Free Republic

A simple biography of the film critic Roger Ebert would have made for a full documentary, but the director Steve James set the bar much higher with “Life Itself.” The film, receiving its television premiere Sunday night on CNN, covers the life and career of Mr. Ebert, who died in 2013 ...

Okay, I’d suspected just-deceased Roger Ebert – iconic, Chicago Sun Times film-critic/tv personality — skewed left in his politics. It wasn’t until the brash snipings of his last couple years, however, that his overt Liberalism became splenetically clear to me. For quite a while, the garrulous Chicagoan’s weekly film-review program, in all its various iterations, was must-see TV for me. From 1975-1999, he and late cohort Gene Siskel held forth on all things cinematic. Their trademark (and trademarked!) “thumbs up/thumbs down” verdict on specific movies’ artistic/entertainment worthiness became a vital factor in the ticket-buying decisions of multitudes. Moviefone’s Gary Susman...

On Thursday morning, February 28, I found CNN featuring a continuous shot of a helicopter. The network cut between a close-up and a distant dot. It was Benedict, flying from the Vatican City. This was extraordinary attention for an ordinary cardinal, because as Benedict told the throng awaiting him, "I am no longer Pope." I am not a scholar of Catholic history, but I believe we were witnessing the first time the Papal throne was vacant while an elected Pope was alive. "This no one can deny," wise Sister Rosanne told us during the 8 am theology class that began...

I never paid much attention to what Roger Ebert said about movies. Given that I usually take-in only three or four films a year, Ebert’s analysis of any particular film or actor or “scene” just wasn’t going to be something that would capture my attention. But the final seven years or so of Ebert’s life offer some seriously thoughtful and thought provoking lessons, for those who still care to learn. Whether you reside on the right or left side of the political and cultural aisle doesn’t much matter. Consider some of the facts of Ebert’s final years, and the implications...

http://danfromsquirrelhill.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/open-letter-to-roger-ebert-please-read-this-and-explain-how-you-can-still-support-president-obama/Open letter to Roger Ebert: Please read this and explain how you can still support President Obama August 18, 2012 Dear Roger, Before I get to the political stuff, I’d like to point out that as far as I’m aware, you have never reviewed “Drop Dead Fred” or “Princess Caraboo,” films which I consider to contain Phoebe Cates’s two best performances. Please review them. In the 2008 United States election, I wrote in Ron Paul for President. In the 2012 election, I will be voting for Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson. Those who are of a more leftist persuasion than...

Examples of Liberal Media BiasLet's face it, liberal media bias has been around since there have been liberals to do the "reporting" of the news. But this fact should surprise no one. After all, the news media has always been filled with bias of one type or another. In fact, there was a time when American customers of the news knew exactly which newspapers sported which point of view. It was taken for granted that one newspaper supported one side and another newspaper a different side.Liberal Bias is Prevalent in the Mainstream Media But in the late 1950s and early...

Roger Ebert, the Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic whose famous thumbs-up or thumbs-down verdict helped make him the most famous reviewer in America, died Thursday of complications from cancer, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, where he wrote for 46 years. He was 70.

Roger Ebert's death, coming so soon after he announced he was curtailing his movie-reviewing schedule because of recurring cancer, is being greeted—especially across the Internet--with widespread shock, and the kind of grief one feels when one loses a longtime neighbor, a trusted friend, a beloved teacher whose lessons may not have had an immediate impact but became more meaningful with time. *** In fact, it's only natural the blogosphere should feel the pain of Ebert's leaving. One could say that blogs of all shapes, sizes and subjects owe their existence in part to the examples set by Siskel and Ebert.

Roger Ebert, the longtime film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, passed away Thursday, the newspaper reported. His passing comes just one day after publishing a note on his website that he would be scaling back work as he continued his battle with cancer. He was 70 years old. Ebert was hospitalized last fall with a broken hip, of which his wife tweeted was caused by "tricky disco dance moves." Last May he unveiled plans to reinvent "Roger Ebert Presents at The Movies" on PBS, and Tuesday he said he will launch a fundraising campaign via Kickstarter in the next couple...

Ebert, 70, who reviewed movies for the Chicago Sun-Times for 46 years and on TV for 31 years, and who was without question the nation’s most prominent and influential film critic, died Thursday in Chicago. He had been in poor health over the past decade, battling cancers of the thyroid and salivary gland.

Thank you. Forty-six years ago on April 3, 1967, I became the film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times. Some of you have read my reviews and columns and even written to me since that time. Others were introduced to my film criticism through the television show, my books, the website, the film festival, or the Ebert Club and newsletter. However you came to know me, I'm glad you did and thank you for being the best readers any film critic could ask for. Typically, I write over 200 reviews a year for the Sun-Times that are carried by Universal Press...

We've already heard Constitutional scholar Matthew Modine opine on the Second Amendment this week. Now, it's film critic Roger Ebert's turn. And the Thumbs Up pioneer offers an even daffier version of U.S history than the "Vision Quest" star.

Tampa 2012: In remarks to a chair as vacant as the one in the Oval Office, a Hollywood icon reminds us that the president is a failed employee of the people and it's time to let him go. As performance shtick, it may not have come off perfectly. But judging from the reaction from those "left of Lenin," as 82-year-old Hollywood legend described it during a sort of surprise appearance at the Republican National Convention Thursday, it skewered our absentee president perfectly. "Clint, my hero, is coming across as sad and pathetic," tweeted "left of Lenin" film critic Roger Ebert...

<p>JAMES HOLMES, who opened fire before the midnight premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises,” could not have seen the movie. Like many whose misery is reflected in violence, he may simply have been drawn to a highly publicized event with a big crowd...</p>

After he booby-trapped his apartment with explosives, James Holmes walked into a theater Friday night and opened fire on a crowd waiting to see the first showing of the new Batman movie. He shot scores and murdered a dozen. Holmes acted for reasons unknown, but his actions were pure evil. His actions also were his alone. It doesn’t matter if he was bullied as a kid, recently dumped or whatever else anyone comes up with as a possible motive. Nothing “caused” him to do this other than whatever evil lives inside him. But that hasn’t stopped many progressive liberals in...

The first time I saw him, he was striding toward me out of the burning Georgia sun, as helicopters landed behind him. His face was tanned a deep brown. He was wearing a combat helmet, an ammo belt, carrying a rifle, had a canteen on his hip, stood six feet four inches. He stuck out his hand and said, "John Wayne." That was not necessary. Wayne died on June 11, 1979. Stomach cancer. "The Big C," he called it. He had lived for quite a while on one lung, and then the Big C came back. He was near death...

Unless we find an angel, our television program will go off the air at the end of its current season. There. I've said it. Usually in television, people use evasive language. Not me. We'll be gone. I want to be honest about why this is. We can't afford to finance it any longer. Before I go into details, let me say that by any fair measure, "Ebert Presents At The Movies" has been a great success. The program has a coverage of more than 90% of the country, and all of the top 50 markets. Our ratings place us among...

It breaks my heart to write this article. Roger Ebert has been a part of my love for cinema since I was eleven years old. When I was in the hospital for two months at age 19, I devoured his entire book of movie reviews... Nevertheless, I don’t know the man. I only know his words. Yet I have to wonder if the physical and mental trauma Roger has endured has taken a toll on his mind. He always seemed apolitical to me. He just wrote great movie reviews. However, he started a political journal on his website in the...

. A campaign film in search of a campaign By Roger Ebert on July 23, 2011 4:32 PM | 106 Comments "The Undefeated" is a documentary about Sarah Palin made by and for the faithful, who may experience it in the way believers sit through a rather boring church service. At nearly two hours, it's a campaign advertisement in search of a campaign. But that's not surprising. What astonished me is that the primary targets in the film are conservative Republicans. Yes, there are the usual vague references to liberals and elitists (although I heard the word "Democrat" only twice)....

All I know is just what I read in the papers. -- Will Rogers Me too. Or hear on TV, or see on the net. That's all most of us knows. I'm sure the President and Senators and government officials know more, but we elect them, they don't elect us. And I'm sure the CEOs of powerful corporations know more, although the Murdoch testimony indicates he didn't know as much as he could have read in the papers. What I read,and hear is that the Republican Party is abandoning its hopes of speaking for a majority of Americans. It will...