A paragon of cinema criticism for decades, Roger Ebert--with his humor, sagacity, and no-nonsense thumb--achieved a renown unlikely ever to be equaled. His tireless commentary has been greatly missed since his death, but, thankfully, in addition to his mountains of daily reviews, Ebert also left behind a legacy of lyrical long-form writing. And with Two Weeks in the Midday Sun, we get a glimpse not only into Ebert the man, but also behind the scenes of one of the most glamorous and peculiar of cinematic rituals: the Cannes Film Festival. More about people than movies, this book is an intimate, quirky, and witty account of the parade of personalities attending the 1987 festival--Ebert's twelfth, and the fortieth anniversary of the event. A wonderful raconteur with an excellent sense of pacing, Ebert presents lighthearted ruminations on his daily routine and computer troubles alongside more serious reflection on directors such as Fellini and Coppola, screenwriters like Charles Bukowski, actors such as Isabella Rossellini and John Malkovich, the very American press agent and social maverick Billy "Silver Dollar" Baxter, and the stylishly plunging necklines of yore. He also comments on the trajectory of the festival itself and the "enormous happiness" of sitting, anonymous and quiet, in an ordinary French café. And, of course, he talks movies. Illustrated with Ebert's charming sketches of the festival and featuring both a new foreword by Martin Scorsese and a new postscript by Ebert about an eventful 1997 dinner with Scorsese at Cannes, Two Weeks in the Midday Sun is a small treasure, a window onto the mind of this connoisseur of criticism and satire, a man always so funny, so un-phony, so completely, unabashedly himself.

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
Roger Ebert is the best-known film critic of our time. He has been reviewing films for the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967, and was the first film critic ever to win a Pulitzer Prize. He has appeared on television for four decades, including twenty-three years as cohost of Siskel & Ebert at the Movies.
In 2006, complications from thyroid cancer treatment resulted in the loss of his ability to eat, drink, or speak. But with the loss of his voice, Ebert has only become a more prolific and influential writer. And now, for the first time, he tells the full, dramatic story of his life and career.
Roger Ebert's journalism carried him on a path far from his nearly idyllic childhood in Urbana, Illinois. It is a journey that began as a reporter for his local daily, and took him to Chicago, where he was unexpectedly given the job of film critic for the Sun-Times, launching a lifetime's adventures.
In this candid, personal history, Ebert chronicles it all: his loves, losses, and obsessions; his struggle and recovery from alcoholism; his marriage; his politics; and his spiritual beliefs. He writes about his years at the Sun-Times, his colorful newspaper friends, and his life-changing collaboration with Gene Siskel. He remembers his friendships with Studs Terkel, Mike Royko, Oprah Winfrey, and Russ Meyer (for whom he wrote Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and an ill-fated Sex Pistols movie). He shares his insights into movie stars and directors like John Wayne, Werner Herzog, and Martin Scorsese.
This is a story that only Roger Ebert could tell. Filled with the same deep insight, dry wit, and sharp observations that his readers have long cherished, this is more than a memoir-it is a singular, warm-hearted, inspiring look at life itself.
"I believe that if, at the end, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn't always know this, and am happy I lived long enough to find it out."
-from LIFE ITSELF

Roger Ebert wrote the first film review that director Martin Scorsese ever received--for 1967's "I Call First," later renamed "Who's That Knocking at My Door"--creating a lasting bond that made him one of Scorsese's most appreciative and perceptive commentators. "Scorsese by Ebert" offers the first record of America's most respected film critic's engagement with the works of America's greatest living director, chronicling every single feature film in Scorsese's considerable oeuvre, from his aforementioned debut to his 2008 release, the Rolling Stones documentary "Shine a Light."

In the course of eleven interviews done over almost forty years, the book also includes Scorsese's own insights on both his accomplishments and disappointments. Ebert has also written and included six new reconsiderations of the director's less commented upon films, as well as a substantial introduction that provides a framework for understanding both Scorsese and his profound impact on American cinema.

"Given their career-long back-and-forth, this collection makes perfect sense. . . . In these reconsiderations, Ebert invites us into his thought processes, letting us see not just what he thinks, but how he forms his opinions. Ebert's insights into Scorsese are terrific, but this book offers the bonus of further insights into Ebert himself."--"Time Out Chicago"

"Ebert, film critic for the "Chicago Sun-Times," is an unabashed fan of Scorsese, whom he considers 'the most gifted director of his generation.' . . . Of special note are interviews with Scorsese over a 25-year period, in which the director candidly discusses his body of work."--"Publishers Weekly"

From America’s most trusted and best-known film critic, one hundred brilliant essays on the films that define for him cinematic greatness.

For the past five years Roger Ebert, the famed film writer and critic, has been writing biweekly essays for a feature called "The Great Movies," in which he offers a fresh and fervent appreciation of a great film. The Great Movies collects one hundred of these essays, each one of them a gem of critical appreciation and an amalgam of love, analysis, and history that will send readers back to that film with a fresh set of eyes and renewed enthusiasm–or perhaps to an avid first-time viewing. Ebert’s selections range widely across genres, periods, and nationalities, and from the highest achievements in film art to justly beloved and wildly successful popular entertainments. Roger Ebert manages in these essays to combine a truly populist appreciation for our most important form of popular art with a scholar’s erudition and depth of knowledge and a sure aesthetic sense. Wonderfully enhanced by stills selected by Mary Corliss, film curator at the Museum of Modern Art, The Great Movies is a treasure trove for film lovers of all persuasions, an unrivaled guide for viewers, and a book to return to again and again.

The Great Movies includes: All About Eve • Bonnie and Clyde • Casablanca • Citizen Kane • The Godfather • Jaws • La Dolce Vita • Metropolis • On the Waterfront • Psycho • The Seventh Seal • Sweet Smell of Success • Taxi Driver • The Third Man • The Wizard of Oz • and eighty-five more films.


From the Hardcover edition.

From Roger's review of "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo" (0 stars): "The movie created a spot of controversy in February 2005. According to a story by Larry Carroll of MTV News, Rob Schneider took offense when Patrick Goldstein of the "Los Angeles Times" listed this year's Best Picture nominees and wrote that they were 'ignored, unloved, and turned down flat by most of the same studios that . . . bankroll hundreds of sequels, including a follow-up to "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo," a film that was sadly overlooked at Oscar time because apparently nobody had the foresight to invent a category for Best Running Penis Joke Delivered by a Third-Rate Comic.'

"Schneider retaliated by attacking Goldstein in full-page ads in "Daily Variety" and the "Hollywood Reporter." In an open letter to Goldstein, Schneider wrote: 'Well, Mr. Goldstein, I decided to do some research to find out what awards you have won. I went online and found that you have won nothing. Absolutely nothing. No journalistic awards of any kind. . . . Maybe you didn't win a Pulitzer Prize because they haven't invented a category for Best Third-Rate, Unfunny Pompous Reporter Who's Never Been Acknowledged by His Peers. . . .'

"Schneider was nominated for a 2000 Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor, but lost to Jar-Jar Binks. But Schneider is correct, and Patrick Goldstein has not yet won a Pulitzer Prize. Therefore, Goldstein is not qualified to complain that Columbia financed "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo" while passing on the opportunity to participate in "Million Dollar Baby, Ray, The Aviator, Sideways," and "Finding Neverland." As chance would have it, I have won the Pulitzer Prize, and so I am qualified. Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks."

"The most revealing, penetrating book on filmmaking I know of . . ."--King Vidor

David O. Selznick was a unique figure in the golden Hollywood studio era. He produced some of the greatest and most memorable American films ever made--notably, Rebecca, A Star Is Born, Anna Karenina, A Farewell to Arms, and, above all, Gone With the Wind. Selznick's
absolute power and artistic control are evidenced in his impassioned, eloquent, witty, and sometimes rageful memos to directors, writers, stars and studio executives, writings that have become almost as famous as his films. Newsweek wrote,"I can't imagine how a book on the American movie business could be more illuminating, more riveting or more fun to read than this collection of David Selznick's memos.

"You'll laugh. You'll cry. Royko's genius is pure Chicago."-Ann Landers
In 1999, the University of Chicago Press published a collection of Mike Royko's columns entitled "One More Time: The Best of Mike Royko," The response was immediate and overwhelming-readers almost instantly began asking when a second volume of Royko's columns would appear. With more than a hundred vintage Royko columns and a foreword by Roger Ebert, this book is the answer.

Roger Ebert has been writing film reviews for the "Chicago Sun-Times" for over four decades now and his biweekly essays on great movies have been appearing there since 1996. As Ebert noted in the introduction to the first collection of those pieces, "They are not "the" greatest films of all time, because all lists of great movies are a foolish attempt to codify works which must stand alone. But it's fair to say: If you want to take a tour of the landmarks of the first century of cinema, start here.
Enter "The Great Movies III," Ebert's third collection of essays on the creme de la creme of the silver screen, each one a model of critical appreciation and a blend of love and analysis that will send readers back to the films with a fresh set of eyes and renewed enthusiasm--or maybe even lead to a first-time viewing. From "The Godfather: Part II "to "Groundhog Day," from "The Last Picture Show "to "Last Tango in Paris," the hundred pieces gathered here display a welcome balance between the familiar and the esoteric, spanning Hollywood blockbusters and hidden gems, independent works and foreign language films alike. Each essay draws on Ebert's vast knowledge of the cinema, its fascinating history, and its breadth of techniques, introducing newcomers to some of the most exceptional movies ever made, while revealing new insights to connoisseurs as well.
Named the most powerful pundit in America by "Forbes" magazine, and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Roger Ebert is inarguably the most prominent and influential authority on the cinema today. "The Great Movies III" is sure to please his many fans and further enhance his reputation as America's most respected--and trusted--film critic.

Films featured in "The Great Movies II
"12 Angry Men - The Adventures of Robin Hood - Alien - Amadeus - Amarcord - Annie Hall - Au Hasard, Balthazar - The Bank Dick - Beat the Devil - Being There - The Big Heat - The Birth of a Nation - The Blue Kite - Bob le Flambeur - Breathless - The Bridge on the River Kwai - Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia - Buster Keaton - Children of Paradise - A Christmas Story - The Color Purple - The Conversation - Cries and Whispers - The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie - Don't Look Now - The Earrings of Madame de . . . - The Fall of the House of Usher - The Firemen's Ball - Five Easy Pieces - Goldfinger - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Goodfellas - The Gospel According to Matthew - The Grapes of Wrath - Grave of the Fireflies - Great Expectations - House of Games - The Hustler - In Cold Blood - Jaws - Jules and Jim - Kieslowski's Three Colors Trilogy" - Kind Hearts and Coronets - King Kong - The Last Laugh - Laura - Leaving Las Vegas - Le Boucher - The Leopard - The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp - The Manchurian Candidate - The Man Who Laughs - Mean Streets - Mon Oncle - Moonstruck - The Music Room - My Dinner with Andre - My Neighbor Totoro - Nights of Cabiria - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Orpheus - Paris, Texas - Patton - Picnic at Hanging Rock - Planes, Trains and Automobiles - The Producers - Raiders of the Lost Ark - Raise the Red Lantern - Ran - Rashomon - Rear Window - Rififi - The Right Stuff - Romeo and Juliet - The Rules of the Game - Saturday Night Fever - Say Anything - Scarface - The Searchers - Shane - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Solaris - Strangers on a Train - Stroszek - A Sunday in the Country - Sunrise - A Taleof Winter - The Thin Man - This Is Spinal Tap -Tokyo Story - Touchez Pas au Grisbi - Touch of Evil - The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - Ugetsu - Umberto D - Unforgiven - Victim - Walkabout - West Side Story - Yankee Doodle Dandy

From America's most trusted and highly visible film critic, 100 more brilliant essays on the films that define cinematic greatness.
Continuing the pitch-perfect critiques begun in "The Great Movies, Roger Ebert's "The Great Movies II collects 100 additional essays, each one of them a gem of critical appreciation and an amalgam of love, analysis, and history that will send readers back to films with a fresh set of eyes and renewed enthusiasm--or perhaps to an avid first-time viewing. Neither a snob nor a shill, Ebert manages in these essays to combine a truly populist appreciation for today's most important form of popular art with a scholar's erudition and depth of knowledge and a sure aesthetic sense. Once again wonderfully enhanced by stills selected by Mary Corliss, former film curator at the Museum of Modern Art, "The Great Movies II is a treasure trove for film lovers of all persuasions, an unrivaled guide for viewers, and a book to return to again and again.