“The Report” explores an alarming period in our country’s recent history: the CIA’s suspect detention and interrogation program following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Writer/director Scott Z. Burns’ intention is clear in illuminating the complicated and covert strategies employed, but the story he’s telling isn’t a naturally cinematic one. In...
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Reviews
Breakfast All Day Podcast 11/15/19
Join us for a spin on this jam-packed week of Breakfast All Day. Matt and I review the thrilling racing drama “Ford v Ferrari,” Elizabeth Banks’ action comedy “Charlie’s Angels,” Shia LaBeouf’s autobiographical and therapeutic “Honey Boy” and “The Report,” a star-studded yet somber drama about the use of torture on terror suspects after 9/11. Matt and...
Read moreBreakfast All Day Podcast: A La Carte With Maggie Mackay
The amazing Maggie Mackay, executive director of the Vidiots Foundation, is my A La Carte guest this week. Maggie talks about growing up in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City in the ’70s and ’80s; the video store across the street that was her sanctuary and the place that...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Playing With Fire
My kid says this is the worst movie he’s ever seen. When you’ve lost the 10-year-old boy audience in a movie full of poop jokes, you’re doing something wrong. John Cena stars as an uptight firefighter whose orderly world gets turned upside down with the arrival of a trio of...
Read moreBreakfast All Day Podcast 11/7/19
We’ll give you our hearts this Christmas and every Christmas here at the Breakfast All Day Podcast. Alonso, Matt and I discuss the George Michael-inspired romantic comedy “Last Christmas,” which fell shy of our high expectations; “Doctor Sleep,” the hit-and-miss sequel to “The Shining”; and the devastating drama “Marriage Story.”...
Read moreBreakfast All Day Podcast: A La Carte With Rick Adams
Rick Adams — better known here in Southern California for his “Virtually Rick” segments on Spectrum News 1 — was a complete blast to chat with for this latest A La Carte episode. Rick talks about growing up in an idyllic town in England, playing music and beginning his career...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Terminator: Dark Fate
The latest “Terminator” was wise to pick up where the groundbreaking “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” left off. If only the filmmakers had used that opportunity for more than relentless action and empty fan service. It’s good to see the bad-ass Linda Hamilton again, though, and several of the fights and...
Read moreBreakfast All Day Podcast 10/31/19
We’re not saying “Hasta la vista” just yet to the “Terminator” franchise. Alonso, Matt and I have a Breakfast All Day review of “Terminator: Dark Fate,” as well as Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic “The Irishman,” which may just be his masterpiece. We also review the Harriet Tubman biopic “Harriet,” a movie we wish had taken...
Read moreBreakfast All Day Podcast: A La Carte With Michael Platt
“Grace and Frankie” writer and executive producer Michael Platt is my A La Carte guest this week, and it was great chatting with him about his eclectic career. He discusses with great honesty his mother’s mental illness, and how hours of television served as both a babysitter and an escape...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Black and Blue
Deon Taylor’s “Black and Blue” is a B-movie through and through—and that’s actually a compliment. Naomie Harris elevates this tale of a rookie cop who becomes the target of her corrupt colleagues through both her physical strength and emotional subtlety. And veteran cinematographer Dante Spinotti—a frequent Michael Mann collaborator and two-time Oscar...
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