Posted on April 23, 2014 at 3:59 pm
I’ll be at Ebertfest through Sunday and will update when I can. Tonight I’ll be at the opening event, a screening of “Life Itself,” the crowd-funded documentary about festival founder, Roger Ebert.
Posted on March 14, 2014 at 3:57 pm
Happ Pi day! (3-14) And happy Pie Day (for me, that’s every day). I love the list of pie movies my friend and fellow Ebert-ite Jana Monji brought together and Chaz Ebert published on rogerebert.com. Here are two of my favorites.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U104DXEYHbA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cQ0WwcKCLk
Posted on January 12, 2014 at 2:10 pm
My friend Chaz Ebert is profiled in today’s Chicago Tribune as she prepares to go to the Sundance Film Festival for the first time since Roger’s death last April. This time, she is not going as the wife of a critic. She is attending on behalf of the new documentary about Roger, based on his book, Life Itself: A Memoir
His website, RogerEbert.com, is growing its readership, reports his wife of 20 years, Chaz Ebert, while it employs dozens of film critics and writers, mostly as freelancers. “Hoop Dreams” director Steve James’ documentary based on the late critic’s 2011 memoir “Life Itself” premieres next Sunday at the Sundance Film Festival, also where eight aspiring film critics will receive mentorship and see their work published on Indiewire and RogerEbert.com in a collaboration between the independent-film website and what Chaz is calling the Roger Ebert Film Critic Scholar program….Meanwhile, the 16th annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival (formerly Roger Ebert’s Overlooked Film Festival and commonly referred to as Ebertfest) will take place April 23-27 in Champaign’s Virginia Theatre. This will be the first Ebertfest without Roger’s direct involvement, although festival director Nathaniel Kohn and Chaz Ebert say he left behind a long list of films he wished to see programmed down the line.
She is even in talks about a Siskel and Ebert musical.
As the art of film criticism has suffered from the avalanche of new media and the loss of newspaper space, it is wonderful that so many of us who were inspired and supported by Roger can help to bring his professionalism and his passion for movies and writing to another generation.
Posted on April 28, 2012 at 10:50 am
Greetings from Roger Ebert’s legendary film festival in his home town of Champaign/Urbana Illinois, also the home of the state university. Once again, Roger has curated an extraordinary collection of films from the under-seen (Ebertfest was originally known as Roger Ebert’s Overlooked Film Festival) to the celebrated (this year’s Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film and Roger’s pick for the best movie of 2011, “A Separation”). This year’s festival is dedicated to Roger’s friend Paul Cox, a Dutch-born Australian director (“My First Wife,” “Man of Flowers,” “Innocence”), whose illness and liver transplant are the subject of one of the festival’s highlights, the documentary, “On Borrowed Time.”
Yesterday, I appeared on a panel for a discussion of the ways that “On Demand” and other delivery options are changing the world of film and moderated a discussion of “A Separation.” Today, I will interview author/memoirist Carolyn S. Briggs following the movie made based on her book about her faith journey, “Higher Ground.”
Posted on January 4, 2011 at 2:42 pm
I am thrilled that I have been invited to be one of the correspondents for Roger Ebert’s new show, “Ebert Presents At the Movies.” With AP’s Christy Lemire and the 24-year-old Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of MUBI.com as co-hosts and Roger and his wife Chaz producing, it is sure to be informative, provocative, and illuminating viewing for anyone who cares about movies. The show will also feature Kim Morgan of Sunset Gun, who also writes essays for MSN Movies, and authors and runs MSN’s daily film blog, the Hitlist, my friend Omar Moore of Popcorn Reel and more. It is a great honor to be included. Stay tuned for updates about the show!
