Roger Ebert Reviews

“Sing Sing” is perfectly timed. Social media users are normalizing ignorance and incuriosity for clout, and characterizing anyone who is interested in art that they don’t already know they like as “pretentious” or “only pretending” to like it, essentially trying to shame others for wishing to expand their minds. The opposite mentality is represented in […]

Apple TV+’s “Palm Royale” has unfortunate timing. It’s an earnest entry in the class-striving genre, here telling the tale of Kristen Wiig’s Maxine Simmons D’ellacourt as she tries to break into high society in Palm Beach in the 1960s. But the conventions of these tales recently took a high-profile battering with the breakout popularity of

Last night, MGM+ premiered the first chapter of its two-part documentary “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon.” (Part Two airs this Sunday.) It’s an exhaustive look at the 82-year-old singer-songwriter’s career—or, at least, the first chunk of it, starting with his days in Simon & Garfunkel and continuing through his solo years, ending

I’ve had several conversations recently with people regarding how time has gotten weird since the pandemic. Maybe it’s because we were locked inside for so long, but some events of the last four years feel like they took place yesterday while others seem so far in the rearview mirror. I don’t think I’m alone in

BRIAN TALLERICO “The Antisocial Network: Memes to Mayhem“ “Arcadian“ “Azrael“ “Babes“ “Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie“ “Clemente“ “Dandelion“ “Desert Road“ “Dickweed“ “The Fall Guy“ “Gasoline Rainbow“ “Grand Theft Hamlet“ “The Hobby“ “I Don’t Understand You“ “I Love You Forever“ “Immaculate“ “Kryptic“ “Monkey Man“ “My Dead Friend Zoe“ “A Nice Indian Boy“ “Oddity“ “Omni Loop“ “Resynator“ “Road House“ “Roleplay“ “Secret

Bio-docs have become a staple of the film festival circuit, an easy way to get butts in seats by attracting fans of the subjects on the screen. To be honest, this genre of non-fiction filmmaking has also become glutted with lazy artistry, putting cameras down in front of interview subjects and asking them to tell

If you’re a genre nostalgic who’s looking for a romantic comedy that could’ve been made in the ‘90s or early aughts, and that features all of the comforting types (including the widowed protagonist, the dreamy lost love, the sassy, truth-telling best friend, the equally hunky potential new love and his cynical yet adoring sister) “The

The documentary sections at SXSW were very strong this year with standouts like “Roleplay,” “Grand Theft Hamlet,” and “Gasoline Rainbow,” which I expect will all find loyal fans when they leave the fest circuit. However, the documentary that could make the most waves is the most “Holy Shit” doc I’ve seen in years, the kind

There has been a growing subgenre of non-fiction films that I jokingly call “Internet Bad” movies. The worst of these feel like shallow fearmongering, playing up the fears of older viewers like a modern “Reefer Madness.” Part of the problem with this subgenre is that too many filmmakers try to paint something as complex as

Film festivals have long been a safe place for personal stories, usually independently produced passion projects for creators to explore their own interests and sometimes even their life journeys. Sometimes a film like this can almost feel too close to the creator, a case where someone not so close to the story might have offered