Roger Ebert Reviews

It’s August 1980, and Jake (Blake Jenner) is driving to college. He’s a freshman pitcher on the school’s highly-rated baseball team, and he’s moving into off-campus housing with his teammates, most of whom are upperclassmen. In short order, Jake meets the guys, who razz him because he’s a freshman and he’s a pitcher—all pitchers are […]

Chaz Ebert recounts her experience at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, from cell phone usage to panels to chats with critics and correspondents also attending the fest. The famous red carpet has been cleaned, the movies on the beach have been closed, and the Cannes Film Festival for 2024 is complete. But here in France, the

In a big city, avoiding eye contact is a survival tool. Looking at the floor, looking down and to the left, a thousand-yard stare that looks straight through whoever is cramming their body into your personal space at that moment: all are necessary to maintain some level of dignity in crowded spaces. The characters in

Cate Blanchett’s searing performance in “Tár” left such an indelible impression that, for a while in late 2022/early 2023, people actually thought Lydia Tár was a real person.   She is not: The egotistical and tormented conductor is entirely fictional, the vivid creation of writer-director Todd Field. However, many passionate and dedicated female conductors exist, and director Maggie Contreras honors them with her documentary “Maestra.” Sadly, they are still very

The opening image of this movie, out of focus, seems to be of the sun, or a sun, appearing to undulate within the frame. The directorial debut of French-Senegalese filmmaker Ramata-Toulaye Sy, this is one of those pictures to which the phrase “every frame a painting” might apply. Light itself seems to be a character

When it comes to kooky, creative thrillers, Shyamalan is practically a brand. Though M. Night is the present precedent for this surname, his daughter Ishana hopes to carry the torch into the next generation, making a name for herself in a similar genre. Based on the book by A.M. Shine, “The Watchers” is Ishana Night

On stage, comedians use their words to make their audience laugh, gasp, or think—sometimes simultaneously. But what happens when a joke is used against a comedian? It’s one of the many thorny ideas Ally Pankiw’s bold feature debut “I Used to Be Funny” wrestles with over the course of its emotional story.  When we first

“Longing” is a remake of an award-winning Israeli film by the same writer/director, Savi Gabizon. It could just as well be called “Grief,” or perhaps the Portuguese term “Saudade,” sometimes described as the feeling of loss for something you never had and never will. Richard Gere plays Daniel Bloch, a never-married, very successful businessman who

I never know what to say when people tell me that they think the visual effects in an old movie are “dated.” I guess I could go with the most obvious reply, but I don’t, because it’s beside the point: “Everything looks out-of-date if you wait long enough.” (Marvel movies from the aughts are already looking a bit old-fashioned,