Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper Present ``Ebert & Roeper's American Film Festival''; Special Episode of ``Ebert & Roeper'' Airs the Weekend of Nov. 24-25, 2001

Business Wire, Nov 13, 2001

Entertainment Editors & Film Writers

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CHICAGO--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Nov. 13, 2001

Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper celebrate the unique spirit of America from a cinematic point of view on a special edition of "Ebert & Roeper" titled "Ebert & Roeper's American Film Festival," airing the weekend of Nov. 24-25 in national syndication.

As Roeper noted, patriotism "goes a lot deeper than just waving the flag, and the movies have always reflected this." With a varied and eclectic group of classics, "Ebert & Roeper's American Film Festival" spotlights films that examine, criticize and rejoice in the American experience, and feature some of America's biggest stars, including Kevin Kline, Michael Douglas, Kevin Costner, Annette Bening, Donald Sutherland, Steve McQueen, Richard Dreyfuss and Jennifer Lopez.

In making his selections, Ebert explained that he "looked for movies that were not simply optimistic and patriotic, but that offered hope for the real lives we lead right now -- lives of fear and uncertainty, but also of trust in the American system." Among his choices are the joyful exuberance of the classic musical "Oklahoma!," Buster Keaton's silent epic "The General" and Lawrence and Meg Kasdan's reflective drama "Grand Canyon."

Roeper's list includes contemporary classics such as the World War II adventure "The Great Escape," the Cold War drama "Thirteen Days," Gregory Nava's immigrant saga "My Family (Mi Familia)" and the hilarious "MASH."

Ebert is film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago's WLS-TV, and the author of more than 15 books, including "I Hated, Hated, HATED This Movie," "Roger Ebert's Book of Film" and the annual editions of "Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook." Roeper is columnist for Chicago Sun-Times, the author of "He Rents, She Rents" and "Hollywood Urban Legends." Since 1986, the program has been distributed in national syndication by Buena Vista Television. Check local listings or ebert-roeper-movies.com for the time and station in your area.

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