Recapping Another Ebertfest Expedition, Coinciding with Record Store Day in Champaign-Urbana

Last weekend, as I have now for 5 of the past 6 years, I traveled down to Champaign-Urbana to attend Ebertfest.

Developed and long-curated by the late film critic--who was born and raised in Urbana and graduated from the University of Illinois--Roger Ebert's Film Festival runs from Wednesday through Sunday at the historic Virginia Theater in Champaign, but as has typically been my wont, I ventured down I-57 to attend movies only on Saturday.

(In recalling that last year, I went down on Wednesday to see Steve James' great documentary about Ebert--Life Itself--on opening night (as well as films on Thursday) I'm saddened to note today's passing of TIME magazine's renowned film critic, Richard Corliss, who was featured prominently in Life Itself.)

I don't know why I didn't catch on to going to Ebertfest--originally officially dubbed Roger Ebert Overlooked Film Festival--years earlier, but I'm glad I saw Roger himself there in 2010 and 2011, even if he had already been robbed of speech by the cancer that took his jaw and eventually his life.

Accompanied by longtime festival director Nate Kohn and a dedicated staff connected to the university, Roger's wife Chaz has done a remarkably admirable job in continuing the fest and serving as host, including in 2013 just 2 weeks after Roger's death. It is a testament to her, as well as her late husband, that not only movie lovers, but noted directors and actors, continue to make C-U an April destination.

For me, along with the chance to soak in the spirit of a man I so admired, and see movies still largely congruent with the "overlooked" conceit Roger championed, going to Ebertbest also allows for a pleasant visit with Jordan, my best friend since kindergarten, and his wife Erin.

Their hospitality not only adds to the fun of attending Ebertfest--this year abetted by seeing a couple bands featuring friends of Jordan playing for free on Record Store Day--but abets my logistics.

Without having to worry about lodging availability or costs, I comfortably drove down on Friday afternoon and headed back north after brunch on Sunday.

Although timewise I could have fit in seeing A Bronx Tale on Friday night, with Chazz Palminteri on hand as a special guest--and now know, via YouTube, that his Q&A was moderated by Richard Roeper and Leonard Maltin--I was happy to spend the evening with Jordan & Erin, watching a soccer game and then the Blackhawks. (Not only did I expect to be able to see Palminteri on YouTube, but I'd seen him in a stage-performance of A Bronx Tale as well as the movie. Most, if not all, Ebertfest Q&A's can be found on YouTube, including one from Thursday night with actor Jason Segal, who was there for The End of the Tour, a film about another late & legendary Urbananite, novelist David Foster Wallace.)

The first movie I saw on Saturday was Wild Tales, an Argentinean black comedy by director Damián Szifrón.

In Spanish with subtitles, the film is comprised of six separate vignettes, with different actors and no common thread except for a revenge theme and--per the title--visually exuberant storytelling.

Struck by the common language of film, I was reminded of Roberto Rossellini's masterful Paisan, a 1946 Italian film that I'd only watched recently. It likewise features six distinct vignettes--as opposed to more linearly episodic films like La Dolce Vita and Holy Motors--albeit about war and far from the comedy that Wild Tales is.

So even as he's no longer alive, Roger Ebert continues to be responsible for much of what I know about cinema.

I think my favorite of the "wild tales" was one starring Ricardo Darin (of the great Argentinean film, The Secret in Their Eyes) as an explosives expert who becomes enraged at bureaucratic injustices such as being towed from an unmarked tow-zone and nevertheless having no option but to pay the fine. Without giving away any specifics, I think you might be able to imagine where this narrative might lead.

Although Szifrón's fertile imagination leads to several LOL moments--and a few rather gross scenes--what makes Wild Tales really work is an underlying realism in the scenarios to which most audience members can likely relate.

The director was not listed as a special guest alongside actress Julieta Zylberberg and casting director Javier Braier, but joined the Q&A via a Skype hookup that was occasionally technically troubled but still a nice touch.

You can watch the full Wild Tales Q&A here.

And if you have Netflix, you can actually watch the next two movies that were shown at Ebertfest on Saturday.

I didn't attend the 2:00pm showing of Ida, in part because I wanted to hang out with Jordan & Erin and see Lonely Trailer perform for Record Store Day at Exile on Main Street (more on this below), but also because no special guests were cited as accompanying the Polish film that I have seen twice.

I cited Ida as the best new movie I saw in 2014, and it's one of the best I've seen in recent years, so I highly recommend it, but didn't feel I needed to spend the time or $14 watching it again at Ebertfest. There was a Q&A with critics who contribute to RogerEbert.com, which you can watch on YouTube.

Despite skipping the 2:00pm screening, I nonetheless had trouble staying awake for the 5:00 movie, The Motel Life.

This isn't a condemnation of the film, directed by Chicago area brothers Alan and Gabe Polsky, which I was able to watch--it's only 85 minutes long--Sunday night on Netflix.

Still, even while awake, I would say I more liked than loved The Motel Life, which revolves around two hardscrabble brothers, well-played by Emile Hirsch and Stephen Dorff.

The brothers, who largely live together in motels, are forced to bond together even more so in refuge after a tragedy involving Dorff's character.

I would say it's worth a watch on Netflix, and being a bit over-ambitious in my ability to take in 3 movies in a day at Ebertfest has become something of a tradition that I don't even mind.

But while Alan Polsky participated in a Q&A (available here), Stephen Dorff was a no-show despite being listed in the program, which was only explained when an audience member queried the director.

So like anything else, film festivals have their highs and lows, and this was a relatively minor low.

Plus, being brief even with the Q&A, The Motel Life enabled me to easily catch another free Record Store Day, this time featuring Bookmobile!, before Jordan and Erin accompanied me to the 9:00pm film, 99 Homes.

The movie is directed by Ramin Bahrani (Wikipedia), a terrific young director of Iranian descent who was born (and I believe raised) in North Carolina.

Roger Ebert gave all four of Bahrani's feature films that he lived to see his pinnacle 4-star rating, and in this review of 2009's Goodbye Solo, called him "the great new American director."

With Roger being a great champion of Ramin's, the two became friends; Bahrani has attended several Ebertfests--this was my first time seeing him--and got substantive screen time in Life Itself.

Although I think I would give 99 Homes @@@@1/2 (out of 5)--as with Wild Tales, and perhaps @@@@ to The Motel Life--my guess is that Ebert would bestow his very highest rating.

While taste is certainly subjective--Jordan wasn't wowed by 99 Homes--the director is one of few making socially commentative films reflective of the challenges and injustices faced by many Americans, something I've oft rued as being far too lacking.

In 99 Homes, the always terrific Michael Shannon is again here as an arrogant real estate broker who has made a fortune by flipping homes that have been foreclosed upon. As the film opens, he accompanies two Florida sheriffs in evicting a construction worker played by Andrew Garfield from the house he shares with his mom (Laura Dern) and son (Noah Lomax, who was at Ebertfest along with Bahrani).

With its cinematic release not coming until this fall--after a brief film festival circuit--I don't think I'm giving too much away to reveal that after understandable indignation, through a creative twist Garfield's character becomes an associate of Shannon's. Essentially, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

But this is where the story begins, not where it ends, and the film is poignant not only for Garfield's struggle with what he has become--while faced with few better options--but for its depiction of people being kicked out of their homes. (In some cases, Bahrani employs real people, not professional actors, to embody the homeowners.)

I was reminded of Michael Moore's documentary, Capitalism: A Love Story, where similar scenes--and even a predator similar to Shannon's character--were depicted in a non-fictional way.

Though I haven't revisited any of Bahrani's films after initially seeing them, I think I'm still most partial to the first two, Man Push Cart and Chop Shop, which have a strikingly unique tonality, different than most Hollywood films.

Understandably, as Bahrani has gained acclaim, his subsequent Goodbye Solo and especially At Any Price and now 99 Homes have felt more like bigger budget--as opposed to Indie, but still relatively small--films with known stars. As such, they lack the glossless appeal of his first two movies, but as I believe Ebert would proclaim, the director is still doing things better than most.

Though not amazingly revelatory, Bahrani's Q&A was probably the best of the three I sat through on Saturday, and is also available on YouTube.

Although Ebertfest itself doesn't offer much in the way of activities beyond the movie screenings--a few catering trucks and an underwhelming book/gift shop are about it--because of Jordan & Erin, coming down for the fest is always pleasurable for me well beyond the Virginia balcony.

Although I generally tend to like variety, I somehow prefer to be a habitual creature in Champaign-Urbana, and last weekend happily visited several places I've been to numerous times before (many being favorites of my hosts as well).

These include the Esquire Lounge, Mike & Molly's, Mirabelle (a fantastic bakery), the Jane Addams Book Shop and the Courier Cafe for Sunday brunch. We also, repeatedly, drove past Roger Ebert's childhood Urbana home, which is close to where Jordan & Erin live.

Once again, Jordan gave me a driving tour through much of the University of Illinois campus, and the nearby campus town, noting the newfound--and ongoing--glut of glitzy private student residence buildings, including high rises taller than had previously existed. On Green Street, there are now mostly national retail chains, rather than the localized (and sometimes orange-and-blue clad) businesses I remembered from visits over the years. (I attended NIU, but came down to see Jordan during and since our college days.)

I didn't actually make it to a Steak 'n Shake--not such an objective as there are now suburban Chicago locations, unlike years ago--but as the chain was a favorite of Ebert's, it was nice to see a SnS food truck outside the Virginia Theatre.

And yes, Virginia, I did partake.

Fortunately, unlike at least a couple previous years, Ebertfest weekend in Champaign didn't coincide with the Champaign Marathon.

Though the race always made for more of a theoretical hindrance than a real one, it was nice not to have to worry about avoiding the marathon route on the way to the movies.

Less cumbersome, if really just mentally, was Saturday also happening to be Record Store Day, across the nation (world?) and celebrated in Champaign at Exile on Main Street (as well as presumably, Record Service, which we didn't get to).

A pretty good record store with new and used merchandise, Exile on Main Street has now relocated just off Main Street in Champaign into the old train station (as opposed to both the new and oldest train station, all in a row along the tracks).

In commemoration of Record Store Day, Exile on Main Street had local bands playing every half-hour, alternating performances in the store with those on a nearby concourse.

I have long known of Jordan's affinity for Lonely Trailer, a band that began in the '80s and includes two good friends of his named Brian.

It was fun to see them play an afternoon set, especially as their power drowned out a freight train rolling by on the tracks above.

In the evening, we were able to catch a hard-driving punk set from Bookmobile!--featuring Jordan & Erin's friend Trevor--who must have played at least 20 songs in 30 minutes. 

All in all, it all worked out rather well.

Good movies, the typically pleasant Ebertfest vibe, cherished places, satisfying food, great friends, free music.

Thumbs up all around.

I hope to be back. Roger that.

A Year After Roger's Death, Ebertfest a Celebration of Life Itself

"When I go to the movies, I have an out-of-body experience. If the movie is working for me, to some degree I am that person on the screen. I forget my social security number, I don't know where I parked my car, I am having vicariously an experience that happened to someone else, and that makes me a better person--or it can make me a better person.

I sincerely believe that to see good films, and to see important films, is one of the most profoundly civilizing experiences that we can have as people."

-- Roger Ebert
   From a video clip screened before every film
   at the 16th Annual Roger Ebert's Film Festival
   in Champaign, Illinois April 23-27, 2014

In 1997, Roger Ebert--at that point well-known as the longtime film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times and co-host of a syndicated movie review TV show (under various names) with his Chicago Tribune counterpart, Gene Siskel--hosted a screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey at the Virginia Theater in Champaign, IL, near the campus of his alma mater, the University of Illinois. This correlated to a connection between the U of I and 2001's HAL computer, which you can read about on Wikipedia.

After that screening, per suggestions from the school, Ebert began an annual film festival at the venue, which is also close to Roger's hometown of Urbana. 

It was initially dubbed Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival, as Ebert hand-picked movies that he felt deserved greater attention. 

Although my best friend has long lived in Urbana and I've visited him and his wife in many different years, I never thought to travel to the festival until 2010.

That was a few years after cancer and several unsuccessful jaw surgeries had left Roger disfigured and unable to eat, drink or speak. 

By that time, "Overlooked" was dropped from the title of Roger Ebert's Film Festival and it seemingly became more colloquially known simply as "Ebertfest." (Festival website)

According to Wikipedia, this didn't really reflect a change in philosophy so much as eliminated the need for explanation when films that didn't exactly fit the definition of "overlooked"--such as movies shown prior to their official release--were included.

But in my mind, simplifying the name just more directly honored the hometown hero, especially as he courageously faced daunting health challenges.

In the face of those challenges, Ebert astonishingly increased the volume of his voice, even though unable to speak.

While writing even more movie reviews than he had before, Roger became a prolific blogger about many personal and social issues, utilized Facebook and Twitter better than anyone else I've yet observed and wrote an acclaimed biography, Life Itself (which I haven't read in full).

In other words, by the time of his death on April 4, 2013, Roger Ebert had gone from a highly popular, esteemed and Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic famous for his harangues with Siskel--who died in 1999--to one of America's most astute and important social commentators, one who I sorely miss. Though I also acutely miss him as a film critic, for there is no other reviewer I read and respect with regularity.

Ebert also came to serve as the epitome of a public figure dealing with a debilitating, disfiguring illness with the utmost in dignity, courage, grace and openness.

Not only did he continue to write, more and--by many accounts--better than ever, but through a cover story in Esquire magazine, an interview with Oprah, appearances at Ebertfest (where I saw him in 2010 & 2011) and even a book signing I was lucky enough to attend, Roger was not afraid to show his mangled, jawless face, which amazingly always seemed to have a smile on it.

This transparency continued with the filming of a documentary based on his autobiography, Life Itself. Acclaimed director Steve James (Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters) didn't begin with thoughts he would be documenting the last month's of Roger's life, but rather recapping Ebert's impressive career, compelling biography, inspiring perseverance and the love & support of his remarkable wife, Chaz.

But more bad news about the recurrence of cancer continued to get worse during James' filming, and yet Roger and Chaz continued to let the cameras capture many scenes that would be hard for anyone to watch even had Ebert remained alive.

And though Chaz bravely emceed Ebertfest last year, just three weeks after Roger had died, opening the 16th Annual Roger Ebert's Film Festival 2014 with Life Itself was incredibly poignant, touching, sad, celebratory, inspirational and also a truly magnificent movie. 

The festival has typically run from Wednesday night through Sunday afternoon, but though I had attended Ebertfest in 2010, 2011 and 2013, I had always gone down to Champaign-Urbana merely in time to catch a couple movies on Saturday.

Certainly I missed out on many great movies, and top tier special guests who would speak both before their films and more extensively after, but I just enjoyed being there, for the movies I did see, the experience and to pay homage to its host and namesake. (Though last year this became just the latter, Chaz has continued on as a wonderful host.)

This is true again in 2014, but instead of going on the weekend--when there was also a marathon happening in town--I decided to get there for the opening of the fest, and Life Itself.

I'm glad I did.

I would give the documentary @@@@@, and the same to Short Term 12, the second of three films I saw on Thursday before heading home Friday morning.

That 2013 movie stars Brie Larson, who gives an outstanding performance as a young supervisor of a group home for troubled kids.

Larson was at Ebertfest for the screening along with co-star Keith Stanfield, enthusiastically snapped pictures of the audience to share with her director (Destin Daniel Cretton) and participated in a couple of panel discussions at the Illini Student Union, which I didn't attend.

Almost all of the movie introductions by Chaz, post-show Q&A sessions and panel discussions can be viewed through the Ebertfest YouTube Channel.

So in addition to the guests I saw live--including James, Larson, Stanfield, director Jem Cohen of the movie Museum Hours and comedian Patton Oswalt, who accompanied Young Adult--I've now watched director Bennett Miller discuss Capote starring his close friend Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Spike Lee who was there in part to salute Ebert for being an early champion of Do the Right Thing. I also intend to watch Ebert friend and favorite, Ramin Bahrani, who directed fest selection Goodbye Solo, and Oliver Stone, who was there with Born on the Fourth of July.

It was certainly fun to see the hilarious Oswalt speak at length about Young Adult and his reverence for Ebert, who (to paraphrase) "inspired young actors and filmmakers in a way Velvet Underground and early Metallica demo tapes had spawned a new crop of rock musicians."

I didn't much care for one of Oswalt's rather humorless interviewers, and while I never saw a healthy Ebert serve as a moderator for his guests, I perceive the post-show discussions as an area in which the ongoing festival needs to improve.

I clearly can forgive Chaz for being overcome with emotion after Life Itself, but too many of the conversations felt slapdash or just not all that interesting.

Meaning no disrespect, this included the one with Jem Cohen, whose Museum Hours is a quality film, but a bit too slow and non-narrative for me to really love. And I was truly hoping to, given that it revolves around a security guard at Vienna's Kunsthiorisches art museum, which I visited last summer.

In full disclosure, I had trouble staying awake during the 1:00pm Thursday screening, but I suspect that may be more causal than coincidental, given that I was fine for the later showings of Short Term 12 and Young Adult.

But despite this being the first Ebertfest that Roger had no part in programming, Museum Hours felt like a movie he would have enjoyed and endorsed. (RogerEbert.com contributor Kevin Lee certainly did, and was part of the post-show discussion.)

Thus I valued seeing it at Ebertfest, even if I can't say I loved it on a first viewing. For now I'll give it @@@1/2.  

I had seen Young Adult once before, and think Charlize Theron (along with Oswalt) is terrific in it, and not quite as despicable as often described in playing a prom queen who cluelessly returns to her hometown in hopes of reprising a high school romance. I'd probably give it @@@@.

Even with some better than others, all 4 movies I saw, plus Do the Right Thing, Capote, Goodbye Solo and Born on the Fourth of July, which I've seen previously, definitely deserve a Thumbs Up. (I also hope to soon see another fest entry, Wadjda, from Saudi Arabia.)

Though not huge hits, and the sort of movies made too infrequently now, Do the Right Thing and Born on the Fourth of July probably can't be considered overlooked. And Steve James is still prepping Life Itself for a theatrical release.

But even without Roger's warmhearted acuity in identifying films deserving of greater attention, and perhaps an increasing inclusion of big names and better-known movies, Roger Ebert's Film Festival should be in good hands for years to come, namely those of Chaz Ebert and Festival Director Nate Kohn.

For more than any other theme or rationale for inclusion, it seems the movies of Ebertfest 2014 were predominantly about, appropriately, life itself.

And if this continues in future years, as I have to imagine it will, the incredible spirit of Roger Ebert will live on.

And not just at the movies. 

From the Balcony, Spirit of Namesake on Heartwarming Display at Ebertfest

Roger Ebert was born in Urbana, IL on June 18, 1942.

After years of bravely facing cancer and disfigurement, the loss of his speaking voice and ability to eat, and following a year in which he wrote more movie reviews than ever before in his life, Roger Ebert passed away on April 4. 

On April 8, he was buried.

On April 20, his wife of 20 years, Chaz, opened the day's events at Ebertfest in Champaign by walking on-stage with actress Tilda Swinton--who was the special guest at the previous evening's screening.

Saying something like, "Tilda insisted we do this, because it's what happens at film festivals in Scotland,"--and according to this article, keeping a promise Tilda had made the night before--Chaz called everyone in the Virginia Theatre to their feet, pumped a Barry White song over the historic theater's speakers and, as Swinton proceeded into the audience to lead a conga line, Chaz Ebert stayed onstage.

And she danced.

It was one of the most amazing, and heartwarming, things I've ever seen.



As was the movie that followed, a 2012 black-and-white silent film from Spain called Blancanieves. 

The title translates to Snow White and brings the Brothers Grimm fairy tale--not so much the Disney movie--into 1920s Andalusia.

If, after a cinematic year that saw--though I didn't see--Snow White and the Huntsman and Mirror Mirror, plus the ongoing TV show Once Upon a Time, you may be thinking "I've had all the Snow I need for awhile," you'll be missing out on a truly unique and special film, about which Chaz instantly said:

"That is the most beautiful movie I've ever seen."

I'm told Blancanieves will have a limited release in Chicago soon, so it'll be a good while until it turns up on Netflix or in your local library, but I suggest you keep an eye out for it.

Being a latter-day silent film, it certainly reminds in some ways of The Artist, but its sensibilities also made me think of Pan's Labyrinth (with a shared star, the lovely, but not so nice here, Maribel Verdú).

The movie was made, over 8 years, by Pablo Berger, who both introduced it at Ebertfest and participated in a Q&A afterwards, moderated by film historian David Bordwell.

Given audience comments about how wonderful the movie's score is--composed by Alfonso de Vilallonga--Berger adroitly suggested that it should  more accurately be called a "music film," rather than a silent one.

Reflecting on a much-cited line from Ebert's autobiography, Life Itself--"We must try to contribute joy to the world"--which was reprinted on a remembrance card handed out at Ebertfest, Berger said that is why he makes films.

And it certainly felt to me that this is a man who directs movies primarily because he loves to tell stories (rather than, overtly, to make money), something Ebert strongly championed for years.

Whereas The Artist was a love letter to Hollywood's silent film era, Blancanieves is, as Berger confirmed, a love letter to silent European cinema.

And in watching it, it was easy to see why Roger Ebert loved it so much.

I can also imagine what Roger appreciated about Escape From Tomorrow, a film shot guerilla-style at Walt Disney World and Disneyland by director Randy Moore, who was on-hand with a collaborator and three of the film's actors.

But while the film has an interesting premise and was quite funny in parts, I didn't like it nearly as much as Blancanieves.

Of course, it didn't help that those of us in the standby line weren't let into the 5:00pm screening until 5:20pm. Films at Ebertfest rarely start right on time, with Chaz--and in past years, Roger--typically providing a nice introduction, but I know I missed at least 5 minutes of Escape From Tomorrow, if not more, after waiting in line for an hour.

Thus I opted not to bother trying to get into Saturday's 9:00pm film, The Spectacular Now, directed by James Ponsoldt and starring Shailene Woodley (The Descendants), both of whom were on hand.

That was fine, as part of the fun of Ebertfest for me is that it allows me to visit my longtime friends, Jordan and Erin, who live just blocks from the Urbana house in which Roger grew up.

So while Ebertfest, or the world for that matter, will never quite be the same without Roger Ebert, it was nice to see that through the town, the university, the movies and the woman he so clearly and dearly loved, his spirit will live on.

Thumbs up, indeed.