Roger Ebert Reviews

When I told my wife that I had to watch “An Allison Janney Action Movie” for a review this week, she was a little startled (although interested in the concept, to be fair). I’m all for unexpected casting, and the truth is that Janney has the range to do just about anything, as she’s proven […]

“Railway Children” is touching and beautifully produced, but fans of the 1906 E. Nesbit book and the 1970 film need to know that there’s only the most vestigial connection to this latest film, which barely qualifies as “inspired by.” There are children and there is a railway and someone who is unjustly accused. The most

Any art student knows the dread of sitting in front of your professors to dissect and defend your work. The opening scene of “The African Desperate” amplifies this discomfort to 11, as Palace (Diamond Stingily) sits before her four white professors as they spout critiques riddled with obtuse language.  The professors then begin a pissing contest

The films of Tyler Perry have been proving themselves critic-proof since his 2005 debut feature “Diary of a Mad Black Woman.” And yet outlets such as this one keep assigning writers to review them. Partially because it’s what they do. But he has always been a creator who demands critical interest. The populist appeal of

To call something “a real Russian movie” might be a peculiar kind of honorific in these times. But the dank, mordantly funny, thoroughly saturated, well, Russian-ness of the remarkable “Petrov’s Flu,” written and directed by Kirill Serebrennikov from an as-yet-to-be-Englished novel by Alexei Salnikov, is one of its signature qualities. It begins ordinarily enough: on

You aren’t likely to see a more rightfully angry film this year than “Athena,” a non-stop opus examining the racism, inequality, and police violence that wreak havoc on France’s banlieue communities of color. That palpable fury rages through the film’s opening sequence, one that director Romain Gavras shoots in a pronounced single take that emphasizes

Bunny King (Essie Davis) walks home after a long day squeegeeing car windshields at a busy intersection. She’s made a couple of bucks. She puts the money into a big glass jar of coins and hides it in her closet. Then she gets undressed, taking off her bra. The bra’s underwire has pierced through the

It’s a funny thing, writing about video games for a publication named after Roger Ebert, who famously claimed video games would never be as artistically worthy as movies or literature (though he famously walked back that sentiment, if only a bit, months later). I wonder what he’d think of “Immortality”—the latest from Sam Harlow, who

Every lamp and ladylike cocktail dress, every convertible and clink of a martini glass is a perfect reflection of retro chic in Olivia Wilde’s “Don’t Worry Darling.” Who wouldn’t want to live in the suburban Shangri-la of Victory, with its minimalist, mid-century modern homes and bawdy, booze-soaked dinner parties? Young, attractive families find their every

The Chicago International Film Festival—the longest running competitive film fest in North America, mind you—just announced its full line-up for this year’s 58th edition. The opening night selection is Steve James‘ “A Compassionate Spy,” and the closing film will be Noah Baumbach‘s dark comedy “White Noise.” A long list of exciting titles will play in between during the