video director looking to make that jump into features. Taylor Swift is

Some dispatches shape themselves around genre or theme. Some are just random assemblies of orphans that couldn’t find their way into pieces with similar film siblings. This is the latter. Daniel Goldhaber’s kinetic, riveting “How to Blow Up a Pipeline” was like nothing else I saw at TIFF. It has a gritty texture to it

Something is not right with Pearl (Mia Goth), and she’ll never understand why. She’s too set in her ways, like her need to perform on haystacks while dancing with a pitchfork, or murdering animals when no one is watching. She wants to get out of her isolated farm in 1918 Texas, and experience the love that comes

Mondays at TIFF are about the Canadian and sometimes North American premieres of films that have already launched their Oscar campaigns via Venice or Telluride. The programmers want the weekend to be focused on world premieres, but they open the door after the weekend, and this year that led to a wave of likely future