These enormous trends toward centralization and homogeneity still do permit room for the occasional «auteur» film of individual artistry, the profoundly
critical television documentary, the journalistic exposé of corruption in high places, and other examples of independent thinking or original art.
We see a
documentary about the professional rivalry and growing friendship between Ebert and his late sparring partner Gene Siskel, whose nationally syndicated
television show brought film criticism into many homes and inspired a few generations of film lovers — myself included — to watch movies with a
critical but appreciating eye.