After a long absence from public view, Roger Ebert came out today to announce that he'll be appearing at his annual Overlooked Film Festival which begins tomorrow night. Pics of his current state bravely included. I hope he's able to come back full-strength one day. I miss him. And "Roeper & Friends" just ain't cutting it.

I Ain't a Pretty Boy No More

I'll keep an eye out for him this week here in Champaign. I agree--pretty brave decision.

I gotta admit, even knowing what he's gone through, that photo of him was pretty shocking, in the sense that I wouldn't even have guessed it was him if I wasn't told beforehand.

His fighting spirit is definitely inspiring. It's good that he's getting out and doing this though, gossip rags be damned. I disagreed with a lot of his reviews, but I didn't realize how much I liked and respected him until he wasn't on TV or writing his column every week.

Ebert's all like "Ebertfest with no Ebe's? Yeah RIGHT!" What I've always liked about Roger Ebert is his straight-spined defense of his own opinion, taste and perspective. And it's not about having a particularly outrageous or revolutionary opinion, but a genuine, heartfelt one; I can't even tell you how Leonard Maltin FEELS about Disney movies, and I can't tell when Armond White is being a show-off or being himself. But I know when Roger Ebert is being Roger Ebert: all the time. The film festival is a cool way to get back to work, but if it proves too taxing, I hope Ebert finds time to, oh say, return to screenwriting or write another novel.

That's one bad MF who loves, LOVES movies.

I doubt Armond White can tell, either.

Which is why bad ones hit him so personally...

I saw Ebert this morning at the last screening of this year's Overlooked Film Festival in Champaign. He looks just like he does in the photos online, and he walked a little slowly, but you could tell that he had energy and enthusiasm. He used a laptop and some electronic voice software to introduce today's film, BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS. His wife, Chaz, was on stage with him, and they clearly have a great, loving relationship.

BVD, by the way, is a great film, but also a great experience when you're watching it on a huge screen in a 90-year-old movie palace with 1000 other people who are open to "getting" it. Actress Marcia McBroom, the Chicago Sun-Times movie and rock critics, and the leader of the Strawberry Alarm Clock did a 15-minute discussion before the film ran, and made it clear to the audience (mostly older, upscale film lovers) that it was okay to laugh, that BVD is a comedy and is intentionally funny. Everyone seemed to like it and laughed at the right places. The 35mm print looked extremely nice, and carried an MPAA "X" rating card at the end, not the NC-17.

Strawberry Alarm Clock was to play after the show, but my friend and I split.

This explains why the BVD print I saw looked so good:

Kohn said Friday that a brand-new print of "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" was struck for the screening at noon Sunday at Ebertfest.

"It just came out of the lab yesterday," he said. The Dolby stereo sound was remixed as well."

Ebertfest projectionist "James Bond said it's just a spectacular print," Kohn said. "We're really happy that Fox did this."