by Nat Almirall, Jul 5 2014 // 10:32 AM

Ebert would have loved this: It does not gloss over major events that tarnish his star – his alcoholism, his pettiness, even his face. This is not simply a chronicle of the critic’s final few months, rather it’s an overview of his life, aptly so, I suppose, as it’s adapted, in part, from Ebert’s memoir Life Itself.
Ebert was born in Urbana, Illinois, about an hour and a half south of Chicago, and grew up early on recognizing that he had a considerable talent for writing. In his mid-twenties, he began writing movie reviews for The Chicago Sun-Times, winning a Pulitzer Prize for his work in 1975. Around that time, too, he teamed up with Gene Siskel, forming something of the U.S.’s popular critical consensus for nearly 25 years.
Most of those beats you probably know, and director Steve James (Hoop Dreams) does an excellent job filling them in, yes, with interviews from those who knew Roger best during those times, and passages from the book, but even more so with a deft pace aided by short interspersions of Roger today, or at least Roger in 2012. These diversions are, thankfully, less a study in courage than a testament to stubbornness, wit, or another key personality trait that maintained while the body faded away.
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Posted in: Documentary · Movies · Reviews
Tagged: Chaz Ebert, Chicago, Life Itself, Martin Scorsese, Roger Ebert, Russ Meyer, Steve James
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by Elli Clair, Oct 24 2011 // 10:00 AM
With Footloose, the remake, now out in theaters, it seemed only appropriate to take a look at the top ten dance movies of all time. We all know and love them, regardless if we’ll admit it or not. And now, in the words of Kevin Bacon in the original Footloose, “Let’s dance!”
1. Dirty Dancing – In 1987, Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey had young girls everywhere swooning and begging their parents for dance lessons. There’s drama, edgy dance moves, and of course, steamy love scenes. Pack all this together, and you have not only one of the best dance movies of all times, but also one of the great love stories. After all, “nobody puts Baby in a corner.”
2. Footloose – If you were a teenager in the ‘80s, then surely you know the lyrics to the Kenny Loggins song, “Footloose,” by heart. That’s because Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer, not to mention young Sarah Jessica Parker and Sean Penn, danced their way into teenage hearts in 1984’s Footloose. It’s the classic case of good versus evil (or young verses old) with the end dance scene being one that has gone done in history as one of the best of the best.
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Posted in: Comedy · Drama · Editorial · Editorial and Opinion · Features · Flickcast Presents · Movies
Tagged: Black Swan, Bring it On, Chicago, Dirty Dancing, Flashdance, Footloose, Grease, Saturday Night Fever, Singin' in the Rain, Step Up
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by Joe Gillis, Sep 27 2011 // 2:08 PM
It seems HBO isn’t alone in the giving series a second season before they hardly run their first department. In fact, Starz has even done them one better.
The network has officially given the Kelsey Grammer government corruption drama Boss a second season of ten episodes. That’s great news for the show but what makes it even more remarkable is the fact that the show hasn’t even premiered on the network yet.
Don’t be too shocked, though. This move isn’t ompletely without precedent for Starz. The network did the same thing with Spartacus: Blood and Sand.
In case you’re not familiar with Boss (and no reason you should be as you can’t actually see it yet) it was created by writer Farhad Safinia and features Gus Van Sant making his TV directing debut. Grammer plays a ruthless Chicago mayor who has a secret that threatens to destroy him. Don’t they all.
Also in the show are Connie Nielsen, Jeff Hephner, Hannah Ware, Kathleen Robertson and Troy Garity. Production on Season 2 is reportedly set to begin in early 2012.
Look for the first season of Boss to debut on Starz on October 21.
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Posted in: Starz · TV
Tagged: Boss, Chicago, Connie Nielsen, Drama, Farhad Safinia, Gus Van Sant, Hannah Ware, Kathleen Robertson, Kelsey Grammer, Starz, Troy Garity, TV
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by Sebastian Suchecki, Jul 26 2010 // 11:00 AM
The much anticipated Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides revealed its teaser trailer during the Disney panel held over the weekend. In the trailer we have the incomparable Captain Jack Sparrow drunkenly inviting the audience to join him in an adventure in search of the fountain of youth.
Sparrow goes on to entice the audience with various dangers he will be encountering, including cutthroats, zombies, mermaids and his co-star Penelope Cruz. In the film, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) crosses paths with a woman from his past (Penelope Cruz), and he’s not sure if it’s love or if she’s a ruthless con artist who’s using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth.
When she forces him aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn’t know who to fear more: Blackbeard or the woman from his past.
The movie will be directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago). It is set to hit theaters on May 20th, 2011 in both 2D and 3D formats.
Keep it here for all of your Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides news and check out the teaser after the jump.
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Posted in: 3-D · Comic-Con · Disney · News · Trailers
Tagged: Chicago, Comic-Con, Ian Mcshane, Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Robert Marshall, SDCC, SDCC10
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by Shannon Hood, Jan 1 2010 // 10:00 AM

About thirty minutes into Rob Marshall’s musical Nine, I kept getting a nagging sense of déjà vu. It finally dawned on me that the movie reminded me a lot of All That Jazz, the 1979 musical directed by Bob Fosse. That movie starred the late Roy Scheider, who portrayed a brilliant choreographer experiencing an existential crisis in the days leading up to a big Broadway production. He copes with his pathos by popping pills and chasing women, and his self destructive ways ultimately cost him the love and respect of his daughter and those closest to him.
In Nine, Daniel Day Lewis plays a brilliant Italian director who experiences an existential crisis in the days leading up to the first day of filming for his new movie. He is a scoundrel, and has so many entanglements with various women that it ultimately threatens his health, marriage and relationships, not to mention the movie.
As soon as I got home, I started researching and found out that All That Jazz and Nine were both based on Federico Fellini’s 1963 film 8 1/2, which is widely considered a masterpiece in most film circles. While All That Jazz was Bob Fosse’s re-imagining of 8 1/2 with autobiographical components liberally interwoven, Nine is a more faithful adaptation of the story.
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Posted in: Movies · Musicals · Reviews · Weinstein Co.
Tagged: 8 1/2, All That Jazz, Bob Fosse, Chicago, Daniel Day Lewis, federico fellini, Fergie, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz
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