Ebertfesting

It's Ebertfest time here in Champaign-Urbana, and usually I spend the week watching movies and then typing about them as fast as I can afterward. I'm taking a break this year, because it is very exhausting and I decided to just enjoy the festival this year.

But I did agree to do one day of regurgitation for Smile Politely, which was yesterday's batch of movies. It's available here.

Now, back to the Virginia for more fun.

Ebertfest 2009 Coverage

Well, it's back to real life, as Ebertfest 11 has ended, the family needs attention, and everything that was put on hold "until after Ebertfest" is now back with a vengeance. Also, swine flu has apparently taken over the world.

For posterity, here are my entries at Smile Politely and The Unofficial Ebertfest blog:

Ebertfest Day 1: Groovy, man
Ebertfest Day 2
It’s a wrap: Ebertfest 11 summary
The message of Baraka
Ebertfest day, what day is it again? 4?

Splog posts:
Roger Ebert, Rod Lurie and Matt Dillon at the Virginia Theatre
Waiting in line at Ebertfest, Saturday edition
What really happens in Ebertfest lines
Ebertfest begins


And, here's the rest of Smile Politely's coverage, from our able team of on-the-spot reporters:

Escapism of the finest sort at Ebertfest
Ebertfest Day 5: Noncommittal filmmakers and one fan’s overview
Ebertfest Day 4: Vishnu and vampires and reporters, oh my!
Ebertfest Day 3: of poignancy, rumbles, and tattoo imposters
Rod Lurie chats with Chuck Koplinski
Exclusive interview with Karen Gehres’, director of Begging Naked
Two Ebertfest Q&A videos from Let the Right One In

EbertFest 10

I haven't gone away - just busying doing EbertFest 2008 blogging. I'll even keep a running list to prove it:

EbertFest 2008 Wrapup
Shotgun Stories
Hamlet and Opening Night
The Clapping
Day Two
Best Golden Thumb Quote Ever
Who is EbertFest For?

Update: Well, it's over for another year. I'm already going through withdrawal. I didn't watch a movie for the entire day yesterday, and it somehow felt wrong.

In Honor of EbertFest

Three Things:

1. EbertFest begins tonight with a four hour showing of Kenneth Branaugh's Hamlet. I've read the cliff notes, and am ready to go. As usual, I'll be posting EbertFest thoughts over the next few days at the Unofficial EbertFest Blog, with my friend PG.

2. My weekly column at Smile Politely is up, and is really just a rewrite of an EbertFest post I did last year: The Quintessential Ebertfest Film.

3. Finally, in honor of EbertFest (and film in general), here are two clips that reveal how the current political fights being waged are really just movies.


Hillary as Tracy Flick:




Obama as Rocky:

EbertFest Beckons

The weather is finally gorgeous and spring is in full bloom. So, what better time to spend 5 straight days in a dark building with 1200 other people watching underappreciated movies?

Yes, it is EbertFest time again, and I'll be huddled in the Virginia Theater tomorrow night through Sunday, enjoying the festival. I'm also going to guest blog again at http://ebertfest.blogspot.com/ with some friends. However, this year I'm not going to try to post reviews for most of the festival movies like I did last year, which was simply too much work, and frankly, cut into my enjoyment of the movies. This year, I'll only post when the inspiration hits. That's probably good practice anyway.

I'll add links to this post (below) as I post them over at the ebertfest blog.

• EbertFest 9 Wrap Up
• Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
• Beyond the Valley of EbertFest
• Bust of a Day
• Come Early Morning
  
• La Dolce Vita
  
• Allan Rickman Interview
  
• Roger Ebert Fulfills Life-Long Dream
  
• Gattaca and Meritocracy
  
• The Quintessential EbertFest Film
  
• Overlooked No More
• 70mm Blues
  
  
  

EbertFest 8 2006

This week is EbertFest in Champaign-Urbana, which means for us movie buffs, all work comes to a screeching halt while we overdose on underappreciated films. See http://www.ebertfest.com for the official site.

Some friends of mine are doing an EbertFest blog this year, and they have graciously allowed me to soil their site with any random thoughts I may have about the movies or the festival. It is at http://ebertfest.blogspot.com/.

Mentioning this here is like building a pipeline between two dry lakes, but since virtual pipes in cyberspace are cheap and plentiful, there is no reason not to.

Update: Boy, this is exhausting, watching 3 films a day and trying to keep up with saying something even remotely interesting about them. But it is exhilirating as well. I'm happy to be included. I'm not going to cross-post any reviews here, so you'll need to go to http://ebertfest.blogspot.com/ to see them.

Last Update: Here are links to my EbertFest postings:

My Fair Lady Bucks Tradition
My Fair Lady And Joe Dimaggio
Man Push Sisyphus
Duane Hopwood
Spartan Comments About Spartan
Somebodies
Let The Eagle Soar (without me)
I Am Tired
Does CU Twinkle?
Junebug
Malkovich Plays Ripleys Game
I am a Sap for Millions
EbertFest 2006 Wrapup