Roger Joseph Ebert was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. Ebert was known for his intimate, Midwestern writing style and critical views informed by values of populism and humanism. Writing in a prose style intended to be entertaining and direct, he made sophisticated cinematic and analytical ideas more accessible to non-specialist audiences. Ebert frequently endorsed foreign and independent films he believed would be appreciated by mainstream viewers, championing filmmakers like Woody Allen, Spike Lee, Werner Herzog and Errol Morris, as well as Martin Scorsese, whose first published review he wrote. In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Neil Steinberg of the Chicago Sun-Times said Ebert "was without question the nation's most prominent and influential film critic," and Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called him "the best-known film critic in America."
Moonstruck is a 1987 American romantic comedy film directed by Norman Jewison and written by John Patrick Shanley. It stars Cher as a widowed Italian American woman who falls in love with her fiancé's hot-tempered, estranged younger brother, played by Nicolas Cage. The supporting cast includes Danny Aiello, Olympia Dukakis and Vincent Gardenia.
Round Midnight is a 1986 American musical drama film directed by Bertrand Tavernier and written by Tavernier and David Rayfiel. It stars Dexter Gordon, with a soundtrack by Herbie Hancock. The title comes from Thelonious Monk's 1943 composition 'Round Midnight, which is featured in this film in a Hancock arrangement.
The Anarchist Cookbook, first published in 1971, is a book containing instructions for the manufacture of explosives, rudimentary telecommunications phreaking devices, and related weapons, as well as instructions for the home manufacture of illicit drugs, including LSD. It was written by William Powell at the apex of the counterculture era to protest against United States's involvement in the Vietnam War. Powell converted to Anglicanism in 1976 and later attempted to have the book removed from circulation. However, the copyright belonged to the publisher, who continued circulation until the company was acquired in 1991. Its legality has been questioned in several jurisdictions.
Eugene Kal Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune who co-hosted movie review television series alongside colleague Roger Ebert.
Maborosi, known in Japan as Maboroshi no Hikari, is a 1995 Japanese drama film by director Hirokazu Kore-eda starring Makiko Esumi, Tadanobu Asano, and Takashi Naito. It is based on a novel by Teru Miyamoto.
Jeepers Creepers 2 is a 2003 American horror film written and directed by Victor Salva. A sequel to the 2001 film Jeepers Creepers, the film portrays the Creeper, a demonic creature and mysterious serial killer who pursues a school bus filled with high-school students. Ray Wise also appears as Jack Taggart, a farmer who seeks to hunt down and kill the Creeper as revenge for his younger son who the Creeper had murdered that same week. Additionally, Francis Ford Coppola returned to the franchise as an executive producer.
Year of the Horse is a 1997 American documentary film directed by Jim Jarmusch, following Neil Young and Crazy Horse on their 1996 tour. An accompanying live album by Neil Young & Crazy Horse was released in 1997. It offers a different track listing than the film.
The Theory of Flight is a 1998 British comedy drama directed by Paul Greengrass from a screenplay written by Richard Hawkins. It stars Helena Bonham Carter and Kenneth Branagh.
U Turn is a 1997 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Oliver Stone, and starring Sean Penn, Billy Bob Thornton, Jennifer Lopez, Jon Voight, Powers Boothe, Joaquin Phoenix, Claire Danes and Nick Nolte. It is based on the book Stray Dogs by John Ridley, who also wrote the screenplay.
The Daytrippers is a 1996 independent comedy-drama film written and directed by Greg Mottola in his feature directorial debut. It stars Hope Davis, Stanley Tucci, Anne Meara, Parker Posey and Liev Schreiber.
Body of Evidence is a 1993 erotic thriller film directed by Uli Edel, written by Brad Mirman, and starring Madonna and Willem Dafoe, with Joe Mantegna, Anne Archer, Julianne Moore, and Jürgen Prochnow in supporting roles.
Stanley Kubrick (1928–1999) directed thirteen feature films and three short documentaries over the course of his career. His work as a director, spanning diverse genres, is regarded as highly influential.
Ferdinand is a 2017 American animated adventure comedy film produced by 20th Century Fox Animation, Blue Sky Studios, Davis Entertainment and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Loosely based on Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson's 1936 children's book The Story of Ferdinand, the film was written by Robert L. Baird, Tim Federle, and Brad Copeland, and directed by Carlos Saldanha. The film features an ensemble voice cast that includes John Cena, Kate McKinnon, Bobby Cannavale, Peyton Manning, Anthony Anderson, David Tennant, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, and Gina Rodriguez. The music for the film was composed by John Powell, making it his eighth and final collaboration with Blue Sky before it shut down on April 10, 2021. The story, written by Ron Burch, David Kidd, and Don Rhymer, follows a gentle pacifist bull named Ferdinand who refuses to participate in bullfighting but is forced back into the arena where his beliefs are challenged when he faces off against the world's greatest bullfighter.
Rosenwald: A Remarkable Story of a Jewish Partnership with African American Communities is a 2015 documentary film written and directed by Aviva Kempner about the career of American businessman and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald. It debuted on February 25, 2015 at the Washington Jewish Film Festival.
Denial is a 2016 biographical film directed by Mick Jackson and written by David Hare, based on Deborah Lipstadt's 2005 book History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier. It dramatises the Irving v Penguin Books Ltd case, in which Lipstadt, a Holocaust scholar, was sued by David Irving, a Holocaust denier, for libel. It stars Rachel Weisz, Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Spall, Andrew Scott, Jack Lowden, Caren Pistorius and Alex Jennings.
Welcome to Happiness is a 2015 American comedy film written and directed by Oliver Thompson (director) and starring Kyle Gallner, Olivia Thirlby, Nick Offerman, Keegan-Michael Key, Brendan Sexton III and Josh Brener. It was released on May 20, 2016, by FilmBuff.
The World Before Your Feet is a 2018 American documentary film directed by filmmaker Jeremy Workman about Matt Green's mission to walk every street of New York City, a journey of over 8000 miles. The film also marked the producing debut of actor Jesse Eisenberg.
Intrigo: Death of an Author is a 2018 German-Swedish-American mystery crime drama film directed by Daniel Alfredson and starring Ben Kingsley and Benno Fürmann. The film is based on a series of novellas by Håkan Nesser. It is the first of the Intrigo franchise of films.
Epicentro is a 2020 Spanish-language documentary film directed by Hubert Sauper. The film stars Oona Chaplin and has been described as a travelogue focused on Cuba. At the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, it won the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary Competition and it has a 90% rating on review-aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads, "As evocative as it is thought-provoking, Epicentro takes an affectionate look at a people and culture -- and delivers a quietly effective rejoinder to lingering Cold War resentment." It runs for 107 minutes and is in English and Spanish with English subtitles.
