Greetings from Ebertfest 2012

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.”

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Watch Ebertfest Streaming and Follow on Twitter

Posted on April 25, 2012 at 11:46 pm

Ebertfest began tonight and I’ll be there tomorrow. You’ll hear my thoughts but you can also be there yourself — virtually. And follow us on @ebertfest

Note my appearances with “Higher Ground” and “A Separation.”

The intros will be brief; the Q&As can run 30-45 minutes. Start times for Q&As are approximate. Onstage personalities are subject to change.

For Ebert’s intro and comments on every film in the festival, see his blog entry here.

The master list:

• April 25, 7:00 p.m.
“Joe Versus the Volcano” introduction with Chaz and Roger Ebert: http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 25, 8:30 p.m.
“Joe Versus the Volcano” Q&A. Moderator, Christy Lemire. Guests: Stephen Goldbatt and Brazillian film critic Pablo Villaca. http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 25, 10:00 p.m.
“Phunny Business” and “The Truth about Beauty & Blogs” introduction by Chaz Ebert. http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 25, 11:45 p.m.
“Phunny Business: A Black Comedy” Q&A. Moderator: Chaz Ebert. Guests: Director John Davies, producer Raymond Lambert, comedians Ali LeRoi, Kelechi Ezie. http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 26, 9:00 a.m.
Panel: “The Personal and Political in Film.” Moderator, Nate Kohn. Guests: Paul Cox, Robert Siegel, Jacob Wysocki, Seema Biswas, Azazel Jacobs, Alrick Brown, Prashant Bhargava, Kevin B. Lee, Ali LeRoi (tentative). http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 26, 10:30 a.m.
Panel: “Far Flung Correspondents: What’s New in Cinema Around the World?” Regular columnists for Ebert’s website. Moderator: Omer Mozaffar, Chicago. Members: Micha? Oleszczyk, Poland; Gerardo Valero, Mexico; Pablo Villaca, Brazil; Grace Wang, Canada; Wael Khairy, Egypt; Ali Arikan, Turkey; Krishna Shenoi, India; Scott Jordan Harris, Great Britain; Olivia Collette, Canada. http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 26, 1:00 p.m.
“Big Fan” introduction with star Patton Oswalt. http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 26, 2:30 p.m.
“Big Fan” Q&A. Moderator, Christy Lemire. Guests; Patton Oswalt, Robert Siegel, Steve Prokopy of Ain’t It Cool News. http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 26, 4:00 p.m.
“Kinyarwanda” introduction with director Alrick Brown.

• April 26, 5:30 p.m.
“Kinyarwanda” Q&A. Moderator: David Bordwell. Guests: Alrick Brown, writer/director; Darren Dean, producer; Ishmael Ntihabose, executive producer and story; producers Tommy Oliver and Deatra Harris. http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 26, 8:30 p.m.
“Terri” introduction with writer-director Azazel Jacobs and Chaz Ebert: http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 26, 10:15 p.m.
“Terri” Q&A session. Moderator, Christy Lemire.
Azazel Jacobs, writer-director; Jacob Wysocki, actor. http://ustre.am/JauL

•April 27, 9:00 a.m.
Panel: “Underrepresented Cinematic Voices.” Moderator: Eric Pierson, Guests: John Davies, Doc Erickson, Carolyn Briggs, Darren Dean, Michell Davis, Hadidja Zaninka, Richard Leskosky, Ishmael Ntihabose, Jaideep Punjabi, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Kelechi Ezie, Raymond Lambert. http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 27, 10:30 a.m.
Panel: “ON DEMAND: Movies without Theaters.” Featuring critics on Ebert’s web site who write advance reviews of films On Demand. Moderator, website editor Jim Emerson. Guests: The Demanders (Steven Boone, Odie Henderson, Jana J. Monji, and a shout-out to Jeff Shannon in Seattle). Other guests: David Bordwell, Steve “Capone” Prokopy, Nell Minow, David Poland. http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 27, 1:00 p.m.
“On Borrowed Time” introduction: Paul Cox and Chaz Ebert, http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 27, 2:30 p.m.
“On Borrowed Time” Q&A. With Paul Cox, Chaz Ebert and Nate Kohn. http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 27, 4:00 p.m.
“Wild and Weird” introduction with David Bordwell. http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 27, 5:30 p.m.
“Wild and Weird” Q&A. Moderator: David Bordwell. Guests: The Alloy Orchestra (Terry Donahue, Ken Winokur, Roger Miller), David Poland, David Lee. http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 27, 8:30 p.m.
“A Separation” introduction. With Michael Barker. http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 27, 10:30 p.m.
” A Separation” Q&A. Moderator: Nel Minow. Guests: Michael Barker, Ali Arikan. http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 28, 1:00 p.m.
“Higher Ground” introduction. By Michael Barker. http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 28, 2:45 p.m.
“Higher Ground” Q&A. Moderator, Nell Minow. Carolyn S. Briggs, writer; Michael Barker. http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 28, 4:00 p.m.
“Patang (The Kite)” introduction, by Prashant Bhargava. http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 28, 5:30 p.m.
“Patang (The Kite)” Q&A. Nate Kohn, moderator. Guests: Prashant Bhargava, director; Jaideep Punjabi, producer; Seema Biswas and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, leading actors; Vijay Bhargava, executive producer; Omer Mozaffar. http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 28, 8:30 p.m.
“Take Shelter” introduction by writer-director Jeff Nichols. http://ustre.am/JauL

•April 28, 10:30
“Take Shelter” Q&A. Moderator, Michael Barker. Guests: Actor Michael Shannon, writer-director Jeff Nichols. http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 29, 12:00 p.m.
“Citizen Kane” introduction by Roger Ebert. http://ustre.am/JauL

• April 29, 2:00 p.m.
“Citizen Kane” Q&A. Discussants: David Bordwell, Jeffrey Lerner. http://ustre.am/JauL

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Ebertfest: The Schedule

Posted on April 15, 2012 at 8:00 am

I’m thrilled to be attending Roger Ebert’s film festival again this year. Next week, I will return to Champaign-Urbana Illinois to help present two magnificent films, “Higher Ground” and this year’s Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, “A Separation.” Can’t make it to Illinois? You can watch all of the presentations online. And of course I will be posting updates. Hope to see some of you there!

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25
7:00 pm	Joe Versus the Volcano (PG; 94 min)	Stephen Goldblatt Cinematographer, DP
10:00 pm	The Truth About Beauty & Blogs (13 min)	Kelechie Ezie Writer, Co-Producer, Actor
10:15 pm	Phunny Business: A Black Comedy (84 min)	John Davies Writer, Director, Producer Raymond Lambert Writer, Producer Reid Brody Producer Ali LeRoi Comedian

THURSDAY, APRIL 26
1:00 pm	Big Fan (R; 88 min)	Robert Siegel Director Patton Oswalt Actor
4:00 pm	Kinyarwanda (96 min)	Alrick Brown Writer, Director, Producer Ishmael Ntihabose Executive Producer, Story Darren Dean Producer Tommy Oliver Producer Deatra Harris Producer Cassandra Freeman Actor Hadidja Zaninka Actor
8:30 pm	Terri (R; 105 min)	Azazel Jacobs Director Jacob Wysocki Actor
10:30 pm	Kind Hearts and Coronets (110 min)*	Hosted by Patton Oswalt, Actor Foellinger Auditorium / University of Illinois campus Free and open to the public

FRIDAY, APRIL 27
1:00 pm	On Borrowed Time (87 min)	Paul Cox Subject (Australian Director)
4:00 pm	Wild AND Weird: The Alloy Orchestra Plays 10 Fascinating and Innovative Films 1906-1926 (PG: 80 min)	Alloy Orchestra
8:30 pm	A Separation (PG-13; 123 min)	Peyman Moadi Actor

SATURDAY, APRIL 28
1:00 pm	Higher Ground (R; 109 min)	Carolyn S. Briggs Writer
4:00 pm	Patang (The Kite) (92 min)	Prashant Bhargava Writer, Director Jaideep Punjabi Producer Vijay Bhargava Executive Producer Ranjana Bhargava Associate Producer Seema Biswas Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui Actor
8:30 pm	Take Shelter (R; 120 min)	Jeff Nichols Director Michael Shannon Actor Michael Barker Distributor

SUNDAY, APRIL 29
12:00 pm	Citizen Kane (PG; 119 min)	Audio commentary by Roger Ebert Intro and Q&A by David Bordwell Jeffrey Lerner Producer for audio commentary

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Lists: The Funniest Movies and the All-Time Best

Posted on April 7, 2012 at 4:10 pm

I always quote Mrs. Miniver when the subject of making “best of” lists of movies. She wasn’t talking about movies but her comment is applicable in many contexts: “Indefensible but irresistible.” And they’re a great way of finding some good movies for your Neflix queue? Yahoo has a new list of the 100 funniest movies of all time. And Roger Ebert, who often says how much he dislikes being asked to make lists, admits that there is one list, or really two, that he thinks is worthwhile. Once a decade, the distinguished film journal Sight and Sound publishes all-time best lists, most recently one from critics, one from directors. Ebert’s 2002 ballot:

Aguirre, Wrath of God (Herzog)
Apocalypse Now (Coppola)
Citizen Kane (Welles)
Dekalog (Kieslowski)
La dolce vita (Fellini)
The General (Keaton)
Raging Bull (Scorsese)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick)
Tokyo Story (Ozu)
Vertigo (Hitchcock)

Will he change it this year? What would you include?

Shatner vs. Fisher on ‘Star Trek’ vs. ‘Star Wars’

Posted on November 30, 2011 at 2:40 pm

Roger Ebert reports that “Star Trek” captain William Shatner and “Star Wars” princess Carrie Fisher are engaged in a battle bigger than anything involving Klingons or The Empire — the relative merits of their two franchises. Check out the warring YouTube videos on Ebert’s blog — lots of fun for fans of either and both.