The Columbine massacre was on this date in 1999. Instead of energizing our country to get gun violence under control, it kicked off a new normal. One of the best explanations ever of journalism's destructive impact on mass shootings came from Roger Ebert in his review of Gus Van Sant’s “Elephant.”
Don't be fooled by the pedigree: Prime Video's adult animated sitcom KEVIN is a messy, unfunny pile of millennial malaise with a way-overqualified voice cast (Amy Sedaris? JOHN WATERS?!?!) and creaky jokes about cat buttholes.
For @ebertvoices.bsky.social: www.rogerebert.com/streaming/ke...
A forever thank you to Roger Ebert for everything.
@ebertvoices.bsky.social
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"Unfortunately, by the end of the first season’s eight episodes, you’ll find yourself wanting the show to be put to sleep,” writes @@clintworthing.bsky.social about Prime Video’s KEVIN.
“Joel Alfonso Vargas’ eye places viewers directly into the beautiful mess of its characters, reminding us that there’s nothing more powerful in cinema than bearing empathetic witness,” writes @zacharylee.bsky.social about MAD BILLS TO PAY.
"As a performer, Jackie Chan is clearly enjoying himself. He remains a wonderfully charismatic screen presence … the dialogue, at least as presented in the subtitles, is clunky and pedestrian,” writes @nellminow.bsky.social about PANDA PLAN 2: THE MAGICAL TRIBE.
"On a narrative, emotional, and philosophical level, it's a very active film; it just happens to be contained.”
@zacharylee.bsky.social spoke with Steven Soderbergh about THE CHRISTOPHERS, artistic legacy, & stress testing new technologies:
"The violence is pretty graphic, and some of it is played for laughs, which would be distasteful if the laughs didn’t actually land. Oh well. Sometimes you enjoy a movie, and you don’t feel good about it in the morning,” writes @glennkenny.bsky.social about NORMAL.
"The fury of Ariana Osborne’s performance, nonetheless, keeps MĀRAMA a worthy anti-colonialist statement that harnesses the symbolic virtues of genre cinema for its understandably virulent tone,” writes @carlosfilm.bsky.social.
“It instantly offers a breath of fresh air about what it means to pursue one’s passion for writing about the arts while being a woman,” writes @tomilaffly.bsky.social about MILE END KICKS.
“If you are one of those hardcore fans who have gobbled up every bit of existing ephemera over the decades, you are likely to come away from it feeling slightly disappointed by the pro forma tone that permeates the entire project,” writes @petersob13.bsky.social about LORNE.
“This is a lo-fi odyssey across Warsaw that fully integrates its grungy surroundings into vivid images of forlorn lovers navigating clumsily toward and away from one another,” writes @812filmreviews.com about ERUPCJA.
“The raising route it takes to get its protagonist to a spot of tentative complacency is memorable and eye-opening,” writes @glennkenny.bsky.social about EAGLES OF THE REPUBLIC.
You will be missed!
Fatih Akin's delicate WWII coming-of-age story AMRUM may have the brief of "What if Terrence Malick directed JOJO RABBIT?" But it's a lot more delicate than that, even as its airlessness sometimes hobbles its tale of innocence lost.
For @ebertvoices.bsky.social:
www.rogerebert.com/reviews/amru...
"It’s a film whose tranquility and humility sometimes work against it, even in those moments where it overcorrects with didacticism,” writes @@clintworthing.bsky.social about AMRUM.
"It’s a film that sparks to life in some of its darkly humorous beats like a wake gone bloodily awry, but those moments are too few and far between for an overlong study in how to abuse an audience,” writes @briantallerico.bsky.social about LEE CRONIN’S THE MUMMY.
"It’s also a reminder of the power of filmmaking to turn the deeply personal into relatable art, and an announcement of a major talent, one who has made the best film of the year to date,” writes @briantallerico.bsky.social in his 4/4 star review of BLUE HERON.
"May this ‘Last Dance' finale for Ebertfest, that Roger Ebert graciously brought to our community, be a celebratory, full-house, lovefest,” Ray Elliott reflects about the festival’s last edition. Taking place from April 17-18:
"One of this era’s best ensembles digs into the witty repartee and complex characters provided by Lee’s writer’s room, leaving you wondering who is to blame and who to root for,” writes @briantallerico.bsky.social in praise of BEEF Season 2.
"Every time the writing gets frustrating on a critical level, the sheer momentum of the piece keeps you engaged,” writes @briantallerico.bsky.social about the fourth season of FROME.
Now on digital VOD, I loved chatting with UNDERTONE director Ian Tuason & star Nina Kiri on the film’s spiritual wavelength and how they created a horror film that explores the reality that we’ll always care for our loved ones imperfectly. For @ebertvoices.bsky.social:
"Savor the laughs, though, because there aren’t too many more where those came from,” writes @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social about BALLS UP.
Assistant Editor @clintworthing.bsky.social spoke with JURY DUTY: COMPANY RETREAT star Anthony Norman about the ins and outs of his surreal experience, whether he ever suspected anything was up for the reunion episode, and how he responds to people calling his everyman integrity heroic:
BLUE HERON “is a major film, one of the best of 2025, and an announcement of the deep talent of its writer/director." - @ebertvoices.bsky.social
Opens Fri, April 17! Be here for Q&As with director Sophie Romvari + actor Amy Zimmer on Thursday, Friday and Saturday!
ifccenter.com/films/blue-h...
One of the most divisive movies of the year bout to drop.
