Roger Ebert documentary "Life Itself"

I started watching Siskel and Ebert when they were on PBS when I was a kid. When they reviewed Apocalypse Now I really thought a fistfight was gonna break out.

 

I think he did about 5 of them in total. Dark City is a 3rd one.

 

I will have to check this out. Always enjoyed their show and it's sad that they are both gone now.

 

Really looking forward to seeing this.
I had no idea they actually didn't get along for a while. They seemed to enjoy the argy-bargy - like best friends do.

I saw a review on PBS that insisted this was, despite the sadness, an uplifting film.
And I'd like to believe that. I can't wait so I'll probably rent it from iTunes. Thanks for the tip.

I want to see that Apocalypse Now review.

I wonder what they'd make of all of these comic book movies?

 

Me too...went to YT to try to find it but wasn't there. Ended up watching a bunch of other reviews of movies from the 90's. Good stuff...definitely nothing like that anywhere on TV or the internet today.

 

I just did the same.
Ebert thought Aliens was better than Alien. Disconnect with his opinions on that one.
And Siskel's objection to showing a "child in peril" is ridiculous.


Now let's see their best review.
Anybody?

Btw, thanks, that's a great review.
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/life-itself-2014

 

There were some great shots of 1970s "Disco" Gene hanging out with Hugh Hefner on the Playboy jet and at the LA mansion in LA. Apparently, he was quite the swinger for his time before he got married.

 

I was pleasantly surprised to also learn this about Gene as well. Always respected Gene (anyone who can spar with Ebert is okay in my book) but that section in the doc made me like Gene even more.

 

I knew a film critic for the Post years ago. He showed me questionable, and fun places I never knew existed in NY. The insider's insider.

 

We got to watch the documentary last night. As mentioned above it was very difficult to watch in many places. I think the doc did a very good job at giving us a pretty good glimpse into the character of these guys & Ebert in particular ... complex, picky, childish at times, arrogant, etc. These were not one dimensional guys for sure! Great doc. Thanks to the OP for mentioning this, had they not some of us might not have known of its existence.

 

I saw it tonight and really liked it. As I suspect many here did, I grew up watching Siskel and Ebert in the 80s, and have fond memories in particular of the PBS shows. Something very cozy and intimate about it, which as one person in the documentary put it, was like watching a sitcom about two guys who lived in a theatre and watched movies.

It was really brave of Ebert to allow himself to be shown as he was toward the end. Quite a good film, and a very positive one despite the tragedy at its center.

 

I saw this last weekend and it is an excellent, if difficult film to watch. I'd seen pictures and read his blog, but had no idea the cancer had done so much damage.

 

CNN will be airing "Life Itself" on Sunday, January 4.

 

I think it's almost a fait accompli that the film will at least be nominated for a Best Documentary Oscar. It'd be terrific to see it win -- it'd certainly be the first time anything associated with a film critic actually won an Oscar (unless you consider Oscar-nominated Peter Bogdonavich, who was a film critic for part of his career).

I liked the film but didn't love it, and I still think they could have omitted about 5-10 minutes of the hospital scenes and concentrated more on Ebert's 40+ year career as a writer and critic. What comes across very well in the film is the great passion and understanding Ebert had for movies. You knew when you met him or read his work that he really, really knew his stuff backwards and forwards. Even when you disagreed with him, you understood why Roger felt the way he did and he could vigorously defend his point of view, and yet he also wasn't afraid to change his mind on films over time. There were quite a few books he did in the last 10 years where he admitted that his opinion was wrong in the 1970s or 1980s and he had re-assessed a film and now felt differently than he did then.

 

That's out of 4 stars. Not terrible.

 

Thanks for the heads up. Still haven't seen it and really looking fwd to it

 

I'll be watching it on CNN. In addition to what you you said about his great passion for movies, I want to add that he obviously had a great passion for people and turning them on. And we watched his movie reviews in the 80's, and read them in the 90's, and they were a huge help. Renting tapes I subsequently didn't like much, I later found he didn't like either. Renting some tapes, especially obscure, I found I liked, and so did he. Merchant Ivory's Shakespeare Wallah was a favorite of mine for a decade before I read anything about it. And Alain Resnais, rest in peace. Ebert, he emphasized, and turned me on to so many, many wonderful things. He wasn't just a guide f0r the "videophile", he was a guide for everyone who wanted to just sit down and watch a movie.

 

Reminder this is on tonight. Hoping CNN doesn't edit it or insert commercials at bad times

 

Citizen Kane, Casablanca, Dark City, Crumb, Floating Weeds (Criterion), Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

 

I have the DVR ready!

 

It's on. Excellent, so far.

 

I thought it was excellent although Im a bit biased. And for all the talk of how heavy it is, I didn't tear up, and I've had a few lunches at my desk reading his blog that got me teary. Definitely not the heaviness like dear Zachary. I miss his daily weekly writing for sure and still check out his reviews when I watch an older film.

 

Way back in 1969, I read an analysis of "Night Of The Living Dead" in Reader's Digest at my aunt's house. Very critical of the film and the effect it would have on children. Ten years later, she still had that copy
and while reading through it was when I noticed that the review was written by "Roger Ebert". Even though he wasn't known back in 1969, it's fascinating to read his style of writing even back then.
Here's a web site that has scans of the original 1969 review. If you click on any image, it zooms in
to full screen.
http://monstermemories.blogspot.com/2008/11/1969-readers-digest-night-of-living.html

 

By the way, kindle and iTunes have the book Life Itself for 7.99. I loved the book a whole lot.

 

Truffant won an oscar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/François_Truffaut