Roger Ebert: Last News

Chaz Ebert has become one of the foremost agents of change in the entertainment industry, working to make sure traditionally overlooked communities get the chance to develop their talents in the business.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Kate Hudson is an icon of the romantic-comedy genre, but her movies weren’t exactly embraced by film critics. “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” has a 42% on Rotten Tomatoes, for instance. Then there’s “Fools Gold,” “Bride Wars” and “Something Borrowed,” all of which have Rotten Tomatoes scores of 15% or below.

Much of world cinema’s lost works have been victims of either technology with poor materials like nitrate film or the ignorance of a limited and often bigoted industry. Thankfully for film fans, it is becoming increasingly difficult for either to deal a death blow to a film’s trajectory. 

Todd Gilchrist editor Three films by Russ Meyer, the sexploitation director film critic Roger Ebert described as “the ultimate auteur,” are coming to physical media in December. The estate of the pioneering independent filmmaker has reached an agreement with media company Severin Films to distribute three of his signature films, “Vixen,” “Supervixens” and “Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens,” on home video for the first time in decades.

In a highly unusual move, Lionsgate is pulling its new trailer for Megalopolis, unveiled early this morning.

Katcy Stephan When Lionsgate released the second trailer for Francis Ford Coppola‘s epic film “Megalopolis” on Wednesday morning, it began with a litany of pans of his past work from several renowned critics. In quotes attributed to their reviews of “The Godfather,” the trailer cites The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael as calling it “diminished by its artsiness,” and Village Voice’s Andrew Sarris as criticizing the “sloppy self-indulgent movie.” Other quotes from critics such as Roger Ebert, John Simon, Stanley Kauffmann, Vincent Canby and Rex Reed similarly flash across the screen, offering harsh critiques of Coppola’s work on masterpieces such as “Apocalypse Now.” The idea being these movies stood the test of times — their initial reactions, not so much.

British filmmaker Mike Leigh will be feted at this year’s Toronto Film Festival with the TIFF Ebert Director Award for career achievement. The announcement was made this morning by TIFF head Cameron Bailey.

EXCLUSIVE: Arthouse streamer and distributor Mubi is set to re-release Tarsem‘s cult 2006 film The Fall in a newly restored 4K version from 27 September 2024 in the US, Canada, Latin America, the UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Benelux, Turkey and India. The Match Factory is handling sales for the rest of the world.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor I spent the first 37 years of my life on the East Coast, and even there, I knew who Sam Rubin was. The beloved KTLA Los Angeles entertainment reporter, who died May 10 at age 64, was a Hollywood fixture for over 30 years, beloved, trusted and respected.

CGI movie technology, it is getting harder and harder to deliver that true spine-chilling internal fear that makes horror films so great.Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids may arrogantly scoff at retro scary movies, but it hasn’t always been this way.There was once a time when picture-goers were so viscerally terrified by what they were seeing on the big screen that it would trigger powerful physical reactions right there in the theater.During Jaws (1975) people fainted and vomited in the cinema during some of the gruesome scenes, while others stopped going swimming in the ocean altogether out of pure fear.Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film Psycho (1960) sparked mania during the infamous shower stabbing scene, with reports of people hyperventilating and passing out in their cinema chairs.However, one of the most horrifying movies to ever hit the big screen, causing widespread panic, fear and repulsion, is William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973).Based on William Peter Blatty’s 1971 novel, the film follows the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother’s attempt to rescue her through an exorcism by two Catholic priests.With some wildly disturbing scenes, including some bizarre 360 degree head spinning, eerie spider-walking on the stairs and some disgusting projective lime-green vomit, it shocked those 1970s audiences to their core.One particular vulgar scene involving a crucifix — that is too crude to describe here — shocked and upset many, especially considering the percentage of people who were religious back then.The flick was so scary that even renowned Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert was at a loss for words about how it made him feel.“I am not sure exactly what reasons people will have for seeing this movie; surely

Zack Sharf Digital News Director One of the most infamous reviews for David Lynch‘s “Blue Velvet” to publish when the film opened in 1986 came courtesy of Roger Ebert, who gave the movie one star. Among Ebert’s several criticisms was how Lynch could cast Isabella Rossellini in a role where she gets “humiliated” and then proceed to put it in such an unimportant movie.

attended a “Showgirls” screening at the Academy Museum’s David Geffen Theater in LA, where a crowd of 1,200 gave her a standing ovation at the sold-out event. Addressing the audience, she said that after she got cast in the 1995 movie, she asked her agent if there was a chance she might be nominated for an Oscar for the part. “Every girl in Hollywood had fought for this role,” she said.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor M. Emmet Walsh, a veteran character actor who appeared in more than 150 films including “Blade Runner,” “Blood Simple” and “Knives Out” and played Dermot Mulroney’s dad in “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” has died.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Variety has been given exclusive access to a first-look clip (below) from Simon Ennis’ documentary “The Hobby,” which world premieres at SXSW on Friday. International sales are being handled by Vortex Media. “The Hobby” is an affectionate, character-driven portrait of the subculture of board games, covering the World Series of Board Games in Las Vegas and reaching back to Ancient Mesopotamia.

to The Hollywood Reporter. Born in Toronto in 1926, Jewison got his start in the business directing television musical spots. In 1958, he directed “Your Hit Parade” for CBS, then directed “The Andy Williams Show,” two Harry Belafonte specials, and and award-winning Judy Garland specials.After moving into the movie industry, he became a seven-time Oscar nominee.

Michaela Zee Tom Shales, a Pulitzer-winning television critic at the Washington Post who spent nearly 40 years at the publication, has died. He was 79. Shales died Saturday at a hospital in Fairfax County, Va., from complications due to COVID-19 and renal failure, his caretaker, Victor Herfurth, told the Washington Post.

Tom Shales, a Pulitzer Prize-winning television critic for The Washington Post, died Jan. 13 at a hospital in Fairfax County, Va. He was 79.

Burt Young’s memorable role as Paulie in the “Rocky” films stuck with fans. However, the role was seemingly meant for the actor. Young knocked it out of the park and even got nominated for an Oscar for the role.

Carmel Dagan Staff Writer Burt Young, who played Paulie in six of the “Rocky” films starring Sylvester Stallone, drawing an Oscar nomination for supporting actor for his performance in the 1976 original, has died, his daughter Anne Morea Steingieser confirmed to the New York Times. He was 83.

Carmel Dagan Staff Writer Piper Laurie, who blossomed as an actress only after extricating herself from the studio system and went on to rack up three Oscar nominations, has died. She was 91.

called the debacle an “artless bore,” adding that “the power of Christ compels me to give ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ one star.”But it’s not the first horror follow-up to be brutally killed by both critics and audiences. Not even the first one in the “Exorcist” franchise.

“Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever,” (G.P. Putnam’s Sons).