Ebert co-wrote the screenplay for the 1970 Russ Meyer film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and likes to joke about being responsible for the film, which was poorly received on its release but is now regarded as a cult classic.

Roger Ebert ( right ) with Russ Meyer in 1970.

Ebert has provided DVD audio commentaries for several films, including Citizen Kane, Casablanca, Dark City, Floating Weeds, Crumb, and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls ( for which Ebert also wrote the screenplay, based on a story that he co-wrote with Russ Meyer ).

Russ Meyer ( left ) and Roger Ebert in 1970 ( photo from Roger Ebert )

What eventually appeared was Beyond the Valley of the Dolls ( 1970 ), scripted by film critic ( and Meyer devotee ) Roger Ebert and bearing no relation to the novel or film's continuity ( a development necessitated after Jacqueline Susann sued the studio ).

Meyer handed the scriptwriting duties over to Ebert, who, in collaboration with McLaren, produced a screenplay entitled Who Killed Bambi?

According to Roger Ebert in a commentary recorded for the DVD release of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Meyer continually reiterated that this irreverence was the true secret to his artistic success.

Russ Meyer ( left ) and Roger Ebert ( right ) in 1970

The cult classic was directed by Russ Meyer and co-written by Meyer and Roger Ebert.

20th Century Fox rejected two screenplay drafts, and the final version, written by director Russ Meyer and novice screenwriter Roger Ebert in six weeks, was not only a spoof of the original film, but, in Ebert's words " a satire of Hollywood conventions, genres, situations, dialogue, characters and success formulas, heavily overlaid with such shocking violence that some critics didn't know whether the movie ' knew ' it was a comedy.

Ebert also praised Vincent Gallo's performance, but claimed Alden Ehrenreich is " the new Leonardo DiCaprio ".

Ebert began taking classes at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as an early entrance student, completing his high school courses while also taking his first university class.

While at the University of Illinois, Ebert worked as a reporter for the The Daily Illini and then served as its editor during his senior year while also continuing to work as a reporter for the News-Gazette of Champagne-Urbana, Illinois ( he had begun at the News-Gazette at age 15 covering Urbana High School sports ).

Ebert responded that the charge of prejudice was merely a euphemism for disagreement, that merely being moved by an experience does not denote it as artistic, and that critics are also consumers.

Ebert was also interviewed by Central Park Media for an extra feature on the DVD release of the anime film Grave of the Fireflies.

Roger Ebert founded his own film festival, Ebertfest, in his home town of Champaign, Illinois and is also a regular fixture at the Hawaii International Film Festival.

Ebert has also expressed disbelief in pseudoscientific or supernatural claims in general, calling them " woo-woo ".

Roger Ebert also reviewed the film after its 1999 re-release:

" In his review of the film, Roger Ebert says that " Chaplin was technically not playing the Tramp ", but Ebert also states that, " He put the Little Tramp and $ 1. 5 million of his own money on the line to ridicule Hitler ".

Like Ebert, Klady also singled out the speech by Seagal's character at the end of the film.

The Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney, Paul Ebert, is also a Democrat.

In a review of the film written after it received its Academy Awards, Roger Ebert called it a " supremely well-acted, intelligent film that tries for too much, that attacks not only television but also most of the other ills of the 1970s ," though " what it does accomplish is done so well, is seen so sharply, is presented so unforgivingly, that Network will outlive a lot of tidier movies.

Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars and praised the film for being as " knowledgeable about the TV news-gathering process as any movie ever made, but it also has insights into the more personal matter of how people use high-pressure jobs as a way of avoiding time alone with themselves ".

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 / 4 stars, writing that there " are so many subplots that Jerry Maguire seems too full " and also commented that the film " starts out looking cynical and quickly becomes a heartwarmer.

Farley also performed impersonations of Tom Arnold, who gave Farley's eulogy at his private funeral ; Andrew Giuliani, Jerry Garcia, Meat Loaf, Norman Schwarzkopf, Dom DeLuise, Roger Ebert, Carnie Wilson, Newt Gingrich, Mindy Cohn, Mama Cass, Hank Williams, Jr., and Rush Limbaugh were among the celebrities and real-life figures he portrayed.

While considering the film's special effects as " astonishing ", Ebert also contended " the movie is slow to get off the ground " and " sometimes the movie fails on the basic level of making itself clear.

Ebert also praised James Woods ' portrayal of Hades, stating that Woods brings " something of the same verbal inventiveness that Robin Williams brought to Aladdin ".

Ebert also placed the film on his list of the top ten films of the year.

" Roger Ebert also criticized the morality tale character of the movie, saying that " you can't have heroes and villains when the wrong side is making the best sense.

Some high profile figures such as actor Aziz Ansari and film critic Roger Ebert have also actively voiced their concerns.

Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars, and called it " the most violent film I have ever seen ", also reflecting on how the movie personally impacted him as a former altar boy.

French filmmaker François Truffaut once called Herzog " the most important film director alive " and American film critic Roger Ebert stated that Herzog " has never created a single film that is compromised, shameful, made for pragmatic reasons or uninteresting.

" Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times observed the film " is not blindingly brilliant, and is not an example of the very best work of the director who made The Year of Living Dangerously or the actor who starred in Cyrano de Bergerac.

Roger Ebert noted that " Metropolis is one of the great achievements of the silent era, a work so audacious in its vision and so angry in its message that it is, if anything, more powerful today than when it was made.

On January 31, 2009, Ebert was made an honorary life member of the Directors Guild of America during the group's annual awards ceremony.

Cracked. com writer Robert Brockway responded by opining that this made Ebert unqualified to judge video games, and that debating Ebert on such a topic was comparable to " a structured philosophical debate on the importance of pacifism and restraint with a rabid badger: Your opponent is not only unqualified from the start, but it's obviously just out to attack you.

Ebert made his first public appearance since mid-2006 at Ebertfest on April 25, 2007.

Film critic Roger Ebert lauded Spock's death: " He makes a choice in STAR TREK II that would be made only by a hero, a fool, or a Vulcan.

He wrote to his family, " I made music under the Kaiser, and under Ebert.

Roger Ebert later claimed that " this is one of the funniest movies ever made.

In a 2002 retrospective, Roger Ebert, who " saw the original version at the world premiere in 1969, during the golden age of the junket, when Warner Bros. screened five of its new films in the Bahamas for 450 critics and reporters ", said that back then he had publicly declared the film a masterpiece during the junket's press conference, prompted by comments from " a reporter from the Reader's Digest got up to ask ' Why was this film ever made?

Critics Siskel and Ebert each rated the film among the top three of the 1986 film year ; Ebert's 1986 review of the film called it " the best movie Allen has ever made.

" His first picture — made in the silent era — was called " the most famous short film ever made " by critic Roger Ebert, and his last film — made 48 years later — won him Best Director awards from the National Board of Review and the National Society of Film Critics.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film three out of four stars, concluding his review by stating, " It's one of the most expensive B-pictures ever made, and I think that helps it fit the subject.

Of these Grave of the Fireflies is considered by film critic Roger Ebert one of the greatest war films ever made.

Ebert saw the flowers as a kind gesture and publicly thanked Schneider, and said that Schneider may have made a bad film, but he was not a bad man.

A set of Cocobolo Scottish Smallpipes with Horn ( anatomy ) | horn mountings, made in 2008 by Ebert Jones

In a column published about the same time, Ebert reported that he and Gallo had made peace.

Some film critics ( including Michael Medved ) argue that Bring Me the Head of Alfredo García is one of the worst films ever made, while others ( among them Roger Ebert and Slant Magazine ) consider it a masterpiece.

Among the film's admirers was Roger Ebert, who wrote in his review, " film has been criticized in some quarters because Mulligan made it too beautiful, they say, and too nostalgic.

" Roger Ebert said it made audiences " squirm out of enjoyment, not terror ," and listed details in the film that he felt were typical of such films, including " the bright young doctor, whose warnings are ignored " and " the loyal wife and kids ," as well as " the usual cats and dogs, necessary for the obligatory scene in which they can sense something even when the humans can't.