Six-Week Film School Goes HUGO on November 1

Back in 2012, I called Hugo, director Martin Scorsese's movie adaptation of a children's book, the best movie of the year. I said then that I didn't consider myself a big Scorsese fan, but Hugo was a departure for him. If Scorsese is known for anything, it has to be gangsters, fisticuffs, and manly men grappling with their inner manliness.

But not Hugo. Instead, it's about the fantasy and sorcery of the movies, with a little mechanical magic thrown in for good measure. It's a beautiful film, one I called "a sweet, nostalgic look at film pioneer Georges Méliès" as it centers on a topic that's important to Scorsese -- film preservation -- "inside a narrative that feels wistful, involving and personally affecting all at once."

Professor William McBride has included Hugo as part of this fall's six-week film school done in conjunction with the Normal Theater. Previous topics have included film noir and the movies of Alfred Hitchcock, but this time he's gone for a sextet of Martin Scorsese movies, starting with Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and moving through Taxi Driver, The Last Temptation of Christ and Gangs of New York before getting to Hugo tomorrow night. The last film in the series, Silence, will be screened next week on November 8.

Much as I stereotyped him in my opening paragraph, you can see from that list just how expansive Scorsese's oeuvre is. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, from 1974, centered on a widow, played by Ellen Burstyn in an Oscar-winning performance, trying to create a new life for herself, including a romance with Kris Kristofferson and his beard. And, yes, it spawned the Alice TV show. That look at the ordinary life of an ordinary woman couldn't be more different from the scary, big-city violence escalating in Taxi Driver, from 1976, or the The Last Temptation of Christ, Scorsese's controversial 1988 religious epic, or Gangs of New York, a 2002 look at the bloodshed that ran in the streets of Manhattan's Five Points district in the mid-19th century. In contrast to each of the above, Hugo is set in Paris in the 1930s, with an orphan who lives in a railway station as its protagonist. And Silence, released just last year, goes back to the 1600s, once again focusing on religion and morality, but sending its Jesuit priests from Portugal to Japan in a clash of cultures.

I've picked Hugo week to spotlight, even though the six-week film school is well underway, because its beauty and magic speak to me and my movie-loving heart, but one thing that should be most interesting about McBride's talk is just how this sweet little Parisian trifle fits into Scorsese's career. Does it fit? Cinematically, thematically, any way whatsoever? I'm sure McBride will lots to say on that subject.

All of the movies and the post-show discussions are free in McBride's six-week film school, with a short introduction at 7 pm, just before the show starts.

Roger Ebert's "Life Itself" Will Be a Movie

Roger Ebert announced on Twitter yesterday that "Life Itself," his memoir published last year by Grand Central Publishing, is being made into a movie. Entertainment Weekly picked up the scoop, providing a few details: It will be a documentary with Steve James, the director of "Hoop Dreams," at the helm, screenwriter Steve Zaillian, best known for "Moneyball" and "Schindler's List," on the team, and Martin Scorsese acting as executive producer.

And Matt Singer of IndieWire got a reaction from Ebert himself that you can read at the linked page.

Ebert's life will certainly provide plenty of material. He was born and raised in Urbana, where he worked on the school newspaper at Urbana High School and won a state championship in radio speaking at the IHSA speech competition in 1958. He began covering sports for the Champaign News-Gazette while still a high school student, and kept that up even as he went to college at U of I and became editor at the Daily Illini.

After a fellowship abroad and graduate work at both U of I and the University of Chicago, Ebert did some reporting for the Chicago Sun-Times, where he was given the film critic assignment in 1967. He did a few screenplays on the side, working with director Russ Meyer on such classics as "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" and "Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens."

But when he teamed with Chicago Tribune film critic Gene Siskel on a show called "Sneak Previews" in 1975, his career as half of "Two Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down" really took off. That show was originally done just for WTTW, the public broadcasting station in Chicago, but by 1978, PBS had picked it up and syndicated it nationwide, making Siskel and Ebert household names.

At that point, Ebert was also dealing with alcoholism; he quit drinking completely in 1979.

The show underwent name changes and production company switches, but it remained a fixture until Siskel died in 1999. After that, Ebert hosted various iterations of the show with various other people, until he had health woes of his own, finally losing the ability to speak, drink or eat after complications from treatments for thyroid cancer. He continued to participate in a show with Richard Roeper, his last co-host, until December, 2011, when "Ebert Presents: At the Movies," closed up shop.

Even without a physical voice, he's remained a steady voice for the Sun-Times, with reviews in print and a very popular online presence.

And Ebertfest, the film festival he began for overlooked movies, continues annually (as a hot ticket) at the historic Virginia Theatre in Champaign-Urbana. Ebertfest 2013 is set for April 17-21, 2013. Films will be announced in March, but festival passes are usually sold out in January or February.

All of which gives any film about Roger Ebert a lot to work with. The book "Life Itself" received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist and continues to be a steady seller. From all reports, filming is expected to begin before the end of the year, with a release date still to be determined. Maybe in time for Ebertfest 2014?

Just in Time for Oscar: "Hugo" at the Normal Theater

As Oscar night approaches (it's Sunday, the 26th, with red carpet coverage starting at 6 pm Central time and the awards themselves taking a bow at 7:30), the Normal Theater is bringing us four nights of "Hugo," the magical movie that leads the Academy Awards pack with 11 nominations.

Go see it. You need to see "Hugo." In fact, I wouldn't think there was anything wrong if you wanted to sit in a nice, comfy seat at the Normal Theater for all four shows. Well, maybe not Sunday night, since that's the Oscar ceremony. Or maybe you'd rather watch "Hugo" one more time instead of the Oscars. I can understand that.

The Normal Theater has also kindly provided a link to the trailer for "Hugo" here. Lovely.

Given the fact that it's earned 11 Academy Award nominations, you might think "Hugo" is fated to walk away with a passel of Oscar statuettes on Sunday. Alas, "The Artist" has been dominating everybody's awards, and it seems likely to win Best Picture as well as Best Director, even though "Hugo" and director Martin Scorsese deserve both, in my opinion.

"Hugo" is an amazing achievement that should speak to anybody who's ever loved being swept away by history or movies or books. Scorsese did a beautiful job making use of film technology -- specifically 3D -- to illuminate and elevate film pioneers and their fantastical creations, as well as create a whole world within one train station in Paris in the 30s. I don't know whether the Normal Theater is showing the 3D version of "Hugo" (their website says nothing about 3D, which means probably not) but I hope so. I am not, in general, a fan of 3D. It seems to distance me from the characters and the reality of their situation, as well as give me a headache. But in "Hugo," it's used so lovingly, so perfectly, it pulls you in rather than pushing you away (or blasting at your head). As a result, it adds to the complete magical experience.

Oddly enough, both "Hugo" and "The Artist" are about film history. The fact that they've appeared in the same year gives the Academy plenty of opportunity to celebrate movies and splash around lots of footage from the films of Georges Méliès, representing "Hugo," as well as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, and maybe even a little Douglas Fairbanks, as homage to "The Artist," during Sunday's ceremonies.

I love movie history, including the way-back history of the Oscars (first awards handed out in 1929, with "Wings," Emil Jannings and Janey Gaynor the big winners) and I hope they do, indeed, surround the ceremony with clips of fabulous films, fabulous actors and actresses, and lots and lots of movie treasures.

"Hugo" plays at the Normal Theater tonight, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with all shows at 7 pm.

ABC's broadcast of the 84th Annual Academy Awards begins at 6 pm on Sunday the 26th with Robin Roberts, Tim Gunn, Louise Roe, Jess Cagle and Nina Garcia hosting live coverage from the red carpet, with the Oscar ceremonies, hosted by Billy Crystal, beginning at 7:30 pm Central time. Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Michael Douglas, Tina Fey, Penelope Cruz, Chris Rock, Emma Stone, Kermit the Frog, and the cast of “Bridesmaids” are among those scheduled to present awards.