"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.

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.

For nearly half a century, Roger Ebert's wide knowledge, keen judgment, prodigious energy, and sharp sense of humor made him America's most renowned and beloved film critic. From Ebert's Pulitzer Prize to his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, from his astonishing output of daily reviews to his pioneering work on television with Gene Siskel, his was a career in cinema criticism without peer. Arriving fifty years after Ebert published his first film review in 1967, this second edition of Awake in the Dark collects Ebert's essential writings into a single, irresistible volume. Featuring new Top Ten Lists and reviews of the years' finest films through 2012, this edition allows both fans and film buffs to bask in the best of an extraordinary lifetime's work.Including reviews from The Godfather to GoodFellas and interviews with everyone from Martin Scorsese to Meryl Streep, as well as showcasing some of Ebert's most admired essays among them a moving appreciation of John Cassavetes and a loving tribute to the virtues of black-and-white films Ebert's Awake in the Dark is a treasure trove not just for fans of this era-defining critic, but for anyone desiring a compulsively readable chronicle of the silver screen. Stretching from the dramatic rise of rebel Hollywood and the heyday of the auteur to the triumph of blockbuster films such as Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, to the indie revolution that is still with us today, Awake in the Dark reveals a writer whose exceptional intelligence and daily bursts of insight and enthusiasm helped shape the way we think about the movies. But more than this, Awake in the Dark is a celebration of Ebert's inimitable voice a voice still cherished and missed.

No film critic has ever been as influential or as beloved as Roger Ebert. Over more than four decades, he built a reputation writing reviews for the Chicago Sun-Times and, later, arguing onscreen with rival Chicago Tribune critic Gene Siskel and later Richard Roeper about the movies they loved and loathed. But Ebert went well beyond a mere "thumbs up" or "thumbs down." Readers could always sense the man behind the words, a man with interests beyond film and a lifetime's distilled wisdom about the larger world. Although the world lost one of its most important critics far too early, Ebert lives on in the minds of moviegoers today, who continually find themselves debating what he might have thought about a current movie.The Great Movies IV is the fourth and final collection of Roger Ebert's essays, comprising sixty-two reviews of films ranging from the silent era to the recent past. From films like The Cabinet of Caligari and Viridiana that have been considered canonical for decades to movies only recently recognized as masterpieces to Superman, The Big Lebowski, and Pink Floyd: The Wall, the pieces gathered here demonstrate the critical acumen seen in Ebert's daily reviews and the more reflective and wide-ranging considerations that the longer format allowed him to offer. Ebert's essays are joined here by an insightful foreword by film critic Matt Zoller Seitz, the current editor-in-chief of the official Roger Ebert website, and a touching introduction by Chaz Ebert. A fitting capstone to a truly remarkable career, The Great Movies IV will introduce newcomers to some of the most exceptional movies ever made, while revealing new insights to connoisseurs as well.

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"

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.

Roger Ebert was the most influential film critic in the United States, the first to win a Pulitzer Prize. For almost fifty years, he wrote with plainspoken eloquence about the films he loved for the Chicago Sun-Times, his vast cinematic knowledge matched by a sheer love of life that bolstered his appreciation of films. Ebert had particular admiration for the work of director Werner Herzog, whom he first encountered at the New York Film Festival in 1968, the start of a long and productive relationship between the filmmaker and the film critic.Herzog by Ebert is a comprehensive collection of Ebert's writings about the legendary director, featuring all of his reviews of individual films, as well as longer essays he wrote for his Great Movies series. The book also brings together other essays, letters, and interviews, including a letter Ebert wrote Herzog upon learning of the dedication to him of "Encounters at the End of the World;" a multifaceted profile written at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival; and an interview with Herzog at Facet's Multimedia in 1979 that has previously been available only in a difficult-to-obtain pamphlet. Herzog himself contributes a foreword in which he discusses his relationship with Ebert. Brimming with insights from both filmmaker and film critic, Herzog by Ebert will be essential for fans of either of their prolific bodies of work.

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.

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.

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"

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.

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

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.

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 the second volume of Royko columns would appear. With more than a hundred vintage Royko columns and a foreword by Roger Ebert, "For the Love of Mike" was the answer.
Royko, a nationally syndicated Pulitzer Prize winner, wrote for three major Chicago newspapers in the course of his 34 years as a daily columnist. Chosen from more than 7,000 columns, "For the Love of Mike" brings back more than a hundred vintage Royko pieces-most of which have not appeared since their initial publication-for readers across the country to enjoy. This second collection includes Royko's riffs on the consequences of accepting a White House dinner invitation (not surprisingly, he turned it down); his explanation of the notorious Ex-Cub Factor in World Series play; and his befuddlement at a private screening of "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls," to which he was invited by his pal Ebert, the screenplay's author. The new collection also illuminates Royko's favorite themes, topics he returned to again and again: his skewering of cultural trends, his love of Chicago, and his rage against injustice. By turns acerbic, hilarious, and deeply moving, Royko remains a writer of wit and passion who represents the best of urban journalism.
"To read these columns again is to have Mike back again, nudging, chuckling, wincing, deflating pomposity, sticking up for the little guy, defending good ideas against small-minded people," writes Roger Ebert in his foreword to the book. "For the Love of Mike" does indeed bring Mike back again, and until a Chicago newspaper takes up Ebert's suggestion that it begin reprinting each of Royko's columns, one a day, this collection will more than satisfy Royko's loyal readers.