Category: TV & Movies

San Diego Comic-Con takes place in the Gas Lamp downtown district. In the blocks between the San Diego Convention Center and Horton Plaza, San Diego becomes a costume party (for families by day and by adults by night) this weekend, and, for the lucky, “this weekend” begins on Wednesday night.

I’ve already packed my props. I’m now packing my shoes (comfy but fun) and pulling out my costumes. Since I’m working while slipping through the costumed crowd crush at the San Diego Convention Center, I’m dressed as the dragon lady. This year I have dragon shoes as well as Storm Trooper shoes (although I’m leaving my light saber at home).

If you didn’t get passes to this year’s SDCC, you can still have Comic-Con fun. There are a lot of participatory experiences meant to advertise old and new TV series or already open, opening soon or celebrating some anniversary movies at the Petco Park Interactive Zone. Love taking selfies? This is selfie opportunity time in a major way. This is a celebration of self-involvement.

Paramount Pictures brings the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” experience. You can take a photo to share, watch a trailer and go on a Pizza Hut pizza hunt.

FOX will …read more

This write-up will be neither as eventful as Jordan Hoffman’s nor as melancholic as Alexandra Zawia’s.

This year’s Jerusalem Film Festival took place from July 10-20. International journalists were encouraged to attend the first seven days, but I made the mistake of picking the last seven days, and in doing so ensured that I would be at an event when there were no events planned for me. I also missed the most inadvertently bombastic incidents at the festival’s opening. Not once did I see a contrail lighten up the sky; never did I hear an air raid siren; no one asked me to move to any shelter.

In comparison, my experience was rather confusing. I wafted through a festival that seemed anything but festive. Not because the people were glum–if anything, the cheerfulness of Jerusalemites during apparent war is eerie–but because the swirling details of real life colluded to make one feel as if sitting in the Jerusalem Cinematheque–the festival centre–and munching on popcorn was inhumane.

The news cycle played havoc with the event schedule to the extent that each new email brought about a drastic change in plans. The Italian Cultural Institute had an event planned to honor Cannes Grand …read more

If you’ve seen Steve James’ masterful “Life Itself” and have been curious about reading the memoir on which it is based, we have a treat for you: Roger Ebert’s book (in ebook form) will be on sale at BarnesandNoble.com for only $3.99 for the next week: July 21-28. The online retailer has chosen the book as a part of its “Smart Summer Reading” program and so we thought we’d take this opportunity to reprint the excerpt that Roger ran just before the book’s release in 2011. Head on over and get your own copy and click here to find out how to see the movie.

I was born inside the movie of my life. The visuals were before me, the audio surrounded me, the plot unfolded inevitably but not necessarily. I don’t remember how I got into the movie, but it continues to entertain me. At first the frames flicker without connection, as they do in Bergman’s Persona after the film breaks and begins again. I am flat on my stomach on the front sidewalk, my eyes an inch from a procession of ants. What these are I do not know. It is the only sidewalk in my …read more

Laughter and warmth were palpable throughout NBC Studios when Chaz Ebert made her appearance last Friday, July 18^th, on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” It was one of the most anticipated stops on her promotional tour for Steve James’ acclaimed documentary, “Life Itself,” based on Roger Ebert’s 2011 memoir of the same name, and the trip did not disappoint. The film’s candid footage of Roger and his invaluable TV pundit, Gene Siskel, sparring between takes of a promo shoot scored big laughs with the studio audience, though that was only one of the night’s many highlights.

Nostalgia inevitably flowed into the conversation, as Chaz explained how advice columnist Ann Landers first introduced her to Roger, and accompanied the story with her own Landers impression. She also recalled Roger’s initial skepticism regarding Twitter and the unbridled enthusiasm with which he ultimately sought to master it, finding new ways to inject wit and insight into 140 characters. “He used to tweet like a teenager,” Chaz reminisced. Her presence on Friday’s show was especially poignant, considering that the day marked her and Roger’s 22^nd anniversary.

With a genial self-deprecation typical of his comic persona, …read more

Editor’s Note: This is one person’s view with recommended films that represent a range of perspectives as an invitation to constructive dialogue, and we welcome respectful comments. Given the sensitivity of the issues, we will remove any comments we find inappropriate. And we invite other people who are familiar with the films that address these issues to develop their own lists for us to publish.

PART 1: INTRODUCTION AND VIEWING LIST

This series presents the situation in four installments. First, we will explore religious films. Second, we will survey attempts at good will
and attempts at hostility. Third, we
will explore Israel from the perspective of pro-Israeli filmmakers. Fourth, we will explore Palestine from the
perspective of pro-Palestinian filmmakers.

I am selecting films that are easily available, guiding you
through the multiple narratives that inform the various outlooks on this
region. When students ask me whose side I am on, my answer is simple: I am on
the side of the people. Palestinian. Israeli. Christian. Jewish. Muslim.
Non-believer. I am not as compassionate toward the Policymakers.

A number of recent events compelled this series. Right now, we are witnessing what some call a
war and others call a siege. Israeli
Defense Forces and Hamas are firing on each other, …read more

1.

“Movie, television legend James Garner dies at 86”: The Associated Press posted this obit last night following the death of the iconic actor on Saturday, July 19th. Related: Emily Yahr of The Washington Post compiles a series of online tributes made to Garner, while Peter Sobczynski of RogerEbert.com urges readers to rent the actor’s 1964 anti-war satire, “The Americanization of Emily” (right now!).

“There’s no better display of Garner’s everyman majesty than the NBC series ‘The Rockford Files’ (1974-80). He played an L.A. private eye and wrongly jailed ex-con who seemed to rarely get paid, or even get thanks, for the cases he took, while helplessly getting drawn into trouble to help someone who was neither a client nor maybe even a friend. He lived in a trailer with an answering machine that, in the show’s opening titles, always took a message that had nothing to do with a paying job, but more often was a complaining call from a cranky creditor. Through it all, Jim Rockford, however down on his luck, persevered hopefully. He wore the veneer of a cynic, but led with his heart. Putting all that on screen was Garner’s magic.”

“From …read more