Thumbnails 2/26/15
Oscar’s idling empathy machine; “Modern Family” episode filmed on smartphones; Madonna is superhuman; The trailer is not the movie; The works of Tyrus Wong.
Features
Stick Figure Cinema, by Damian Arlyn
Famous scenes from great movies, re-enacted with stick figures.
Legendary Jazz Trumpeter Clark Terry Passes Away at 94
An obituary for jazz musician Clark Terry, the subject of “Keep On Keepin’ On.”
“Wild Canaries”: A Manhattan Murder Mystery
An analysis of Lawrence Michael Levine’s “Wild Canaries” and its ties to classic rom-com capers.
Thumbnails 2/23/15
Oscars saved by the music; Julie Andrews glows in “Sound of Music”; Films of Michael Mann reassessed; Rise of the reactress; Let’s get out of here.
“Evil Against Evil”: The Fascinating Incoherence of American Sniper
On how Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper” examines evil.
Thumbnails 2/20/15
Destroyed by the Espionage Act; Temple Grandin transcends labels; Hand of a superhero; The success of Harley Quinn; Invention of the heterosexual.
Thumbnails 2/19/15
Brutally honest Oscar ballot; Murphy refused to play Cosby; Is accuracy important?; “54” resurrected as cult gay classic; How America paved the way for ISIS.
Chinese New Year: Goats, Rams, Sheep, Beautiful People and Movies
The writers at RogerEbert.com discuss films featuring sheep, goats and rams in honor of Chinese New Year.
The Wes Anderson Collection, Chapter 8: “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Video essay about Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” adapted from the new book by Matt Zoller Seitz.
Thumbnails 2/16/15
Sam Fragoso interviews Spike Lee; Why Christian movies are so bad; “SNL” anniversary a hollow milestone; Cinephiles need to care about PBS; Diane Rehm and the right-to-die debate.
Thumbnails 2/13/15
R.I.P. David Carr; Kanye West: the biggest loser; Popcorn porn: “Fifty Shades” and “Kingsman”; Tilda Swinton’s speech at Rothko Chapel; The film that Goebbels feared.
Thumbnails 2/12/15
Gentrification of racial humor; Jimmy Fallon isn’t funny; Creative women dismissed as “quirky”; Suddenly CinemaScope; “Fifty Shades of Grey” fan fiction.
Terrence Malick’s Cathedrals of Cinema: Excerpt from “Faith and Spirituality in Masters of World Cinema, Vol. 3”
An excerpt from Faith and Spirituality in Masters of World Cinema Vol. 3.
Bright Wall/Dark Room Excerpt February 2015: “Thundering, Thundering” by Molly Parent
An excerpt from the February 2015 edition of “Bright Wall/Dark Room” on “The Music Man.”
Thumbnails 2/9/15
The day Roger Ebert saved my life; Adam Curtis has an eye for the unsettling; Oscar front-runners get silly; A sniper unloads on “Sniper”; Autism is better than measles.
Thumbnails 2/6/15
Amy Pascal resigns; The appeal of “Fifty Shades of Grey”; “Inherent Vice” walkouts; The self-inflicted war wounds of Brian Williams; The daring “Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One.”
Thumbnails 2/5/15
The dangers of stock photo modeling; Nancy Reagan refused to help Rock Hudson; Bed bugs may be splitting into new species; Hollywood’s white-guy problem; Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara.
The Great Movies Review of “Groundhog Day”
A reprint of Roger’s Great Movies review of the timeless “Groundhog Day.”
The Unloved, Part 14: Joe Vs. the Volcano
Scout Tafoya’s series on overlooked or under appreciated films continues with screenwriter John Patrick Shanley’s debut feature.
