Roger Ebert Reviews

Over two decades ago, when I had a big job at a big glossy magazine, my boss, the guy who hired me, got fired, and a new editor-in-chief was installed. I was sad and also mildly terrified. Largely because I was just like that whenever I was in a straight job situation—convinced that without my […]

When do you know a relationship is real? Is it when you exchange glances that last a little too long so you can stare into each other’s eyes? Is it when you can’t stop talking to each other? Is it when you two do something together that feels more special than usual? Or is it

The great Helmut Berger has left us. He was the beautiful face of a cinema of death and decay, the impossible beauty of the European cinema of the ’70s. His proper debut was split between a legendary drag performance for his partner Luchino Visconti‘s “The Damned,” a haunting study of a Germany moving headlong into fascism,

As the old joke goes, a tourist asked a New Yorker how do you get to Carnegie Hall. And the answer was: Practice! Practice! Practice! The artists and musicians scheduled to perform on Saturday, June 3rd, have indeed practiced, practiced and had more practice. And as I am proud of all emerging artists in any field that

My esteemed colleague Christy Lemire opened her review of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” with a quote from her nine-year-old asking if he could see it again, so I think there’s some synergy in quoting my nine-year-old to open this one: “That might be the best movie I’ve ever seen.” “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” explodes onto

One of the buzziest titles at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was A24’s “Past Lives,” the directorial debut of playwright Celine Song. Attending a packed screening with a row of Chicago-based critics was a highlight of the festival for me. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when Song’s tender, melancholic, and unusually wise

Tim Robinson’s style of CAPS LOCK COMEDY has done it again in creating a series of jokes that will make people laugh hard, scratch their heads, and/or incorporate them into inside jokes they share with their friends. (If you love “I Think You Should Leave,” that’s part of its love language.) The main headline is

“Return of the Jedi” celebrated its ruby anniversary this May and received a limited theatrical release. Even after four decades, the more things change, the more things stay the same. Just like in 1983, you can go to a store and pick up a Death Star-full of merchandise, including special reissues of the original action figures.

Molly Manning Walker’s confident, vivid, and emotionally charged feature debut “How to Have Sex” emerged as an early word-of-mouth breakout at Cannes even before it won a top prize from the festival’s Un Certain Regard section. Following three 16-year-old best friends on a post-exam group holiday to Crete, the film—which was acquired by MUBI out

It may be symptomatic of a very busy festival schedule over the last several months, the aging process wreaking havoc on my stamina, or the fact that there were far more films over three hours this year than usual, but I’m more exhausted after Cannes 2023 than I have ever been at its conclusion. Cinema