RogerEbert.com

RogerEbert.com
source
Name	RogerEbert.com
Type	Film criticism, news, features
Owner	Ebert Digital
Founded	2013
Predecessor	Chicago Sun-Times film criticism
Country	United States
Language	English

RogerEbert.com is an online film criticism and journalism website established to continue and expand the legacy of Roger Ebert after his death, featuring reviews, essays, interviews, and archival material. The site publishes criticism and commentary on mainstream, independent, and international cinema, while maintaining ties to institutions such as the Chicago Sun-Times, Film Festival circuits, and archival projects celebrating figures like Martin Scorsese, Akira Kurosawa, and Agnes Varda. It serves as a hub connecting contemporary critics with historical film discourse involving names such as Alfred Hitchcock, Andrei Tarkovsky, Greta Gerwig, Spike Lee, and Kathryn Bigelow.

History

Roger Ebert's career began at the Chicago Sun-Times and expanded through television with Siskel and Ebert and publications targeting readers of The New York Times Book Review and The New Yorker; after Ebert's death, Ebert Digital launched the website to preserve his reviews and to commission new criticism. Founding editors built on archives that included reviews of films by Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick, Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, and Jean-Luc Godard while integrating coverage of festivals like the Cannes Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and Berlin International Film Festival. The site inherited Ebert's "thumbs" legacy alongside institutional connections to awards such as the National Book Critics Circle and events involving filmmakers like Pedro Almodóvar, Wong Kar-wai, and Hayao Miyazaki.

Content and Features

The website features reviews, long-form essays, interviews, retrospectives, and listicles on directors including Christopher Nolan, Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, David Lynch, and Yasujiro Ozu. Regular columns examine genre through examples like Alien, The Godfather, Pulp Fiction, La Dolce Vita, and The Seventh Seal, and surveys track trends linked to studios such as Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., and A24. Multimedia content includes podcasts and video interviews with figures like Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, and Denzel Washington, as well as archival curation of Ebert's reviews of films starring Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Audrey Hepburn, Bette Davis, and Humphrey Bogart. Special series have focused on movements and periods such as French New Wave, Italian Neorealism, New Hollywood, and contemporary global cinemas including work from Iranian filmmakers like Asghar Farhadi and Abbas Kiarostami.

Contributors and Staff

Editorial leadership has included critics, editors, and journalists connected to publications like Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, The New Yorker, The Guardian, and The Los Angeles Times. Regular contributors and guest writers have included film scholars and critics who have written on auteurs such as Ridley Scott, Roman Polanski, Sofia Coppola, Jane Campion, and Bong Joon-ho. The site has run work by historians and practitioners affiliated with institutions like American Film Institute, Museum of Modern Art, British Film Institute, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and university programs at University of Southern California, New York University, and University of California, Los Angeles.

Awards and Recognition

Coverage and criticism published on the site have been cited in conversations around award seasons including the Academy Awards, BAFTA, Cannes Film Festival prizes, and Golden Globe Awards. Essays and investigative features have won honors and nominations from organizations such as the National Society of Film Critics, Online Journalism Awards, and critics' circles in cities like New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Retrospectives and restoration coverage have been recognized by preservation bodies including the National Film Registry and Film Foundation events honoring filmmakers like Orson Welles, Luchino Visconti, and Satyajit Ray.

Impact and Reception

The site has been influential in shaping contemporary film discourse, cited alongside legacy outlets such as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Variety, Empire, and Sight & Sound. It functions as a bridge between mainstream criticism—covering franchises from Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars—and advocacy for restoration and repertory screenings featuring works by Luis Buñuel, Robert Bresson, and Kenji Mizoguchi. Reception has ranged from praise for archival stewardship of Ebert's work to critique from practitioners and commentators regarding cultural debates involving representation tied to figures like Jordan Peele, Taika Waititi, Ava DuVernay, and Lee Daniels. The platform continues to influence festival programming, collector restorations, and classroom syllabi at institutions such as Columbia University, Stanford University, and Harvard University.

Category:Film websites