When we think of movie reviews, it is almost impossible for many of us to not think of Roger Ebert. A critically acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Ebert was invited into the homes and minds of moviegoers for generations over his 46-year career. Life Itself is a documentary recounting the storied life and eventual death of what may be the world’s best-known critic. Executive producers Martin Scorsese (The Departed, Goodfellas) and Steven Zaillian (Moneyball, Schindler’s List) joined with Academy Award-nominated director Steve James (Hoop Dreams) to adapt Ebert’s memoir of the same name into a film that the Washington Post called “a soaring, delightfully entertainment testament to the power and poetry of words.” Premiering at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and an official selection of the 67th Cannes Film Festival, Life Itself was on the shortlist for the Documentary Feature category of this year’s Academy Awards. Available from Magnolia Home Entertainment (magpictures.com). —Bradley Donalson
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