Entries Tagged 'Roger Ebert' | Indie Eye

Entries tagged “Roger Ebert”

Armond White and the art of trolling.

By Vadim Rizov on 08/15/2009

Filed under: Critic watch

There are really two kinds of people who care about constantly controversial New York Press critic Armond White. There are those who care about keeping up with film criticism regardless of what the movie is; White's a veteran critic, a member of the New York Film Critics Circle, etc. He is Important, and you read him. And then there's the rabid geek who lurks on Rotten Tomatoes, waiting for someone to challenge his or her (or, c'mon, his) sense of priorities. Like "The 700 Club" and Glenn Beck, White's work is reliably, pleasurably insane on a week-to-week basis; the volume... MORE »

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Cannes 2009: "Kinatay."

By Alison Willmore on 05/18/2009

Filed under: Reviews

There are two easy types of film provocation. You can prod an audience with boundary-pushing images -- say, Chloe Sevigny painting Vincent Gallo's tree -- or by testing their tolerance for style or narrative experimentation -- say, Vincent Gallo driving, driving, driving, driving. "Kinatay" (which translates to "Butchered") tries out both, culminating in an act of gruesome violence after a patience-trying buildup of dread and boredom over a long, unlit nighttime car ride. The film's main character is a upbeat teenager who's just married the equally young mother of his baby. Short on cash, he's been dabbling in petty crime,... MORE »

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All thumbs™.

By Alison Willmore on 11/11/2008

Filed under: Critic watch

RogerEbert.com has switched over from the usual four star rating system to a mix of stars and thumbs, which makes for an interesting repurposing of the two digit approval system over which the critic got into a tiff with Disney. The thumbs, which have been sort of replaced by "See It/Skip It/Rent It" on the new incarnation of "At the Movies," weren't going to see air time with Bens Lyons and Mankiewicz -- Ebert and the late Gene Siskel's family share ownership of the trademark -- so I suppose it's good to see them making an appearance somewhere. Still, it... MORE »

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Mankiewicz and Lyons at the movies.

By Alison Willmore on 07/22/2008

Filed under: Critic watch

Well, if there's ever been a sign of the general decline in estimation of film critics, it's that the new hosts of ABC's review show "At the Movies," from which Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper bailed in the past two days, are just that -- professional TV hosts. Ben Mankiewicz, late of the Air America talk radio show "The Young Turks" and Turner Classic Movies, will be joined by Ben Lyons, who's the son of WNBC's on-air critic Jeffrey Lyons, serves as E!'s "film expert," and supposedly once dated one of the girls on "The Hills." Variety's Anne Thompson reports,... MORE »

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Ebert cuts the ties.

By Alison Willmore on 07/21/2008

Filed under: Critic watch

In a statement released today, Roger Ebert announced: "After 33 years on the air, 23 of them with Disney, the studio has decided to take the program named 'Siskel & Ebert' and then 'Ebert & Roeper' in a new direction. I will no longer be associated with it." It doesn't come as such a surprise -- Ebert's 2006 surgery made it impossible for him to continue to appear on air. But S. James Snyder at Time has more: His departure now stems from a dispute with Disney, the distributor for At the Movies, over the show's famous trademark thumbs-up/thumbs-down verdict... MORE »

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Odds: Doc to power, sexist Lane, nuking the fridge.

By Alison Willmore on 06/04/2008

Filed under: Odds

The most interesting article amongst the ones from the new issue of Cineaste now up online is actually from the editors. The editorial, which I appreciate for its don't-stop-believin' sentiments but don't entirely buy, is entitled "Speaking Documentary Truth to Power," and argues that despite audiences' Iraqdoc fatigue, "political documentaries do get the attention of the powers that be": We should therefore take hope from the fact that, as much as politicians in office try to hide it, distort it, or avoid dealing with it altogether, they cannot fail to recognize the truth, especially when documentary filmmakers so powerfully and... MORE »

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An Ebertfest without Ebert.

By Alison Willmore on 04/23/2008

Filed under: Festivals

It seems Roger Ebert won't be making it to the 10th anniversary of the Illinois film festival he established after all. He writes: After consulting with my doctors, I have decided it may not prudent to try to make the journey today with a fractured hip. Sigh. I was really happy with this one. The films, the guests, the friends. Chaz, Nate Kohn, Mary Susan Britt and I had all the pieces in place. The only tweak I didn't have time for was a proper full-length review of "Shotgun Stories." It was on the to-do list. What I'm using now... MORE »