• Home
  • popular
  • Events
  • Submit New Event
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • News
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Home + Design
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • Innovation
  • Sports
  • Charity Guide
  • children
  • education
  • health
  • veterans
  • SOCIAL SERVICES
  • ARTS + CULTURE
  • animals
  • lgbtq
  • New Charity
  • Series
  • Delivery Limited
  • DTX Giveaway 2012
  • DTX Ski Magic
  • dtx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Your Home in the Sky
  • DTX Best of 2013
  • DTX Trailblazers
  • Tastemakers Dallas 2017
  • Healthy Perspectives
  • Neighborhood Eats 2015
  • The Art of Making Whiskey
  • DTX International Film Festival
  • DTX Tatum Brown
  • Tastemaker Awards 2016 Dallas
  • DTX McCurley 2014
  • DTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • DTX Beyond presents Party Perfect
  • DTX Texas Health Resources
  • DART 2018
  • Alexan Central
  • State Fair 2018
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Zatar
  • CityLine
  • Vision Veritas
  • Okay to Say
  • Hearts on the Trinity
  • DFW Auto Show 2015
  • Northpark 50
  • Anteks Curated
  • Red Bull Cliff Diving
  • Maggie Louise Confections Dallas
  • Gaia
  • Red Bull Global Rally Cross
  • NorthPark Holiday 2015
  • Ethan's View Dallas
  • DTX City Centre 2013
  • Galleria Dallas
  • Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty Luxury Homes in Dallas Texas
  • DTX Island Time
  • Simpson Property Group SkyHouse
  • DIFFA
  • Lotus Shop
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Dallas
  • Clothes Circuit
  • DTX Tastemakers 2014
  • Elite Dental
  • Elan City Lights
  • Dallas Charity Guide
  • DTX Music Scene 2013
  • One Arts Party at the Plaza
  • J.R. Ewing
  • AMLI Design District Vibrant Living
  • Crest at Oak Park
  • Braun Enterprises Dallas
  • NorthPark
  • Victory Park
  • DTX Common Desk
  • DTX Osborne Advisors
  • DTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • DFW Showcase Tour of Homes
  • DTX Neighborhood Eats
  • DTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • DTX Auto Awards
  • Cottonwood Art Festival 2017
  • Nasher Store
  • Guardian of The Glenlivet
  • Zyn22
  • Dallas Rx
  • Yellow Rose Gala
  • Opendoor
  • DTX Sun and Ski
  • Crow Collection
  • DTX Tastes of the Season
  • Skye of Turtle Creek Dallas
  • Cottonwood Art Festival
  • DTX Charity Challenge
  • DTX Culture Motive
  • DTX Good Eats 2012
  • DTX_15Winks
  • St. Bernard Sports
  • Jose
  • DTX SMU 2014
  • DTX Up to Speed
  • st bernard
  • Ardan West Village
  • DTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Taste the Difference
  • Parktoberfest 2016
  • Bob's Steak and Chop House
  • DTX Smart Luxury
  • DTX Earth Day
  • DTX_Gaylord_Promoted_Series
  • IIDA Lavish
  • Huffhines Art Trails 2017
  • Red Bull Flying Bach Dallas
  • Y+A Real Estate
  • Beauty Basics
  • DTX Pet of the Week
  • Long Cove
  • Charity Challenge 2014
  • Legacy West
  • Wildflower
  • Stillwater Capital
  • Tulum
  • DTX Texas Traveler
  • Dallas DART
  • Soldiers' Angels
  • Alexan Riveredge
  • Ebby Halliday Realtors
  • Zephyr Gin
  • Sixty Five Hundred Scene
  • Christy Berry
  • Entertainment Destination
  • Dallas Art Fair 2015
  • St. Bernard Sports Duck Head
  • Jameson DTX
  • Alara Uptown Dallas
  • Cottonwood Art Festival fall 2017
  • DTX Tastemakers 2015
  • Cottonwood Arts Festival
  • The Taylor
  • Decks in the Park
  • Alexan Henderson
  • Gallery at Turtle Creek
  • Omni Hotel DTX
  • Red on the Runway
  • Whole Foods Dallas 2018
  • Artizone Essential Eats
  • Galleria Dallas Runway Revue
  • State Fair 2016 Promoted
  • Trigger's Toys Ultimate Cocktail Experience
  • Dean's Texas Cuisine
  • Real Weddings Dallas
  • Real Housewives of Dallas
  • Jan Barboglio
  • Wildflower Arts and Music Festival
  • Hearts for Hounds
  • Okay to Say Dallas
  • Indochino Dallas
  • Old Forester Dallas
  • Dallas Apartment Locators
  • Dallas Summer Musicals
  • PSW Real Estate Dallas
  • Paintzen
  • DTX Dave Perry-Miller
  • DTX Reliant
  • Get in the Spirit
  • Bachendorf's
  • Holiday Wonder
  • Village on the Parkway
  • City Lifestyle
  • opportunity knox villa-o restaurant
  • Nasher Summer Sale
  • Simpson Property Group
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2017 Dallas
  • Carlisle & Vine
  • DTX New Beginnings
  • Get in the Game
  • Red Bull Air Race
  • Dallas DanceFest
  • 2015 Dallas Stylemaker
  • Youth With Faces
  • Energy Ogre
  • DTX Renewable You
  • Galleria Dallas Decadence
  • Bella MD
  • Tractorbeam
  • Young Texans Against Cancer
  • Fresh Start Dallas
  • Dallas Farmers Market
  • Soldier's Angels Dallas
  • Shipt
  • Elite Dental
  • Texas Restaurant Association 2017
  • State Fair 2017
  • Scottish Rite
  • Brooklyn Brewery
  • DTX_Stylemakers
  • Alexan Crossings
  • Ascent Victory Park
  • Top Texans Under 30 Dallas
  • Discover Downtown Dallas
  • San Luis Resort Dallas
  • Greystar The Collection
  • FIG Finale
  • Greystar M Line Tower
  • Lincoln Motor Company
  • The Shelby
  • Jonathan Goldwater Events
  • Windrose Tower
  • Gift Guide 2016
  • State Fair of Texas 2016
  • Choctaw Dallas
  • TodayTix Dallas promoted
  • Whole Foods
  • Unbranded 2014
  • Frisco Square
  • Unbranded 2016
  • Circuit of the Americas 2018
  • The Katy
  • Snap Kitchen
  • Partners Card
  • Omni Hotels Dallas
  • Landmark on Lovers
  • Harwood Herd
  • Galveston.com Dallas
  • Holiday Happenings Dallas 2018
  • TenantBase
  • Cottonwood Art Festival 2018
  • Hawkins-Welwood Homes
  • The Inner Circle Dallas
  • Eating in Season Dallas
  • ATTPAC Behind the Curtain
  • TodayTix Dallas
  • The Alexan
  • Toyota Music Factory
  • Nosh Box Eatery
  • Wildflower 2018
  • Society Style Dallas 2018
  • Texas Scottish Rite Hospital 2018
  • 5 Mockingbird
  • 4110 Fairmount
  • Visit Taos
  • Allegro Addison
  • Dallas Tastemakers 2018
  • The Village apartments
  • City of Burleson Dallas

    Honoring a Film Critic

    Life Itself does justice to Roger Ebert's monumental impact on movies

    Alex Bentley
    Jul 4, 2014 | 12:00 am
    Life Itself does justice to Roger Ebert's monumental impact on movies
    play icon

    By any measure, Roger Ebert was one of the most influential film critics of all time. Because of him, his partner/antagonist Gene Siskel and their iconic TV show, a generation of people (including me) grew up not only loving movies, but also wanting to express our thoughts about them to the masses.

    It’s because of Ebert’s influence that making a documentary about his life doesn’t seem out of place. Life Itself, directed by Steve James (Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters), takes its title from Ebert’s autobiography, but the film is far from a straightforward retelling of his life.

    What makes the film especially memorable is footage of Ebert in the final months of his life as he struggled through setback after setback.

    Instead, James hopscotches around, using archival footage and checking in with various people close to Ebert to get their take on the man. What makes the film especially memorable, though, is that James was able to film Ebert in the final months of his life as he struggled through setback after setback.

    Ebert, who had his lower jaw removed during his battle with thyroid and salivary gland cancer, was not shy about showing the realities of his condition. Still, the idea of actually being able to see through his mouth to the bandage on his neck takes some getting used to. The fact that he kept up a full regimen of watching and reviewing movies — not to mention filming this one — during that time is gobsmacking.

    The basics of Ebert’s life — writing for the Chicago Sun-Times since the late 1960s, collaborating with skin flick maestro Russ Meyer, teaming with Siskel on television — hold few surprises for anybody familiar with him, but it’s the details that make those parts of his life fascinating. He was a man capable of both remarkable empathy and tremendous anger in varying situations, and James ensures that neither side is given short shrift.

    However, it’s the interviews with filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, Errol Morris and indie director Ramin Bahrani that yield the most insights. Scorsese credits an honor from Siskel & Ebert with not only reigniting his passion for filmmaking, but possibly saving his life. Morris says the two critics’ championing of his first film, Gates of Heaven, gave him his career. And Bahrani shows off a gift of such depth from Ebert that only a person with great thought and compassion could have conceived of it.

    Reminiscing about At the Movies/Siskel & Ebert, as could be expected, takes up a decent portion of the film, but it is actually less than fans might be expecting. Siskel and Ebert’s contentious relationship is given the most screen time, but there is no mention of Ebert’s time with Richard Roeper following Siskel’s death, not even an interview with Roeper himself.

    Encapsulating a life as diverse as Ebert’s in one movie is a fool’s errand, but James more than does him justice. Movie criticism may be a dying profession — or, at least one that doesn’t have the impact it once did — but Life Itself gives Ebert the send-off he richly deserves.

    Life Itself documents the life of film critic Roger Ebert (right), including his time being partners with fellow film critic Gene Siskel.

    Life Itself movie
      
    Photo by Kevin Horan Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
    Life Itself documents the life of film critic Roger Ebert (right), including his time being partners with fellow film critic Gene Siskel.
    unspecified
    news/entertainment
    CULTUREMAP EMAILS ARE AWESOME
    Get Dallas intel delivered daily.

    This Week's Hot Headlines

    11 DFW companies deemed best places to work and more popular stories

    CultureMap Staff
    Jun 7, 2025 | 10:00 am
    Downtown Dallas
    Photo by NotOnlyJames on Unsplash
    undefined

    Editor's note: The top Dallas news of the week begins with big accolades for nearly a dozen workplaces. Plus, Frisco tops a new national ranking, and new restaurants make their Toyota Music Factory debut. Catch up on our most popular Dallas stories below, and then head to our event planner for the best things to do this weekend.

    1. 11 Dallas-Fort Worth companies named best places to work by U.S. News. Nearly a dozen distinguished Dallas-Fort Worth-based companies have been hailed among the best places to work in 2025 by U.S. News and World Report.

    2. Dallas neighbor is the No. 1 fastest-growing affordable city in U.S. A new national study has declared Texas is home to the most affordable, fast-growing cities in the country, with Dallas suburb Frisco taking the lead at No. 1.

    3. Texas slumps on list of best U.S. state economies for 2025. After riding high among the top five best state economies in 2024, Texas' robust economy may be showing some cracks. Texas now ranks as the state with the 8th best economy, four spots lower than last year's ranking, according to a new WalletHub report.

    4. Toyota Music Factory in Irving officially unveils 3 new restaurants. A trio of new restaurants have debuted at Toyota Music Factory in Irving, one of which is a familiar name.

    JaxonGet a burger from Jaxon at Toyota Music Factory.Photo courtesy of Jaxon

    5. Award-winning chef team to open Mexican restaurant in east Dallas. A Dallas pop-up from an award-winning chef team has found a permanent home. Molino Olōyō, the acclaimed Mexican culinary concept obsessed with heirloom corn, will open a brick-and-mortar at 4422 Gaston Ave. in east Dallas.

    most popular storiesrankingsus news & world reportfriscobest places to workeconomytexasopeningseast dallashot-headlines
    news/entertainment

    most read posts

    Toyota Music Factory in Irving officially unveils 3 new restaurants

    Award-winning chef team to open Mexican restaurant in east Dallas

    Restaurant-bar siblings to open in century-old downtown Dallas building

    Loading...