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Pulitzer Prizer winner Ebert died earlier today at the age of 70 Probably the best known movie critic in the United States, Roger Ebert passed away on Thursday in Chicago, Illinois, following a decade-long battle against cancer. Ebert, who was 70, had announced the recurrence of his illness in a tweet two days ago. (Pictured above: An Ebert closeup, as found on his Twitter account.) The renowned critic was best known alongside Gene Siskel for their "two thumbs up" routine, which was watched by millions on the nationally syndicated television show At the Movies (previously known as Sneak Previews and later as Siskel & Ebert [and the movies]). But populism or no, Ebert was a well-regarded and quite influential movie pundit. He began writing for the Chicago Sun-Times in 1967; eight years later, he became the very first film reviewer to take home a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. (That particular Pulitzer branch had been set up in...

Gathered here in one convenient place are my recent reviews that awarded films Zero Stars, One-half Star, One Star, and One-and-a-half Stars. These are, generally speaking to be avoided. Sometimes I hear from readers who confess they are in the mood to watch a really bad movie on some form of video. If you are sincere, be sure to know what you're getting: A really bad movie.

Be aware, movies that fall into the category of "so bad they're good" should generally get Two Stars. And when Pauline Kael wrote, "The movies are so rarely great art that if we cannot appreciate great trash, we shouldn't go at all"--well, great trash should ideally get 2.5 stars or even higher.

Many of these reviews were written in the carefree spirit of those in my books Your Movie Sucks and I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie. Cheap shots and snark are permitted.

There will be no further discussion of Minutegate. I have now devoted 5,000 words to "Tru Loved," and read more than 114,000 words of comments. The Miami Herald even did a round-up of their critics discussing Minutegate. But all those words were focused entirely on the single issue of not watching a movie all the way through. There are many other ethical issues involved in film criticism, and with the current unemployment crisis, we should all be mindful of them.

We can't be too careful. Employers are eager to replace us with Celeb Info-Nuggets that will pimp to the mouth-breathers, who underline the words with their index fingers whilst they watch television. Any editor who thinks drugged insta-stars and the tragic Amy Winehouse are headline news ought to be editing the graffiti on playground walls. As the senior newspaper guy still hanging onto a job, I think the task of outlining enduring...

If you ever intend to read my review of "Tru Loved," please read it now. This is so essential that I'm taking a risk by posting this blog entry on the same day the review goes up. The review brings into focus a belief that is at the core of my critical approach. I have cited it many times. Please forgive me for repeating it. As the critic Robert Warshow wrote, "A man goes to the movies. The critic must be honest enough to admit that he is that man." In other words, whatever you saw, whatever you felt, whatever you did, you must say so. For example, two things that cannot be convincingly faked are laughter and orgasms. If a movie made you laugh, as a critic you have to be honest and report that. Maybe not so much with orgasms.

[Click clock to read dial.]

If you reached the end of my "Tru Loved" review,...

The necessary background is here. Last week, Roger Ebert posted a one-star review of the indie drama Tru Loved. At the end of the scathing piece, he revealed that he had only watched 8 minutes of the film -- and that "after that, you're on your own." In a blog entry, he defended the review on aesthetic grounds: he placed the revelation at the end because it worked there. That post generated some 500 comments, and Will's post here a somewhat less impressive 17, splitting pretty evenly between commenters who sympathized with Ebert's life's-too-short impulse, and those who thought giving one star to a film he quit on, and hiding his dereliciton of duty at the bottom of the review, was not cool.

In a follow-up entry, Ebert agrees that it wasn't cool. He insists it wasn't unethical, but admits he shouldn't have done it. As penance, he watched the rest of the...

On Oct. 16 I published a review of "Tru Loved" in which, at the end, I noted that I stopped watching after eight minutes. I also published a blog entry, "Don't read me first!" discussing that decision and reporting that it horrified my editor, who wondered if my action was immoral. The entry has so far drawn almost 500 comments. I have read them all. I have arrived at some conclusions.

How it happened in the first place. I began viewing the movie on a DVD and taking notes. At what turned out to be the eight-minute mark, I paused the disc, looked at my notes so far, and thought, "There's my review right there." The movie had left me not wanting to see more.

Why I waited until the end of the review to reveal I had stopped after eight minutes. The review reproduced my thought process while arriving at my decision.

Earlier this week, Roger Ebert posted with his new batch of reviews one for the indie film Tru Loved, of which I personally know little aside from its opening in limited release this past Friday. Ebert's review is included among the six currently constituting that film's dead-even Tomatometer.

The twist is, Ebert admits to only having made it through the first eight minutes of the film before shutting it off. Normally, that's not exactly cricket, but considering how many movies he's seen, how many reviews he's written, how many Pulitzer Prizes he's won (and occasionally brandished), for him to say within that span of time that "I'm sure its heart is in the right place, but it fails at fundamentals we take for granted when we go to the movies" carries an appropriate heft. After all, he admits that "the rating only applies to the first eight minutes. After that,...

Filed under: Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Gay & Lesbian, Independent, Columns, Indie Spotlight

Here at the Indie Spotlight, we treat your multiplex woes with a healthy dose of limited-release independent flicks. Being an indie film doesn't automatically make it better than a mainstream movie -- but if it's bad, at least you know it didn't cost $100 million to make. Frugality is important in these trying economic times.

It's a rather light week for indies, with just four for our perusal: The Elephant King, Filth and Wisdom, Tru Loved, and What Just Happened. There's also Morning Light, a documentary about competitive open-sea sailing, which, while not an indie (it's from Disney), is opening on a limited number of screens. Cinematical's Jeffrey M. Anderson has a review here.

And now, the rundown!

What Just Happened

What it is: Barry Levinson directs an all-star cast (Robert De Niro, Bruce Willis, Stanley Tucci, John Turturro) in...

We have images in from Regent Releasing's documentary "Saving Marriage." The film expands into more theatres in NYC, La, Boston and Denver on Friday, October 17, 2008. Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, the film is co-helmed by first timers John Henning and Mike Roth with Roth being the more experienced in the industry with work in the camera and electrical dept. for many releases. It has won three awards in numerous festivals including a second place as best film at last year's Cleveland International Film Festival.

We have images in from Regent Releasing's documentary "Saving Marriage." The film expands into more theatres in NYC, La, Boston and Denver on Friday, October 17, 2008. Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, the film is co-helmed by first timers John Henning and Mike Roth with Roth being the more experienced in the industry with work in the camera and electrical dept. for many releases. It has won three awards in numerous festivals including a second place as best film at last year's Cleveland International Film Festival.

We have images and videos in from Regent Releasing's documentary "Saving Marriage," "Tru Loved" and "The World Unseen." "Saving Marriage" expands into more theatres in NYC, La, Boston and Denver on Friday, October 17, 2008. Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, the film is co-helmed by first timers John Henning and Mike Roth with Roth being the more experienced in the industry with work in the camera and electrical dept. for many releases. It has won three awards in numerous festivals including a second place as best film at last year's Cleveland International Film Festival. What's this about? In November of 2003,the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial court ruled gay marriage legal. Public outcry pushed conservative legislators to approve a constitutional amendment that would override the decision and take marriage away from the gay and lesbian couples but there is still hope. Saving Marriage chronicles the two-year, long drama that unfolds as career politicians...

We have images in from Regent Releasing's documentary "Saving Marriage." The film expands into more theatres in NYC, La, Boston and Denver on Friday, October 17, 2008. Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, the film is co-helmed by first timers John Henning and Mike Roth with Roth being the more experienced in the industry with work in the camera and electrical dept. for many releases. It has won three awards in numerous festivals including a second place as best film at last year's Cleveland International Film Festival.

By Neil Pedley

There's plenty to be pleased about this week as we get to spend time with both current and future presidents as part of an Ellen Burstyn double bill. There's also -- whisper it -- a movie based on a video game that might actually be worth seeing. Not to mention enough titular wordplay to make Richard Lederer's head spin. It's all just pun and games though, right?

"The Elephant King"

Built on the old adage that getting lost is the best way to find oneself, Seth Grossman's debut feature follows the travels of Oliver (Tate Ellington), a suicidal writer who's dispatched by Ellen Burstyn's frantic matriarch to the seedy bar scene of Thailand to bring back his brother Jake (Jonno Roberts) to face his considerable debts in the U.S. Once abroad, Oliver finds that he may be at odds with his brother, but...

The following feature-length motion pictures have been reviewed and rated by the Classification and Rating Administration pursuant to the Motion Picture Classification and Rating program. Each of the designated ratings is defined as follows under the Motion Picture Classification and Rating program.

G -- General Audiences. All ages admitted.

PG -- Parental Guidance Suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

PG -13 --Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

R -- Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Nc-17 -- No One 17 And Under Admitted

Film Distributor ReasonRating 24 Cuadros De Terror

Frontera Productions, LLC

Rated for strong violent and disturbing content including torture, some sexuality and language.

R Are You Scared 2

Lightning Home Entertainment

Rated for strong bloody violence, language and some nudity.

R Beethoven's Big Break

Universal Studios Home Entertainment LLC

Rated  for some mild rude humor.

PG Ciao

Regent Releasing L.

New York -- Here! Films has acquired North American rights to Outfest's closing-night film, "Tru Loved."

Stewart Wade's romantic comedy stars Najarra Townsend as Tru, a new high school student with gay mothers who is mistakenly presumed to be lesbian. A date with the school's closeted quarterback and her quest to form a gay-straight alliance organization further complicates her new life in a conservative town.

Bruce Vilanch, Nichelle Nichols, Jasmine Guy, Alexandra Paul ("Baywatch"), Cynda Williams, Jane Lynch, Jake Abel ("The Lovely Bones"), Alec Mapa ("Ugly Betty") and Matthew Thompson ("Drake and Josh") round out the cast.

The film's producer, Brown Bag Productions' Antonio Brown, formed alliances with Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays; the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network; and other groups to spread word of mouth about the project.

"Loved" played at the L.A.-based film fest Monday. It will be released by Here! sister company Regent Releasing in select U.S. theaters this fall.

With more than 200 films, 50,000 expected attendees and 26 years of history at its back, Outfest: the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, which kicked off Wednesday night, has reached an age that typically connotes old guard orthodoxy and establishment entrenchment. But if you ask interim executive director Kirsten Schaffer what makes Los Angeles' longest continuously running film festival important, it's all about the newbies.

"The festival is a launching pad for emerging queer filmmakers," Schaffer said. "This is the place to make connections with other filmmakers and industry, and begin to bring their careers to new places."

Because of Outfest's proximity to Hollywood, a certain amount of industry presence is endemic to the festival. However, as director of programming Kimberly Yutani said, the industry crowd is somewhat incidental to the festival's primary draw.

"Outfest is very much an Lgbt community festival," she said. "Yes, there are people in the industry who are gay that come with an eye for talent, but they come as a member of that community."

The festival's neutral attitude toward Tinseltown is perhaps best evinced by its lack of a formal marketplace. As Schaffer said, "A lot of things get bought and sold during Outfest, but we're not the queer Afm."

This aversion to becoming a trade show is essential to the festival's commitment to showcase compelling work. "We're an arts organization, so we're not confined by profit margins," Schaffer said. "We can show movies that mainstream entities aren't dealing with."

That especially applies to Outfest's Platinum section, which focuses on avant-garde and experimental media. This year's Platinum programming pays tribute to underground punk mutineer Bruce Labruce with screenings of his "Super 8 1/2" (1993) and new "Otto; or, Up With Dead People" (Strand Releasing) at Redcat.

This year's highest honor, the Outfest Achievement Award, will go to filmmaker Donna Deitch, whose 1985 "Desert Hearts" made waves for its earnest and positive portrayal of lesbian romance.

Outfest also has selected a small number of "centerpiece" films for Gala screenings. This year's opening- and closing-night galas at the Orpheum Theatre are 2007's "Breakfast With Scot" and 2008's "Tru Loved," both of which depict families helmed by gay and lesbian parents in tree-lined suburbia.

Likely to create buzz this election year are films in the Outing Politics series, including the Oscar-winning 1984 documentary "The Times of Harvey Milk," a narrative version of which will be released by Focus Features this year, and Dan Butler's satire 2007's "Karl Rove, I Love You," which centers on an unknown actor's obsession with the Dubya handler.

NEW YORK -- The 40-Year-Old-Virgin co-star Jane Lynch and comedy writer Bruce Vilanch have joined the ensemble cast of the gay-themed coming-of-age indie Tru Loved.

The film centers on Tru (Najarra Townsend), the straight daughter of a lesbian couple (Alexandra Paul, Cynda Williams) who faces challenges when her family moves from San Francisco to a conservative Southern California suburb. Openly lesbian actress Lynch will play Ms. Maple, one of Tru's teachers and the girlfriend of Tru's favorite teacher (Alec Mapa). Openly gay comedian Vilanch will play Daniel, the adopted father of Tru's love interest (Jake Abel).

Jasmine Guy, Matthew Thompson, Marcia Wallace (The Simpsons) and Nichelle Nichols (Star Trek) round out the cast of writer-director Stewart Wade's comedy-drama. The film is produced by Wade, Antonio Brown and David Avallone. Principal photography began this month and wraps Aug. 2.

Lynch's credits include Best in Show, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Rocker. Vilanch, the subject of documentary Get Bruce, starred on Broadway in Hairspray.

Wade recently wrote and directed Film and Music Entertainment's gay-themed Coffee Date, starring Wilson Cruz, Jonathan Silverman, Sally Kirkland and Deborah Gibson.