All Stories
'Romance & Cigarettes' wins praise for filming outside box
Monday, April 28, 2008
CHAMPAIGN – Introducing the movie "Romance & Cigarettes" on Sunday at Roger Ebert's Film Festival, Time magazine movie critic Richard Corliss said moviemaking is in a "very timid period."
"Do you know how many movies try to do something different? How many moviemakers in a decade even try it? Four?" he asked.
'Housekeeping' star recalls script as best she ever saw
Monday, April 28, 2008
CHAMPAIGN – After first reading Scottish director Bill Forsyth's script for "Housekeeping," actress Christine Lahti decided it was the best screenplay ever sent to her.
She was being considered for the lead of Sylvie – another actress who had been in the running was Diane Keaton. Lahti said she was told she might get the part if she and Forsyth got along.
Ebertfest: That's a wrap
Monday, April 28, 2008
CHAMPAIGN – The 10th annual Roger Ebert's Film Festival at the Virginia Theatre ended on an emotional but upbeat note, with Chaz Ebert bidding farewell and blowing kisses to the audience as her absent husband listened in over her speakerphone.
"You know I miss Roger," she said as she walked back and forth on the stage, addressing the balcony and main floor. "I want to go back to Roger and tell him about the festival. I'm taking the images back of you so I can share them with Roger in Chicago."
Director, distributor 'bask' in warm Virginia Theatre reception
Sunday, April 27, 2008
When film consultant Hannah Fisher saw Israeli writer-director Eran Kolirin's directorial debut, "The Band's Visit," at the Cannes Film Festival, she "flat fell in love with it."
The first film showing Jews and Arabs relating together as human beings, it's filled with "much tenderness and humanity," she said Saturday at Roger Ebert's Film Festival, after "The Band's Visit" was shown.
They don't make 'em like that any more
Sunday, April 27, 2008
James Bond, not the actor but one of the projectionists for Roger Ebert's Film Festival at the Virginia Theater, said working in film has become a luxury for most filmmakers.
"It's almost to the point now where there's not even a choice," Bond said Thursday between films. "People have to work in the digital domain, at least the young, independent market."
Biopic rooted in writer-director's notion of suicidal glory
Sunday, April 27, 2008
CHAMPAIGN – Like many young men, Paul Schrader once was enamored of the notion of suicidal glory.
"As a young man, I totally bought into it," the director and screenwriter said early Saturday morning at Roger Ebert's Film Festival after his biopic, "Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters," was screened.
Academy Award winning director, UI grad returns to town
Sunday, April 27, 2008
CHAMPAIGN – Director Ang Lee returned triumphant to his alma mater on Saturday, receiving a standing ovation at Roger Ebert's Film Festival after he first walked on stage, along with a surprise serenade of "Illinois Loyalty"" by the a cappella group The Other Guys.
Lee smiled, nodded and clapped. He thanked Chaz Ebert, who had introduced him as a leading filmmaker who apparently had come out of nowhere, and the audience.
"I'm so proud to be a Fighting Illini," said the 1980 graduate of the UI Department of Theatre and one of the world's leading filmmakers.
Moving film took writer-director home – and audience with him
Saturday, April 26, 2008
CHAMPAIGN – Chaz Ebert said Friday at Roger Ebert's Film Festival at the Virginia Theatre that she had promised earlier in the week not to cry over her husband's absence from the event.
"It's allowed to cry over the movies," she said after Jeff Nichols's "Shotgun Stories" was screened.
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