R.I.P. Roger Ebert

It's a sad day as film critic Roger Ebert has passed away today at the age of 70. Ebert's passion for film has had a tremendous effect on cinephiles, critics and probably everyone that reads this site. Though he was lukewarm on "The Master" (which I'm pretty convinced might have changed if he had given it a second viewing), he's always been a supporter of Paul and his films. Watch all of his televised reviews of PTA's films below and leave your memories of the man in the comments. 

Movies That Made Us Critics

As you may have heard, Roger Ebert recently rebooted his "At The Movies" with co-hosts 24 year old Ignatiy Vishnevetsky and former AP critic Christy Lemire. To help introduce the pair, the two have recorded a series of videos on The Movies That Made Us Critics and Lemire has chosen "Magnolia" as one of her picks. She says of the film:

"Now, I saw MAGNOLIA when I was just staring out as a critic in 1999, and I found it really polarizing. People were either wowed by it, like I was, or they thought it was over-long and pretentious. It’s one of the first films that forced me to stand my ground, and here I stand today."

Hard to believe that was 11 years ago. You can watch the full video over at Ebert's site. (thanks Matt Martin!)

Interview: "Love At First Sight"

Chicago Sun Times, Written By Roger Ebert
October 13th, 2002


So there I am at the Toronto Film Festival, eyeing Adam Sandler across the room. He knows and I know that I have never given him a good review. That time we met backstage at Letterman, he was very decent, considering. He said he hoped that someday he would make something I liked. Now he has.

The movie is "Punch-Drunk Love," by Paul Thomas Anderson. The moment it was announced, I got a lot of e-mails from people asking what in the hell Anderson was thinking of, making an Adam Sandler movie. Such is the power of Sandler's presence that it didn't occur to them it might be a Paul Thomas Anderson movie. Now I have seen it, and can report that it is both: an Adam Sandler movie by Paul Thomas Anderson. Imagine a Tom Green movie by Martin Scorsese. No, that's easier.

August 11, 2000

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

Magnolia debuts at Number 4 on the Top 25 VHS Rental charts according to National Rental Revenue earning 7.22 million in rental revenue. It was also the 5th most rented title of the week. These numbers are for the week ending July 30th. I will keep you updated on its success in the wonderful world of VHS.

There's an interesting article from the Toledo Blade which discusses the evolution of the modern musical. They mention Magnolia frequently & there's multiple quotes from PTA. (Thanks Paul Bean!)

If you somehow missed the great Q & A that Roger Ebert did with PTA in 1997, it's spotlighted in today's edition of Flashback Friday. He touches on Hard Eight, but most of the discussion surrounds Boogie Nights. PTA even pulls a fast one on Roger about the famous last shot in the film. 

January 15, 2000

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

Here's what Roger Ebert had to say recently when asked about critics who spoiled a major plot point in Magnolia:

Q: "Magnolia" has a completely unanticipated scene that David Denby revealed in the first paragraph of his review in the New Yorker. Was this fair? 

Ebert: Denby should be drawn and quartered, metaphorically, of course, for describing the film's astonishing and inspired surprise. The scene you refer to does not develop necessarily out of what goes before, and there is no way for a viewer to anticipate it; therefore a critic does not need to describe it in order to discuss its function. Denby's eagerness to blurt out Paul Thomas Anderson's gift to the audience was unseemly and ill-mannered, like a dinner guest shouting out the punch line to the host's best joke.

Interview: Roger Ebert Q&A

Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook
1999


Chicago, October 1997 - Paul Thomas Anderson has made one of the best films of 1997, and at age twenty-seven is getting the kind of attention no young director has had since Quentin Tarantino erupted. His Boogie Nights, which follows a cast of colorful characters through six eventful years in the adult film industry, is the year's best-reviewed film - a hit at the Toronto and New York Film Festivals.

Although the film's subject matter is touchy, Boogie Nights is not a sex film; porno supplies the backdrop to a traditionally structured Hollywood story about an unknown kid (Mark Wahlberg) who is discovered by a director (Burt Reynolds), encouraged by an older actress (Julianne Moore), and becomes a star - until his ego and drugs bring everything crashing down.

Apart from anything else, the film is about filmmaking. It captures the familial atmosphere of a film set as well as any film since Truffaut's Day for Night. The focus is not on sex but on loneliness and desperation, leavened with a lot of humor, some of it dark, some of it lighthearted.

Boogie Nights is Anderson's second feature. When I saw the first one in 1996 at the Cannes Film Festival, I felt I was watching the work of a born filmmaker. Hard Eight starred John C. Reilly and Philip Baker Hall in the story of a relationship between an old gambler who shows the ropes in Nevada to a broke kid. As characters played by Gwyneth Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson get involved, the story reveals hidden connections. It is a riveting debut film.

Interview: Robert Ebert Q&A

Roger Ebert Q&A With Paul Thomas Anderson
October ?? 1997


Chicago, October 1997 - Paul Thomas Anderson has made one of the best films of 1997, and at age twenty-seven is getting the kind of attention no young director has had since Quentin Tarantino erupted. His Boogie Nights, which follows a cast of colorful characters through six eventful years in the adult film industry, is the year's best-reviewed film - a hit at the Toronto and New York Film Festivals.

Although the film's subject matter is touchy, Boogie Nights is not a sex film; porno supplies the backdrop to a traditionally structured Hollywood story about an unknown kid (Mark Wahlberg) who is discovered by a director (Burt Reynolds), encouraged by an older actress (Julianne Moore), and becomes a star - until his ego and drugs bring everything crashing down.