Roger Ebert is perhaps the most famous of all film critics, sadly taken from us at the age of 70 in 2013. He left a large and powerful legacy of reviews, thoughts, memoirs and essays, many of which have been compiled lovingly into this documentary (produced by Martin Scorsese, a good friend of the critic), named after his biography, "Life Itself." The movie itself has earned rave reviews from critics on the festival circuit, but the trailer itself is special. In that sense that, really, the trailer for the documentary stands as a sort of loving tribute to the talents of the man - viewed outside of the context of its existence as a trailer, it works as a standalone elegy, touching briefly on all the ways in which Ebert shaped movie criticism and impacted popular culture, with talking head snippets from some of his biggest fans in the filmmaking community. A truly beautiful, sad and enlightening two minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4SgwBRq-fU
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
