The movie stars and was directed by Maïwenn, a Cannes favorite who goes only by her first name. Maïwenn won the jury prize for “Polisse” in 2011, returned to competition with “My King” in 2015, and had a ceremonial official selection, “DNA,” announced for the 2020 festival after that edition had been canceled. “Jeanne du … Read more
Speaking of imposing presences: The festival will show a new 20-minute piece by Jean-Luc Godard, who died last year. The festival catalog calls it “Trailer of the Film That Will Never Exist: ‘Phony Wars.’” Even with its brief length, it promises to be more densely packed with ideas than just about any other film that’s … Read more
The New Zealand born actor began as a film and television performer in Australia at the age of 6, honing his craft until transitioning to movies in his 20s with films such as “The Crossing” and “Romper Stomper.” In 1995, he made his American film debut in Sam Raimi’s “The Quick and the Dead.” While … Read more
FRIDAY, MAY 5th 7PM: “BLACKBERRY” (includes Q&A with star/writer/director Matt Johnson) Johnson paces “Blackberry” like that rocket. It moves quickly without being overly stylized, clicking through dialogue and character instead of cheap tricks. We’ve seen a lot of movies about tech nostalgia lately (the far-inferior “Tetris” premiered across town at the same fest), but Johnson … Read more
He loved Ebertfest and savored every minute of planning it. This year, to honor his legacy, we chose the theme of “Empathy at the Movies.” Empathy, he often said, is the most essential element of civilization. It helps us to put ourselves in the shoes of someone who is different from us. We both believed … Read more
Filmmaker Emily Hagins. Joanna has also played an indispensable role in this year’s festival, serving as its Creative Director, while Carolann Cohen Grzybowski devoted her own time and talents as the team’s Social Media & Operations Assistant. All four shorts blocks will also be available to stream virtually on Eventive from Friday, April 28th, through … Read more
The screening of “Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself” at Ebertfest 2023 this past Friday evening was preceded by a special pre-tapped intro from Stephen Colbert, who executive produced the film with his wife, Evie. During their onstage Q&A with RogerEbert.com Literary Editor Matt Fagerholm, the film’s director Frank Oz and writer/star Derek DelGaudio affirmed … Read more
Plus, there were appearances from Hollywood A-listers such as director Paul Thomas Anderson, Ann-Margret, Diane Baker, Tom Berenger, actor-director George Clooney, director Joe Dante, cinematographer Ernest Dickerson, Angie Dickinson, Richard Dreyfuss, director William Friedkin , Louis Gossett Jr., actor-director Danny Huston, Amy Irving, Shirley Jones, director John Landis, composer-conductor David Newman, Edward James Olmos, director … Read more
Oz has directed “The Dark Crystal” (With Jim Henson), “The Muppets Take Manhattan”, “Little Shop of Horrors”, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”, “Housesitter”, “What About Bob?”, “The Indian in the Cupboard”, “In & Out”, “The Score”, “Bowfinger”, “The Stepford Wives”, “Death at a Funeral”, and “In & Of Itself”. DEREK DELGAUDIO, creator/subject Derek DelGaudio is an author, … Read more
The first thing everyone notices and best remembers about “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (1920) is the film’s bizarre look. The actors inhabit a jagged landscape of sharp angles and tilted walls and windows, staircases climbing crazy diagonals, trees with spiky leaves, grass that looks like knives. These radical distortions immediately set the film apart … Read more