Cebalord Very best movie i ever watch

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

clifflutz Life itself is a Documentary film about the life and career Roger Ebert a host on the very popular show Siskel and Ebert and a Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic. For about a day I debated whether I should write a review of this film at all. I had never watched the Siskel and Ebert show, never even read a word of Roger Ebert's countless film reviews. I was an outsider and felt that in a way my opinion was unimportant, but then I reflected back on the way that Roger democratized film criticism at the Conference on World Affairs with his Cinema Interrupts series, and I was sufficiently emboldened. The film starts with a clip of Roger speaking about the advancement of civilization and the importance of empathy. When he mentions film he makes it clear that the most important thing a movie can do is put you in the shoes of someone else and give you that experience in a way no other media can. After watching Life Itself I am struck by just how perfectly Director Steve James and Roger Ebert accomplish this. I went from being someone who knew nothing of Roger to feeling as though we could have been friends. This film made me do more than laugh and cry it drove me to take up writing movie reviews again! Roger had his own newspaper column at 15 years old when he was still delivering that same paper! My friends and I were newspaper boys for a short while in high school and none of us were bright enough to have written for the advertisement and coupon holder of a paper we delivered! As much of a hit to the ego as this all was I couldn't help but be inspired by the ability Ebert displayed. This was a young man who at one point literally stopped the presses! We are taken through time in a mostly linear fashion during the movie aside from the occasional interviews with Roger in the hospital. The film starts by giving us an idea of Roger's childhood and the relationship he had with his parents through questions posed in the interview, quotes from his memoir, and photographs from his youth. The Documentary skillfully continues to weave together interviews with friends, family, and excerpts from Rogers's reviews, along with many photos and video clips. Director Steve James pulls all these fragments together giving us a clear impression of Roger's life. Some of the most memorable clips were of the behind the scenes bickering between Gene Siskel and Roger on the Siskel and Ebert show. The two of them would do anything to knock the other off his game and always had a snarky remark for when the other messed up a take! Over time though they started to gain respect for each other and even grew close when doing the later seasons of the show. As the feature comes to a close we are introduced to more of Rogers health struggles and hear more from his wife and family. There are many touching exchanges that are initiated by Roger who has seemingly come to terms with his mortality and wishes to put things in order. Emails between Roger and Steve the director become more labored and eventually stop. When Roger posts his final blog entry you feel as if you've lost an old friend. Documentary films offer us something other movies can not. We are given a window into the lives of people rather than characters, life rather than cleverly or clumsily written stories. I have developed a deep adoration for a man who only a few days ago I knew barely a thing about. Life Itself is a beautiful walk in someone else's shoes.

Essa Rasheed For the first time in years, I found myself crying at artistry of a film, and I didn't know why. This documentary does not innovate in any way. It shows no exceptional mastery of any cinematic techniques. It does not do anything that hasn't been done before. In its most cynical extreme it can even be seen as the exploitation of a great man's death for financial gain.But I cried.Where this documentary shines through is its subject. Roger Ebert. A man whose mere passion cemented criticism as an art. A man whose love for film carried film to a new height, and permanently changed the industry. A man who lived life as much as he could live it, and in doing so inspired generations of artists- and will undoubtedly inspire countless more to come. There are few lives that have changed cinema, criticism, world culture as much as Roger Ebert. And the one way this film The one way in which this film is more than mediocre is that it celebrates the life of a titan. And when that titan is Roger Ebert- that's all you need.God bless you, Mr. Ebert. May you rest in piece

CinemaClown Crafted with care, told with affection & paying a heartfelt tribute to the life & career of arguably the most celebrated film critic of all time, Life Itself is both an informative documentary & a captivating biopic that offers an interesting insight into the life of Roger Ebert whose passion & love for cinema made him an iconic figure not only in film criticism but the whole film culture.Interspersed with archive footages, interviews with colleagues, friends & family, snippets from his famous TV show with Gene Siskel, images from few of the lesser-known flicks he gave his voice to, and also including live sessions with Roger Ebert himself when he was battling cancer, Life Itself is an expertly assembled documentary that sensibly explores the remarkable legacy he left behind.Directed by Steve James, Life Itself attempts to find a fine balance between Ebert's personal life & work but ends up being more about Ebert the man than Ebert the legendary critic, which definitely isn't a complaint for whatever moments did make its way into the final picture is highly fascinating. The film glances at both the positive & negative aspects of Ebert in equal measure but never with a judging eye.It is amusing when discussing Beyond the Valley of the Dolls which was written by Ebert himself, is painful when showing his fight with cancer & the resulting physical disability, is emotionally moving in the most unexpected moments but the best part of Life Itself is the Ebert & Siskel segment for it ingeniously captures their often contrasting opinions, their endless disputes, their initial contempt yet tremendous respect for each other and the lifelong friendship that was born from it.One an overall scale, Life Itself is a touching, entertaining, inspiring, heartwarming & heartbreaking cinema that emits a deep sense of warmth throughout its runtime. Filmmakers filming a biopic such as this often have the tendency to get a little carried away but it's good to see James not mourning over Ebert's death and instead celebrating his life & the profound impact he had on so many lives. Brimming with passion, love & endearment from beginning to end, Life Itself is a must-watch for all. Two-thumbs way up!

valleyjohn Roger Ebert is a remarkable man. Not just because he was probably the most famous film critic in the world but because the last years of his life when he had no lower jaw because it was removed because of cancer yet he still managed to write film reviews and his blog thanks to help from doctors and his wonderfully loving family. This film talks about his frosty relationship with his TV film reviewing partner Gene Siskel and the work he did with directors Russ Meyer and Martin Scorsesi but really this is about the last years of his life and it's very sad. He was a great and prolific writer but not the most natural TV presenter but because of the respect he had among his peers that didn't really matter. RIP Roger Ebert A brilliant documentary.