Roger Ebert loved movies. He spent most of his life watching them, writing about them, and passionately debating them. Over the decades, he played an unrivaled role in bringing film criticism to the masses (or “vulgarizing” it, according to some of his stuffier peers). It’s only fitting that now, a little over a year since his death, the final word on his life should take the form of a movie. Continue reading…
For horror fans, Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy is sacred. The 1981 original is the prototypical cabin in the woods movie, and its pair of genre-bending sequels broke new ground by diluting the gut-spilling gore with gut-busting comedy. That’s a hell of a legacy, and anyone attempting to reboot such a venerable franchise does so at their own peril. Luckily, it’s hard to imagine any die-hard fans walking away disappointed by Fede Alvarez’s gruesome, accomplished remake. Continue reading…
Roger Ebert is still hanging on (after surviving salivary gland cancer and having his jaw removed), and in his online journal over at the Chicago Sun-Times, he recounts a pretty hilarious story about innocence, legendary columnist Mike Royko, and the eye-opener place:
At about 8 p.m. on New Year’s Day of 1967, only two lights on the floor were burning–mine, and Royko’s. It was too early for the graveyard shift to come in. Royko walked over to see who else was working. A historic snowstorm was beginning. He asked me how I was getting home. I said I’d take the train. He said he had his old man’s Checker car and would drop me at a train station. He had to make a stop at a 24-hour drugstore right where the L crossed North Avenue. Continue reading