rogerebert.com :: People

For Gabourey Sidibe, 'Precious'
is a fantasy come to life

In her next film, Gabby Sidibe will play Miss Popularity. This is a fair distance from the abused, fearful victim she plays in the title role of "Precious." People half-convinced the actress must be like the character will need a readjustment.

Dafoe admires Lars, but "his
impulses are often perverse."

Has there been a more harrowing and courageous performance this year? Willem Dafoe plays a wholly evil man occupying a wholly evil world in Lars on Trier's "Antichrist," a new film that challenges its viewers so boldly that some have fled from the theater. Von Trier's films often stir up heated discussion, but never has he made a film quite this formidable.

Foreclosed? Advice you can use
from the helpful Michael Moore

by Roger Ebert

Whether or not you agree with Michael Moore, he has one piece of invaluable advice in his new film, "Capitalism: A Love Story." If a bank forecloses on your home, ask them to prove their ownership by producing a copy of the mortgage.

Quentin Tarantino glouriously
basterdizes World War Two

by Roger Ebert

It is fairly widely known, three months after the film's premiere at Cannes, that Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" has, shall we say, a surprise ending. How did Tarantino feel about rewriting history? He uses admirable logic in arguing that he did not: "At no time during the start, the middle or ever, did I have the intention of rewriting history. It was only when I was smack dab up against it, that I decided to go my own way. It just came to me as I was doing what I do, which is follow my characters as opposed to lead."

John Hughes: In Memory

by Roger Ebert

Few directors have left a more distinctive or influential body of work than John Hughes. The creator of the modern American teenager film, who died Thursday in New York, made a group of films that are still watched and quoted today.

Hughes, who was 59, died of a heart attack during an early-morning walk while visiting family in New York City, his publicist said. He lived all his life in the northern suburbs of Chicago, southern Wisconsin, and on a farm which he operated in Northern Illinois.

Our gal Tilda and her magical
perambulating film festival

By Gary Meyer
Co-director, Telluride Film Festival

Inspired by Les Blank’s amazing documentary "Burden of Dreams," about Werner Herzog’s "Fitzcarraldo," showing the hauling of a ship over a hill, Academy Award-winning actress Tilda Swinton has taken her Film Festival on the road. She is hauling a 33.5-tonne portable cinema along with about 40 other cineastes through the Scottish Highlands for about a week, bringing independent film to a different village every night.

Quentin Tarantino glouriously
basterdizes World War Two »

John Hughes: In Memory »

Our gal Tilda and her magical
perambulating film festival »

Apatow on how to learn nothing
from a near-death experience »

Walter Cronkite, 1916-2009:
The death of a reporter »