The 93-year-old master documentarian Frederick Wiseman is often described as a filmmaker whose specialty is depicting the inner workings of institutions of varying sizes, and the way they evolve and change over time, whether it’s an army base, a mental hospital, a domestic violence shelter, a small town in Maine, a neighborhood in Queens, the New York Public Library….
Oppenheimer [4K UHD] What is it? The story of one man’s journey towards and past the creation of the atomic bomb. Why see it? Christopher Nolan’s latest probably shouldn’t work as well as it does — a three hour drama about Oppenheimer and those around him in the years leading up to an beyond the…
RogerEbert.com publisher Chaz Ebert was among the distinguished honorees at the University of Illinois Alumni Awards Gala on October 19th in Champaign, Illinois. Ebert received the Honorary Alumnus Award established in 2019 that is presented to an individual who did not graduate from the university, but has shown exemplary dedication and commitment to the mission of the…
Elizabeth Debicki and Imelda Staunton return in the final season of Netflix’s once-adored, recently iffy historical drama. By Valerie Ettenhofer · Published on November 21st, 2023 Welcome to Previously On, a column keeping an eye on the latest returning TV shows. In this edition, Valerie Ettenhofer reviews the first half of the final season of Netflix’s The Crown. Read…
Nathan Fielder, Emma Stone, and Benny Safdie can’t save this exhausting new satire, which is now on Showtime. By Valerie Ettenhofer · Published on November 21st, 2023 Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie’s works have always been excruciating in the best way. The Safdie brothers’ films, including Good Time and Uncut Gems, feature characters who hurl themselves at…
Leftovers may be scarce, but you’ll definitely be returning to this one year after year. By Rob Hunter · Published on November 20th, 2023 2007’s Grindhouse has always been a fun double feature worth revisiting, but it’s turned out to be the gift that keeps on giving in one other way too. The two exploitation throwbacks were…
“This cello is a true find… those that hear it, weep…” Destiny Entertainment has unveiled an official trailer for a mystery horror film titled The Cello, the latest film from acclaimed horror filmmaker Darren Lynn Bousman (of Saw II & III & IV; Repo! The Genetic Opera, Abattoir, Death of Me, Spiral). This is actually…
Roger Ebert famously received more emails in response to any review he had written—more than “Fahrenheit 9/11” and “The Passion of the Christ” combined—when he awarded one star to “Diary of a Mad Black Woman,” the first screen adaptation of the wildly popular work penned by playwright-turned-industry mogul Tyler Perry. The critic couldn’t accept the…
Can you call a film formulaic if it’s based on things that really happened? Maybe. As with any movie, it’s all about the tone and style: the choices made by the storytellers. “Next Goal Wins” is a case study, unfortunately. It’s an inspirational football comedy, co-written and directed by Taika Waititi (two Thor films, “Jojo Rabbit,” et al) with Iain…
When D. Smith’s “Kokomo City” premiered at Sundance this year, Nick Allen wrote, “The women interviewed here—Liyah Mitchell, Dominque Silver, Koko Da Doll, and Daniella Carter—are scholars of their experience. Smith empowers them throughout, giving them space in the edit and with each extreme close-up of a weaponized body part, sometimes in slow motion. The editing by D….
“To own who you are is up to you. No one should make you feel ashamed of that…” Elevation Pictures in Canada has debuted the official trailer for an indie coming-of-age comedy titled Fitting In, from filmmaker Molly McGlynn. This first premiered at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival, and also played at the TIFF, Calgary,…
Like the monarchy, Netflix’s hit show “The Crown” has struggled with a rapid decline in public perception. It was initially lauded as a beautifully rendered, intricate character drama depicting some of the highs and lows of 20th-century British history through the eyes of the institutions most directly responsible for responding to (or creating) them. But…
After promising us back in 2007 that “white meat … dark meat … all will be carved, this Thanksgiving,” Eli Roth has finally delivered on the promise of his mock trailer that played between Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s films in “Grindhouse.” The feature version was worth the wait, in particular for how the project…
“I wasn’t very good at having all this stuff locked inside of me…” MetFilm Distribution has revealed their trailer for Ronnie: The Edge of Everything, a documentary film about a sports legend named Ronnie O’Sullivan. Only some will recognize his name, as he is best known as a champion at the game of snooker (similar…
“Mountains,” director Monica Sorelle’s richly personal directorial feature debut, is an eloquently composed story of a Haitian-American family navigating the gentrification arising in their Miami neighborhood of Little Haiti. Told through several perspectives, Sorelle and co-writer Robert Colom’s lithe script primarily sees these impending, catastrophic changes through Xavier (an entrancing Atibon Nazaire), a diligent demolition…
With the arrival of the 29th annual Black Harvest Film Festival, I am once again reminded of the spirit of the late, great Sergio Mims. This is the first year of a lineup not composed by him, the founder of the festival. And yet, BHFF remains just as resilient as the seeds Mims planted. Of…
“If you go anywhere near our family, there will be no where on earth you will be safe again.” Damn! Don’t mess with her. Netflix has revealed the first look teaser trailer for a new action comedy series titled The Brothers Sun, co-created by Brad Falchuk and Byron Wu. It will be out for streaming…
Transgender philosopher-filmmaker Paul B. Preciado’s “Orlando, My Political Biography” starts with footage of the filmmaker on a city street at night, wheatpasting posters with slogans, questions, and cryptic statements, and only becomes more playfully abstruse from there. The film is “political” in that politics are personal, and less of a biography than a work of literary criticism in…
Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie want you to simmer in the uncomfortable awkwardness of “The Curse,” their 10-episode new series for Showtime about a couple whose lives dissolve while they make a generally awful home-flipping show. So, the fact that it starts to drag after an incredible first few episodes feels by design. No one…
“It’s a drug that makes them violent.” A full official trailer has debuted for an indie film from Japan called Mad Cats, marking the feature directorial debut of Japanese filmmaker Reiki Tsuno. This first premiered at the 2023 Slamdance Film Festival, the alternative to Sundance that runs at the same time, at the start of…
When writer, actor, and director Issa Rae’s sophomore Max show “Rapsh!t” first premiered last summer, it was quickly, and correctly, branded a triumph for the multihyphenate creator. The new series shared some DNA with Rae’s brilliant first TV project “Insecure”—a focus on black female friendship, career struggles, social awkwardness, and the joys and pains of…